|
FAILURE
Failure
in the Christian life
is an all too frequent reality, but let us recognize that failure has been
the experience of the most holy saint.
In fact, Paul tells us a vivid account of his failure in living the
Christian life in Romans
chapter seven.
Note what he says:
14
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave
to sin.
15
I do not understand what I do. For
what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. (What
a conflict.)
16
And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
17
As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but
it is sin living in me. (It
is not you doing it?)
18
I know that nothing good lives in me, that
is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what
is good, but I cannot carry it out. (The
enemy is within, within our flesh.)
19
For what I do is not the good I want to do; no,
the evil I do not want to do-- this I keep on doing. (A
terrible conflict.)
20
Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no
longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (It
is not you doing it?)
21
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there
with me.
22
For in my inner being I delight in God's
law; (this
proves he is speaking of himself as a Christian, for a lost person could
not “delight in God’s law”)
23
but I see another law at work in the
members of my body, waging war against the law of
my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. (Like
the law of gravity or the law of physics, it is the way it works. The
flesh works by the law of sin.)
24
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
(He
is helpless to rescue himself. Have you ever been here.)
25
Thanks be to God-- through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Christ
is the only One Who can live the Christian life.)
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the flesh a
slave to the law of sin.
Paul
says that he saw himself as a “slave
to sin”
and he was so confused. What he wanted to do, he didn’t do and the things he
didn’t want to do, he found himself doing.
That has been the experience of every Christian who has not learned
the KEY
TO LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
Paul describes himself as NOT
being the one who did it (vs.17&20
“it is sin living in me that does it”)
Is
Paul just trying to find excuses?
No. He is telling us
the beginning of the “KEY.”
We have to understand that we are not our flesh, but like Galatians
2:20 says. “I
have been crucified with Christ and I no longer
live, but Christ lives in me.
The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself for me.” And
“For to me, to
live is Christ” (Phil
1:21)
As he says in Romans 6:11 ”count
yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in
Christ Jesus.”
You are not who you used to be before you came to Christ.
As Paul says in 2Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new.”
A
DIFFERENT SOURCE
When
we become a Christian, many times we continue to think and act from the
same source as before, the
flesh.
Suddenly we discover that our flesh is hostile to the Spirit and
God’s law. (Romans 8:7
& Galatians 5:17)
We are confused and discouraged. We
begin to think that perhaps we are not Christians at all, but
we are actually being brought to the end of trusting
ourselves,
to no longer trust what we trusted before, to no longer trust the flesh.
We are brought to the place Paul said he was brought: “What
a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”
He finds that Jesus Christ Who saved him is the only One Who can
live the Christian life. Christ must live His life in us, then we can live
His life in the world.
So
Paul discovers the “KEY”
to living the Christian life and tells us what that is, and what it is
not, in Romans
chapter eight.
1
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus, (Can
we believe this? Is there
really NO CONDEMNATION
to those who are IN CHRIST JESUS? Not ever? Believe
it.)
2
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit
of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Remember
what he said in chapter seven, "making
me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members."
Now he says he (and we) is delivered from the law of sin and death. Keep
reading to see how.)
3
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened
by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And
so he condemned sin in the flesh,
4
in order that the righteous requirements of the
law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh
but according to the Spirit.
5
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds
set on what the flesh desires; but those
who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the
Spirit desires. (It's
in where we "set" our minds
that determines our walk.)
6
The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind
controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
7
the sinful mind is hostile to
God. It does not submit to God's law, nor
can it do so. (Do you
see this? Your flesh can NEVER learn to be "good.")
8
Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God. (Never.
Never. Never.)
Verse
2 shows that we do live by A LAW, we are not lawless, but it is not an
external law, it is the LAW
OF THE SPIRIT living in us.
Ezekiel 36:26-27
“I will give you a new heart and put a
new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and
give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my
Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my
laws” – The
laws written on your heart by the Spirit according to
Jeremiah 31:33 - "I will put my law in their
minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they
will be my people.”) Stop
attempting to live by some external law of “Do
not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"
Colossians 2:21.
Learn
to live in the full, free flow of the spontaneous life of the Spirit of
Christ in you.
IT
IS YOUR CHOICE
In
other words, you are never in control.
You are BEING CONTROLLED by what you put your mind
on. Your mind must be directed to
one or the other. There are only two places to put your mind.
You put your mind
on the things of the flesh or the things of the Spirit. As a Christian, you have a choice to make. We are told what
to think about in Philippians 4:8. We are told how to think in
Philippians 2:5.
