There are alot of good posts here and i have seen threads like this in the past. Romans chapter seven Paul deals with this issue very precisely clearly. The last verse, who will set me free from this body of death, Thanks be to God through Jesus. then he concludes with, so on the one hand, in my spirit i have the desire to do good yet in my flesh I do not have the ability to carry it out. This is why our flesh is condemned to death rot and decay and it will cease to exist and why our Soul and spirit will remain.
I have heard people argue, that if we have turned our hearts to God then the law has fulfilled its purpose, which was to make us aware of sin, and our need for a savior, and the method of salvation, which is blood sacrifice. It is true that once we turn to God and away from sin, we are reborn and become new creations in Christ SPIRITUALLY, but not physically, obviously. If the law no longer applies then we would be literally sinless, however this argument is invalid. God's law is eternal and always applies. Because of our flesh we will always sin while we have a fleshly body, which is why God has condemned our bodies, and they will return to dust. As paul wrote, if i agree with the law, then it is no longer i who sin but sin which indwells me. People love to argue these points but i consider such arguments useless.
The best posts I read here were ones that described our focus. From Colossians we know, "since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above where christ is seated at the right hand of God, set your minds on things above not on earthly things. Our focus must always be on God. Dont worry about sin, however again it is written, "do not worry about anything but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Lets not leave out another of my favorite verses, "Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves, do what it says," I would love to hear more preachers preach practicing the word of God. From my own experience with God, and him teaching me personally, God has shown me the power of confession. Say you have a sin you feel in bondage to? Whatever that sin is, you may feel like you have no control. ok. Commit yourself to confessing the sin every time you practice it. And i dont mean confess to God, as so many people think that is the only confession that matters. Select a group of people prayerfully, and every time you practice a sin you have bondage to, confess it to this group, one at a time over and over. What happens is, when you are tempted again, you eventually realize, you will have to confess again, and the fact that you will confess, gives you power over the sin.
I was forced into addiction, slavery and bondage as a four year old boy. I had when i last counted no less than 11 different addictions, which is just another word for bondage. I have today been free from all that bondage for over twenty years and counting.
But as was allready posted here, God is continually refining us. "he who began a good work in us will be faithful to carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus". If we didnt continue to sin, we wouldnt continually need refinement. Its sort of like practicing humility. When you choose to practice humility, what happens is you become more aware of your pride. Eventually more and more pride is revealed to you. A person who has practiced humility for years, recognizes their own pride, as i do mine, as this vast ocean of horror and opposition go God, I wish i could escape it but, of course i will only escape it through death. The flip side of all of this is the power of God and the Spirit flowing through us. The riches of God's blessings and abundance we can live in, right now in this life even in our current condition. Everything about God is contradictory to everything about this world. The one who would lead must make himself servant to all. As i tell my wife, you are in charge. I will do all you say. It is my job to serve her and you, to prostrate myself before her and you and anyone else i intend to lead, as Jesus told us, Go and do as i have done for you. What he did for us is serve us, he came not as a king but as a servant/king, and allowed himself to be subject to torment ridicule shame and even death tho he was innocent. I tell you, this is our job as men. To lead others to God just as Jesus lead us to God. some of us might dare to turn our will over to a godly person but which of us would dare to turn our will over to an evil person? Jesus did, and he called us to do the same. So yea, Focus on God, Focus on his word, focus on prayer and learn and be transformed by the renewing of your mind, worship God in spirit and in truth, offer your bodies to God as a living and holy sacrifice fragrant and pleasing to God and SERVE ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE. This is our job, it is our labor of love, it is also our blessing. I tell you, when you do what you were created to do, nothing in life or death can overcome you. God's power is absolute and we have every ability to wield all of his power ourselves. God longs to give each of us all of himself his love for us is so perfect. It is never God who slow, it is always us who are slow to position ourselves to receive. The position is one of humility, and two words, YES LORD. No wait or if or but, just YES LORD. I speak YEs lord to everything, CAR broke? YES LORD, THANK YOU GOD, DAUGHTER MURDERED? YES LORD, THANK YOU GOD, WHY????? Not because i want those things but because I TRUST GOD. It doesnt require trust to thank God when you get what u want. IT requires trust when you get what you do not want, and stand on the promise God made that he will use it for our good. The formula for peace, from Isaiah, "thou will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed on theee because he trusteth in thee" ????? If your peace isnt absolutely perfect, it is because, your mind isnt stayed on God and you are not trusting him. HE IS trustworthy. HE is the only one. HE is the only power. Practice his word and you will be free and empowered.
Thanks so much for the post.
