2004-07-16
Good Morning Cherished Ones,
I’m led to continue writing about human difficulty in living lives of holiness. The great comfort that we are given is in the teaching of the Holy Spirit, His presence in our lives, and in God’s compassion for those who are struggling against the demands of the flesh. This struggle is not only in the life of an ordinary believer, but it is part of the lives of some of the greatest theologians who ever lived. I’ve already mentioned John Wesley’s journey and that of many wonderful pastors in our own churches. The famous theologian, C.S. Lewis came from being disinterested in the Puritanical faith of his parents at one time in his life to the transformed mind [RO 12: 1-2] and spirit that wrote such works as The Screwtape Letters, Surprised By Joy, Reflections of the Psalms, The Business of Heaven, and the delightful The Chronicles of Narnia (for children).
The trouble with seeing the perspective that God has for His teaching is most commonly human agendas and stubbornness. Such was certainly the case with the Pharisees, who really wanted to live lives of holiness, but became mired in legalism where it came to God’s law. The Pharisees of Christ’s day certainly recognized the spiritual aspect to the law and its goodness, but labored to keep it with “uncircumcised hearts.” RO 2: 28-29 illuminates this point. “After all, who is a real Jew, truly circumcised? It is not the man who is a Jew on the outside, whose circumcision is a physical thing. Rather, the real Jew is the person who is a Jew on the inside, that is, whose heart has been circumcised, and this is the work of God’s Spirit, not of the written Law. Such a person receives his praise from God, not from man.” These traditional Jews never fully appreciated Ezekiel’s teaching on God’s promise to give mankind a new heart. EZK 11: 19-20, “I will give them a new heart and a new mind. I will take away their stubborn heart of stone and will give them an obedient heart. Then they will keep My laws and faithfully obey all My commands. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”
For reasons of spiritual immaturity, allowing the evil one to influence one’s thinking, mankind has often felt he could pick and choose what he wants to believe from the Scriptures. That is surely not God’s way. We are to believe all that God tells us in the Bible without addition, subtraction [REV 22: 18-19], or implanting parts of it into a human-made construct as some churches do. Since God never lies, then we have no reason to feel that we can avoid certain teaching, just because it takes us to a place where we must struggle to make the changes necessary to conform to God’s will for us.
Mankind’s wicked and deceitful heart, worship of the flesh, keeps them from living according to the Sermon on the Mount teaching. That is what gives rise to Paul’s question in RO 7: 24, “What an unhappy man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death?” Our loving Abba gives Paul the answer in RO 7: 25a and again in RO 8: 2, “Thanks be to God, Who does this through our Lord Jesus Christ!...For the law of the Spirit, which brings us life in union with Christ Jesus, has set me free from the law of sin and death.” The whole solution to this problem has to be supernatural; mankind can’t solve it by themselves. To understand this takes true faith, the kind I would wish for all of us. Those who are not saved by faith are ruled by sin and death. Those who are saved have God’s Spirit indwelt in them, fused with their individual human spirit and in leadership of it. It is God’s Spirit which leads them to life and enables them to avoid second death (spiritual death leading to conscious torment in the lake of fire and sulfur forever).
This solution for mankind’s trouble living holy lives is available to each and every one of us. That’s the best news we could get! RO 8: 3-4, “What the Law could not do, because human nature was weak, God did. He condemned sin in human nature by sending His own Son, Who came with a nature like man’s sinful nature, to do away with sin. God did this so that the righteous demands of the Law might be fully satisfied in us who live according to the Spirit and not according to human nature.” I truly believe that God is rooting for each of us to overcome Satan’s desire for us to live by the flesh and that He has provided a way for that to happen. That way is through Christ’s Atonement and our continuing and enduring faith in our Lord Jesus. Of course, our senses must be focused on Him. Our hearts must be willing to be rid of human agendas and replace them with His agenda. We must be willing to step away for what is comfortable to make the changes necessary to conform to God’s standard and not the standards of the world. I personally am on a campaign in my own life. I am trying hard to avoid listening to morbid news stories that are designed to titillate, garner attention due to their morbid attention to details that are gory, to slant the facts to appeal to one side of a divided country’s views, and to get ratings with sound bites. There really are some issues being broadcast that demand our discernment, because with it we are getting into some places with extremely negative spiritual implications. Christ is calling us to examine our lives and to get rid of the sin in them, even the subtle sin. Because of MT 24: 36, we should feel great urgency to do this, as we don’t know the time when the Lord will come for His own.
PRAYER: O Lord, each day we come to You in prayer, knowing that we are far from perfect. We know You are there encouraging us to live godly lives and doing Your best to provide opportunities to further our sanctification through the circumstances of our lives. All around us You are working in the lives of others as well. We need to find areas where we are sinning and to expunge that sin. We need to watch carefully Your work in the lives of others and ourselves, so that we can appreciate the truth of Your constant presence in them and love for Your creation. PS 33: 22, “Yes, Lord, let Your constant love surround us, for our hopes are in You alone.” We have no excuse not to know how faithful You are. PS 9: 10, “All those who know Your mercy, Lord, will count on You for help. For you have never yet forsaken those who trust in You.” The Psalmist has shown us the nature of Your love for us in PS 103: 13, “The Lord is like a father to His children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him.” We know You are there for us when we sorrow and/or are in trouble. PS 37: 39, “The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their Refuge in time of trouble.” Your Son offers us rest from our burdens in MT 11: 28-30, “Come to Me, all of you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke and put it on you, and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I give you is easy, and the burden is light.” We need never feel alone, because we have no excuse not to know that You have promised never to abandon us [IS 49: 14-16]. As we look at these and other Scriptures, it is impossible to miss Your personal attention to us, desire to love us unconditionally, and Your purpose to bring us back to Your side for eternal life, bliss, and sweet fellowship. We are truly a blessed people because of You and offer You our heartfelt thanks and praise. In Christ’s name, amen.
There is more to say about the only solution to mankind’s trouble living holy lives. So, Dear Readers, that will be the subject of next week’s message. If you are personally struggling with getting rid of sin in your lives, then you are not alone. I’m right there with you dealing with Satan’s fiery arrows in my own life. I hang on for dear life to EPH 1: 18-20, the verse which reveals that God has authorized and empowered us to battle against evil with the same power to be victors over it in Christ’s name that He used to raise Christ from death to life. That’s nothing short of awesome, but a lot of people don’t realize it. Of course, Satan would like that to be kept secret to further his own evil purposes. We need to shout it from the mountaintops, and when we are in the valleys of our lives, never forget it for one second! Just as Christ used God’s word to chase Satan away in His temptation in the wilderness [MT 4: 1-11], we need to do the same thing. Between that and an active prayer life, God is able to move us toward spiritual maturity and eventual perfection. It won’t be anything we can boast about, because like all the good on earth and in heaven, the glory for it belongs to God Himself. But, it will lead us to fulfill God’s and His Son’s purpose stated in JN 6: 39-40 and COL 1: 20-bringing us back to God for eternal life. Think about it, our God and His Son can’t wait to give us a welcoming hug and have us share the wedding feast of Lamb with them and with all the believers [REV 19: 5-10]. Praise to the Lord and the Lamb Who was slain for us!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn