This morning I was led to read from Paul's letter to the Romans 6:8-14 NIV:
[8] "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. [9] For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. [10] The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God."
[11] "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. [12] Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. [13] Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. [14] For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace."
I love Paul's logic here, and his approach to helping us with our mindsets. He is speaking of the spiritual reality to help us apply it to our thinking and thus to our life. It is well known in today's psychology that we listen most to our own thoughts (just Google "Listening to Your inner Thoughts Psychology" for a great example of the many articles and studies that have been done on inner thoughts) and they can greatly affect how we act.
In one article the author wrote the following - "Did you ever realize that everything going on in your mind -- every thought, feeling, sensation, everything you are aware of -- is in fact happening only in your private internal world? Your thoughts appear only to you, and are not being heard by anyone else whatsoever. There is one physical world here on earth, but billions of different internal worlds. We are all in our own separate theaters, witnessing entirely different shows." ( https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/inviting-monkey-tea/201308/why-our-thoughts-are-not-real).
The author's point was that we all are affected by our internal thinking, and it is so important to understand what the truth is, and to actually meditate on it. She makes some very interesting points, and it is worth some reflection. One thing she doesn't take into account is the spiritual realm, and that is what Paul is speaking on here. He is addressing the thought lives of us all, and trying to help us grasp Spiritual truth that we can use to apply within our internal thought life, He clearly understands that this thought life affects us greatly.
For much of my life I didn't realize that some of my thoughts didn't originate with me, but rather were coming from an external source, either God or the enemy. It took time to learn to discern which came from the Lord, and which came from the father of lies, and which were my own. Once I become aware of this spiritual reality, I was able to identify the themes and efforts the enemy was constantly sowing within me. For a great example of a fictional account of this, read C.S. Lewis's book "The Screwtape Letters". Anyway, as I pondered my thoughts, I realized that many of the temptations I faced were in fact the result of thoughts that I embraced and followed, that were not originally from me. Despite the fact that I was a Christian and had been for many years there was a constant flow of negative or tempting thoughts, that I had to constantly deflect. It was a tiring effort, but one I was committed to waging. It was only a few years ago that the Lord helped me to see clearly how to step free of this struggle.
As I understand it, one of the great efforts of the enemy is to make us think our thoughts are all ours. He doesn't want us to realize he exists and is working to derail our lives. If we don't understand this, then we can believe this is just the way we are, and accept this as reality. The enemy also knows that the more we allow these thoughts and temptations to affect us, the deeper into his twisted world we are drawn. It is actually quite the nefarious scheme, and many of us humans are wholly unaware of this situation. The goal of the enemy is to draw us so deeply in, that our lives revolve around our sin, and we feel trapped with no hope for escape. It is a dangerous and deadly downward spiral. James speaks about the effects, or fruit of giving into temptation and allowing sin to take root in the following passages - James 1:13-15 NIV:
[13] "When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; [14] but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. [15] Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."
There is a downward spiral to sin, and many sins start as temptations, which often come as thoughts sown into our minds. If we allow these thoughts to reside and be planted into our minds and lives, they bear fruit as sin and as we continue to sin more and more and that sin bears fruit, and that fruit ultimately leads to death of some sort; death to relationships, death to hope, death to our true identity.
Paul is providing the spiritual truth to combat these attacks of the enemy, and we would be wise to allow these truths to settle firmly in our minds and embrace them in our active thought life. In Christ, we are "dead to sin and alive to God". The old man (in us) has died and we are now united with Christ Jesus in His glorious resurrection and reign. Satan has no power or authority in the Kingdom of God, or in the throne room of God. He is still the accuser, but that is all he can do. We have the freedom and power and authority, as sons and daughters of God, to tell him to be quiet. Jesus demonstrated this for us and the Gospel writers recorded multiple instances where He was telling the evil spirits or demons to be silent. Realizing we have this authority is half the battle, the other half is knowing we need to do this.
Paul, in light of this truth (We are dead to sin and alive to God) urges us to "not let sin reign in your mortal body". He is speaking about us allowing sin access and giving it power in our lives, when it should have none. This is where our free will comes in, God could eternally still the voice of the enemy, and will do so one day, but for now we must choose. We must choose whose reign we will live under, and it is our choice. The enemy in his multitude of lies tries to deceive and convince us that there is no way free, no way to escape the bonds of our sin, nor any way to escape the penalties, debts and fruit of our sin. He tries to make his path seem full of pleasure, but it is all selfishness and ultimately depravity and enslavement. God offers us freedom, forgiveness and the ability to walk as His true sons and daughters. He offers us life, death to our old man, life in His Glorious Kingdom. In such stark comparisons the choice is easy, but we must choose who to listen too, which is the point Paul is making. He says we can step free of the mastery of sin, there is another path, one of life united with Christ Jesus. We must choose to embrace the truth that we are free, made so by Christ Jesus. Regardless of the circumstances around us and how things look, we are free, because our old man died with Christ.
I am reminded of the effects of the 13th Amendment on the slaves here in the US. There were many that embraced this new freedom and threw off the shackles and life-styles of slavery to embrace their new found freedoms. There were also those that chose to stay on, living in much the same way they did before the amendment, for whatever reason. The choice was, in reality, theirs to make, to live as free men or to live in lifestyles very similar to slavery. This isn't a great analogy, but hopefully the point is clear. Paul is reminding us of the the proclamation of freedom to each of us, freedom from the power of sin, freedom from the lies of the enemy. We are encouraged to allow this truth to set up free! We have Jesus proclaiming freedom in this passage from Luke 4:18-21 NIV:
[18] “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, [19] to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
[20] Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. [21] He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
We are no longer captives to sin, oppressed by the lies and deception of the enemy. Paul wrote the following in his letter to the Galatians 5:1 NIV: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Paul was speaking specifically about the Law, but the truth is equally applied to sin. We were set free from the power of sin, and the lies and deception of the enemy by Jesus. We have freedom in Him!
This morning I am encouraged to look closely at my thought life and see where I am embracing the truth, and those areas where I am allowing temptation and sin to reign. I am encouraged to look to my life to see where I have believed the lies and deception of the enemy, guided by the Holy Spirit. I am encouraged to tell the enemy to be silent, as a son of God, standing in unity with Christ Jesus, who has all authority and power. I am encouraged to embrace freedom and the truth. Oh Lord, help me to know deep in my heart and mind this truth, that I am set free from the chains of sin, and I am free to be Your son, free to walk in everything You have for me. The old man is dead and I am alive in You! Help me to remind myself of this daily, that the old man is dead and I am alive to Christ Jesus, the enemy has no power over me! Help me to listen to the truth, to recite the truth, to speak the truth to myself!
Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment