Dealing with temptation. It is recommended to read Romans 6 before reading this post.
God hates sin. It offends His Holy nature but it also is destructive to the people made in His image. He hates what sin does to us. Unbelievers care little about sin. Most believe that they are basically good. Christians know better!
Once an individual is born again, sin looms large in his consciousness. Some are almost paralysed, unable to do anything in case they sin. Some are shocked when they sin, as if they imagined that they were now perfect. The new Christian has to face the fact that they can and do still sin. God knew this all along and has made provision for it. We need to know that God's grace is greater than all our sin and that His grace does not come to an end after we are saved. (1 John 1:9).
However, God has not called us to a cycle of sin, forgiveness, restoration and sin again. He has made it possible, in Christ, to break the hold that sin has over us. Sin is still pervasive. We still have the capacity to sin. Temptation is everywhere. How do we overcome? God's remedy is drastic and we may find it hard to accept. God kills us. God looks at us and says that there is no way to reform, repair, restore or correct us. So He kills us.
However, as we should know, the Christian life is not automatic. In order to receive the benefit of our co-death with Christ, we must see our need. Many wrestle with this idea. Surely, we secretly think, there is something of us that is worth keeping. The straight answer is no. Nothing good dwells in us. We imagine that we have a certain righteousness. God calls it filthy rags. I think of righteousness as the best that we can do. God condemns it ans sentences it to death.
We must see our co-death with Christ as a real event, not an abstract metaphysical concept. Once we see, we can reckon. (Romans 6:11). If we do not see this liberating truth, reckoning is useless. You may wonder what the Word means by "reckon". It's an accounting or mathematical term. The only realm of man's knowledge that is absolute is mathematics. 2 + 2 = 4 anywhere in the universe. We can, and should, take God's word as absolute. If God says that we are dead, then we are dead, no matter how we feel or what we experience.
Who fears a dead man? There have been some terrible despots throughout history. While they are alive, they are feared. Once they are dead, they have no hold over us. In the same way, God deals with the fallen nature of Adam by putting him to death. When temptation comes, we have a choice. Before we were saved, we were powerless to resist. Now we can resist temptation and overcome through the resurrection life that is ours in Christ. Do you have a sin that troubles you continually? Ask God to reveal this great truth to you.
God hates sin. It offends His Holy nature but it also is destructive to the people made in His image. He hates what sin does to us. Unbelievers care little about sin. Most believe that they are basically good. Christians know better!
Once an individual is born again, sin looms large in his consciousness. Some are almost paralysed, unable to do anything in case they sin. Some are shocked when they sin, as if they imagined that they were now perfect. The new Christian has to face the fact that they can and do still sin. God knew this all along and has made provision for it. We need to know that God's grace is greater than all our sin and that His grace does not come to an end after we are saved. (1 John 1:9).
However, God has not called us to a cycle of sin, forgiveness, restoration and sin again. He has made it possible, in Christ, to break the hold that sin has over us. Sin is still pervasive. We still have the capacity to sin. Temptation is everywhere. How do we overcome? God's remedy is drastic and we may find it hard to accept. God kills us. God looks at us and says that there is no way to reform, repair, restore or correct us. So He kills us.
However, as we should know, the Christian life is not automatic. In order to receive the benefit of our co-death with Christ, we must see our need. Many wrestle with this idea. Surely, we secretly think, there is something of us that is worth keeping. The straight answer is no. Nothing good dwells in us. We imagine that we have a certain righteousness. God calls it filthy rags. I think of righteousness as the best that we can do. God condemns it ans sentences it to death.
We must see our co-death with Christ as a real event, not an abstract metaphysical concept. Once we see, we can reckon. (Romans 6:11). If we do not see this liberating truth, reckoning is useless. You may wonder what the Word means by "reckon". It's an accounting or mathematical term. The only realm of man's knowledge that is absolute is mathematics. 2 + 2 = 4 anywhere in the universe. We can, and should, take God's word as absolute. If God says that we are dead, then we are dead, no matter how we feel or what we experience.
Who fears a dead man? There have been some terrible despots throughout history. While they are alive, they are feared. Once they are dead, they have no hold over us. In the same way, God deals with the fallen nature of Adam by putting him to death. When temptation comes, we have a choice. Before we were saved, we were powerless to resist. Now we can resist temptation and overcome through the resurrection life that is ours in Christ. Do you have a sin that troubles you continually? Ask God to reveal this great truth to you.
