SIN
Rebellion. Satan's twisted version of what God made good. Beauty out of context. Love for self, love of flesh instead of love for God. Desires of the flesh calling out...
False promises. Misery. Loneliness. Grief. Destruction. Momentary fun. Eternal misery. Defeat. Despair. Bondage. Vomit. Blood. Grasping. Falling. Hate. Anger. Punishment. Pride. Fall. Bitterness. Jealousy. Efforts. Failure. Passions. Lust. Greed. Abuse. Hopelessness.
DEAD. FLESH.
Rotten, stinking flesh. Like a pig dressed up for a ball, a ring in our snout, we go out and make our debuts, are traced by our trail of mud, and thrown back into our pen of filth. Jude 12-13: "These are hidden reefs at your love feasts as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever."
Life without Christ, a life gratifying the flesh, does not deliver. We want it to, and we want it to so badly. We try every fashion trick in the book. We come up with excuses that are so artfully crafted, they are given the weight of truth, acclaimed by the world.
2 Timothy 4:3 says: For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths."
We try to justify ourselves but squander everything (Luke 15).
We are dead in our sin, and following the father of ROT.
Ephesians 2:1-3
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."
THIS is the LIFE without CHRIST. Dark. Miserable. Hopeless.
BUT GOD...
Eph. 2:4-6: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus..."
When we have Christ in our lives, we have His Spirit in us to live by. THE FRUIT of the Spirit is a natural result of the life of Christ inside of us:
Galations 5:22-25: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit."
When we belong to Christ, our fleshly passions and desires are no longer the ruthless dominating king of our lives. The same desires that rot our soul, eat us alive and mock us with lost hope...are CRUCIFIED. Christ took the wrath of God for us on the Cross so we can live FREE! No more bondage. Real hope. Extravagant never ending love. Fulfillment. Comfort. Peace. Purpose. Eternal life with the sovereign GOD.
________---------...............
and then you hear:
"DON'T JUDGE ME..."
I understand that the person who has refused to be set free of their flesh, their bondage, would say this. When a person is walking in darkness, they don't want light. If something threatens to expose them as false, they run. The best socially acceptable phrase to use to keep CONVICTION at bay is..."don't judge me." Right? People have to leave that person alone, or else they will be deemed "hater." "Intolerant." Pat words used to seal and stamp out truth.
BUT WAIT.
Don't we Christians use this phrase? Don't we try to justify ourselves on a daily basis? Don't we find ourselves giving into the temptations and desires that call out to us? Don't we return back to our own vomit as a dog? (2 Peter 2:22). Yes. The answer is yes. We still have to live in the world of flesh. We are new creations, the old has gone and the new has come (2 Cor 5:17). We have been given what we need to live a life as Christ calls us to. BUT...until Christ comes again and we are made perfect, we have to daily battle the sinful flesh. We can have victory every time our flesh calls out to us to obey it and return to slavery. We can choose to live by the power of the Spirit. But do we?
As believers, we are called to exhort each other to truth. Seek truth. Live truth. Glorify God. Be humble. Confess. Repent. Heal. Grow. Love. 2 Tim 4:1-2: "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word: be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching."
Yes, we have been cleansed of our diseased flesh when we are washed in Christ's blood. His healing water. But our flesh until Christ comes, is prone to rot again, wander, if we don't daily wash in God's water. His Word. His grace. We must want all that the life of Christ means. Even if it means death to self. Paul said in Galations 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." Once we have died with Christ, we can't try to live without him. It doesn't work. We can't follow our flesh and Christ, and still truly live. We must daily kill sin with the help of the Spirit.
.."But she gets up Sunday morning
She puts on her angelface
Angelface, you cannot serve two masters
Angelface, the world will leave you cold and alone
Angelface, you're headed for disaster!
Can't you hear your Father callin', "Angelface come back home."
-Judy Rogers, 1989
Why pretend to be perfect? Blameless? Why Justify yourself? Why run from a challenge or conviction and label it "judgement?" We will all stand before the judgement seat one day, but Christ already took the punishment for our sins. So why not live like it? We should boast in our weakness, the weakness of our flesh, because [Jesus]"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." -2 Cor. 12:9
Christian: Wash daily in the truth of Christ. Live by His Spirit. Die with Christ as he was crucified for your sinfulness, and LIVE!!!! The only good you have in you is Jesus. Truly, His yoke is easy and his burden is light (Matt 11:30).
