FULLY COMMITTED…
“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in EVERY part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.” (Gal. 5:24-26)
Because we are all born with a sin nature we naturally sin. We are fully committed to doing things our way and seeking our own satisfaction rather than glorifying God. We cannot help it. Our flesh cannot and will not change. Most of us spend a lifetime focused on our personal provision, protection, and satisfaction and how well we accomplish those goals determines our self-worth. The world system that we live in caters to this mindset and perpetuates the chaos and confusion that results. Common sense should reveal that there can be no peaceful resolution to life in this mode.
Religion is man’s solution to dealing with his consciousness of sin. The problem is that man’s concept of a relationship with God is still selfish in that we use Him as a vending machine whose purpose is to satisfy our own personal needs and wants. One of the symptoms of our natural insanity is that we fail to realize the difference between what we need and what we want. We categorize sin and pride ourselves when we are not found guilty of the big ones. We pray to God for things that will make us feel and look good while totally ignorant of the fact that any act that is not Spirit led and Spirit fed is sin. We focus on what is right or wrong in our own eyes and totally ignore the question ‘what does God want me to do?’ in this situation.
According to Romans 6 our sin problem was solved when Jesus’ blood was shed on the cross. His death delivered man from death and sin. Even when we accept the truth of God’s word and accept the fact that we are new creations “in Christ” we still struggle with the only thing that was not renewed….the flesh. We no longer have to focus on giving up sin. We must now give up our right to ourselves, our natural independence, and our self-assertiveness. Our failure to love each other as Christ loved (and still loves) us is because we refuse to give up our own self-righteousness and accept the righteousness of Christ.
Just as we were once fully committed to sin we must now be fully committed to God and He has given us His Spirit to empower us for that task. It is easy. Just give up and then get up and let Him be Him in you. All He wants to do is love you and then love others through you. Don’t let your good intentions keep you from experiencing the power and presence of God working through your life.
Pastor Alex Bess