So,
Paul is telling us that we have to live from a new
Source,
the Spirit of Christ in us. We
cannot depend on the “flesh” any more.
It has always failed us and it always will.
He says the flesh is not subject to the law of God and it can never
be.
In
other words, you will never succeed in teaching your flesh to be good.
It can’t happen, so don’t even go there.
Those who have their minds set on the flesh and are controlled by
the flesh "CAN
NOT PLEASE GOD."
In other words, you cannot succeed in your Christian life apart
from SETTING YOUR MIND ON THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT.
In
the flesh you will never succeed, but Paul goes on to say:
9
You, however, are controlled not by the flesh but by the Spirit, if
the Spirit of God lives in you. And if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
(That
pretty well settles that question.)
10
But if Christ is in you, your body is dead
because of sin (in
other words, just count your flesh or body as good as dead; it will wind
up in the grave.),
yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
(Imputed
righteousness, the righteousness of Christ Jesus our Lord.)
11
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you,
he who raised Christ from the dead will also give
life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. (In
other words, you will find that the body will be empowered by the same
Spirit that you have your mind set upon, the Spirit of Christ in you.)
12
Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-- but it is not to the flesh,
to live according to it.
13
For if you live according to the flesh, you will
die; but if by the Spirit you put to
death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,
(So it is BY THE SPIRIT that you conquer the flesh.)
14
because those who are led by the Spirit of God are
sons of God. (That
is the identifying mark of the children of God.)
Paul
is telling us that we live by a Higher
Power,
we live by
the Spirit
and the benefit will not only be that we will do righteous acts, but our
bodies will be given a life that they cannot have any other way.
In this NEW way of living, BY THE SPIRIT,
you will discover THE
KEY TO LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
LIVE
BY THE SPIRIT
But
how do we overcome the strong pull of the flesh.
Paul discusses this further in Galatians
chapter five:
16
So I say, live by the Spirit, and
you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
(There
are few guarantees in life, but this is one you can take to the bank, as
they say. You are promised
that this is a sure way not to fail.)
17
For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what
is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that
you do not do what you want. (You
can’t do what you want because if you do what the flesh wants, you are
convicted by the Spirit. If
you do what the Spirit wants, you are taunted by the flesh.)
18
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. (You
are not under an EXTERNAL LAW, but you are led by the
“law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:2)
19
The works of the flesh are obvious:
sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
20
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish
ambition, dissensions, factions
21
and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before,
that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Did
you find your flesh describe in any of these?)
22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23
gentleness and self-control. Against
such things there is no law. (Note
that it is the “WORKS” of the flesh, sweaty and hard; but it is the
“FRUIT” of the Spirit. It
pictures the ease of a fruit tree, no sweat, no strain, just being what it
is and bearing fruit.)
24
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
(It
is done. It was done when you
became a Christian. See Galatians
2:20 - I have been crucified with
Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.)
25
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step
with the Spirit. (Remember,
“steps” are very short increments.
“Steps,” not days or hours. Stay “in” the Spirit by setting
your mind in tiny increments of time all day long.)
Paul
gives us the command and the guarantee, “LIVE
BY THE SPIRIT AND YOU WILL NOT GRATIFY THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH.”
That
is the KEY.
ELEVATOR
It
is as if all these Christians are trying to get up to the 100th
floor of a building by crawling up the OUTSIDE WALLS.
Paul steps out on the sidewalk and cries out to them,
“ELEVATOR.”
In
other words, walking
in the Spirit
is not like the sweaty “WORKS”
of the flesh. You are carried
along by the elevator … uh, I mean the Spirit.
It is His "FRUIT"
in
you and through you, as you walk in
HIM.
You
don’t need more LOVE, or PATIENCE, or JOY.
All of that is a PERSON and HE lives inside of you.
He didn’t move into you and leave some of His baggage outside.
IN YOU is
all the LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, etc. that you will need in any given
situation.
So
you have the POSITIVE AND THE NEGATIVE.
According to the promise of Galatians 5, positively, you have the
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. Negatively,
you will not do the WORKS OF THE FLESH.
In other words you will succeed in living the Christian life
because it is not you living it, it
is Christ in you living it
by His Spirit.
IT
IS LIKE COFFEE
It
is you, but it is Christ in you. It
is sort of like coffee. You
pick up the coffee cup and take a sip.
You say, “Ummm, that is good coffee.”
The water
in the coffee speaks up and says, “Oh, it isn’t me.
It’s the coffee in me.” Hey,
water, you are confusing me. You
and the coffee are so fused that you are ONE and the SAME as far as I am
concerned. You can’t tell
where the water stops and the coffee begins.
As a matter of fact, when I drink coffee I don't even think of the water.
The coffee gets all my praise. So just sit back and enjoy,
water. You are a blessing to
me as you carry the flavor of the coffee to my taste buds.
So
it is with you in the Spirit. People
can’t tell where you leave off and the Spirit begins.
You are so fused to Him and Him to you.
As a matter of fact, "when
they see your good works, they will glorify your Father."
Just sit back and enjoy. You
are a blessing to others as you carry the flavor of Jesus to them.
They praise God because of Him in you. Just walk in the
Spirit and watch it happen.
OUR
ONLY LABOR
Hebrews
4 tells us what our labor is: v.
11 “Let us labor therefore to
enter into that rest.”
Our primary work is to “LABOR” to enter into the rest of the
Holy Spirit. Let Him carry
you by His power. Ephesians
chapter six tells us: v.
10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord,
and in the power of his might.”
You are not called on to live in your strength and your determination.
You are called to step inside the "elevator" of the
Spirit and let Him lift you to heights you could not know by any other
way.
Paul
warns us in the sixth
chapter of Galatians
to sow in the Spirit: vs.
7-8 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The
one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction;
the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal
life. You
make this determination. You
make the choice with your MIND.
Read Romans 8:5-8 again. It
is with the MIND
we decide where we will “sow.” The
MIND
is
the battleground. Everything
in your life starts with the MIND.
THE
MIND IS WHERE IT ALL BEGINS
Paul
tells us what to do with our MINDS:
Romans
12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to
test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Colossians 3:2 2 Set your minds on things above,
not on earthly things. Philippians
2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also
in Christ Jesus: and
it goes on to say how Jesus humbled Himself and had the attitude of a
servant even unto death.
So
we do have the control of our minds.
You may say that you can’t keep certain thoughts from coming into
you mind. You can’t, but it
is like birds flying over your head.
You can’t keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep
them from building a nest in your hair.
We are told to “set” or minds, “renew” our minds, and to
let a certain mind be within us. That
is where the battle is – IN
THE MIND.
ARE
YOU IN THE FLESH OR THE SPIRIT?
How
can we tell when we are in the flesh and when we are in the Spirit. Paul tells us this in Philippians
4:7 "And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard
(garrison) your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Colossians 3:15
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your
hearts."
We can tell when we are in the Spirit
OR when we are in the flesh
by the PEACE OF GOD IN OUR HEARTS AND
MINDS. The
word “rule” could be translated “UMPIRE.”
IT
IS LIKE FOOTBALL
Paul
is telling you that when our peace
is disturbed
STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
You are in the FLESH.
When you have moved from the Spirit to the flesh your peace will
always be disturbed. Consider
your disturbed peace a RED LIGHT.
Do not continue when the warning red light of the Spirit is on.
It is like a football game. Do
you know what happens when there is a flag
on the play.
The game stops. If
your peace is disturbed, that is a flag on the play.
STOP!
One
of our clients we are helping to overcome his addiction to pornography
said, “That umpire
thing really works.”
I asked what he meant. He
said he was checking out at the grocery story and the magazine on the rack
by the checkout stand had a picture of a scantily clad female and he began
looking at it. He said that his
peace was disturbed. He then averted his eyes and set his mind upon the Lord and HIS
PEACE RETURNED TO HIM.
That’s it. That is
the way it works.
ABIDE
IN HIM
What
do you do when you put your MIND
on the things of the Spirit, when you make that crucial choice?
Jesus
put it this way. He said that
we are to “ABIDE”
in Him. The word “abide”
carries with it the idea of making a choice.
In John
chapter fifteen,
Jesus said,
4
Remain in me, (YOUR
CHOICE)
and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it
must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless
you remain in me. (YOUR
CHOICE)
5
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a
man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart
from me you can do nothing. (How
much can you do in the flesh? NOTHING.)
6
If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away
and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
7
If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
(What
a promise this is!)
The
KEY TO LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS MAKING
THE CHOICE TO WALK IN THE SPIRIT.
Read this again and again. Search
the Scriptures for more insight and leading of the Holy Spirit. You will be the success in your Christian life that God
intends for you to be. Remember,
you can do “NOTHING”
apart from Christ. You MUST
remain in HIM. After all, that
is who you really are.
You are CHRIST IN YOU.
Walking
in the Spirit is the only way you will be who you really are.
Now go and CHOOSE
to BE WHO YOU ARE.
Oswald
Chambers calls this "Continuous Conversion." Click here to
see what he means.
|