"O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
just to trust his cleansing blood;
and in simple faith to plunge me
neath the healing, cleansing flood!
Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
just from sin and self to cease;
just from Jesus simply taking
life and rest, and joy and peace. "
Rebellion. Satan's twisted version of what God made good. Beauty out of context. Love for self, love of flesh instead of love for God. Desires of the flesh calling out...
False promises. Misery. Loneliness. Grief. Destruction. Momentary fun. Eternal misery. Defeat. Despair. Bondage. Vomit. Blood. Grasping. Falling. Hate. Anger. Punishment. Pride. Fall. Bitterness. Jealousy. Efforts. Failure. Passions. Lust. Greed. Abuse. Hopelessness.
Rotten, stinking flesh. Like a pig dressed up for a ball, a ring in our snout, we go out and make our debuts, are traced by our trail of mud, and thrown back into our pen of filth. Jude 12-13: "These are hidden reefs at your love feasts as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever."
Life without Christ, a life gratifying the flesh, does not deliver. We want it to, and we want it to so badly. We try every fashion trick in the book. We come up with excuses that are so artfully crafted, they are given the weight of truth, acclaimed by the world.
2 Timothy 4:3 says: For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths."
We try to justify ourselves but squander everything (Luke 15).
We are dead in our sin, and following the father of ROT.
Ephesians 2:1-3
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."
THIS is the LIFE without CHRIST. Dark. Miserable. Hopeless.
BUT GOD...
Eph. 2:4-6: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus..."
Galations 5:22-25: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit."
________---------...............
and then you hear:
I understand that the person who has refused to be set free of their flesh, their bondage, would say this. When a person is walking in darkness, they don't want light. If something threatens to expose them as false, they run. The best socially acceptable phrase to use to keep CONVICTION at bay is..."don't judge me." Right? People have to leave that person alone, or else they will be deemed "hater." "Intolerant." Pat words used to seal and stamp out truth.
BUT WAIT.
Don't we Christians use this phrase? Don't we try to justify ourselves on a daily basis? Don't we find ourselves giving into the temptations and desires that call out to us? Don't we return back to our own vomit as a dog? (2 Peter 2:22). Yes. The answer is yes. We still have to live in the world of flesh. We are new creations, the old has gone and the new has come (2 Cor 5:17). We have been given what we need to live a life as Christ calls us to. BUT...until Christ comes again and we are made perfect, we have to daily battle the sinful flesh. We can have victory every time our flesh calls out to us to obey it and return to slavery. We can choose to live by the power of the Spirit. But do we?
As believers, we are called to exhort each other to truth. Seek truth. Live truth. Glorify God. Be humble. Confess. Repent. Heal. Grow. Love. 2 Tim 4:1-2: "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word: be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching."
Yes, we have been cleansed of our diseased flesh when we are washed in Christ's blood. His healing water. But our flesh until Christ comes, is prone to rot again, wander, if we don't daily wash in God's water. His Word. His grace. We must want all that the life of Christ means. Even if it means death to self. Paul said in Galations 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." Once we have died with Christ, we can't try to live without him. It doesn't work. We can't follow our flesh and Christ, and still truly live. We must daily kill sin with the help of the Spirit.
.."But she gets up Sunday morning
She puts on her angelface
Angelface, you cannot serve two masters
Angelface, the world will leave you cold and alone
Angelface, you're headed for disaster!
Can't you hear your Father callin', "Angelface come back home."
-Judy Rogers, 1989
Why pretend to be perfect? Blameless? Why Justify yourself? Why run from a challenge or conviction and label it "judgement?" We will all stand before the judgement seat one day, but Christ already took the punishment for our sins. So why not live like it? We should boast in our weakness, the weakness of our flesh, because [Jesus]"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." -2 Cor. 12:9
Christian: Wash daily in the truth of Christ. Live by His Spirit. Die with Christ as he was crucified for your sinfulness, and LIVE!!!! The only good you have in you is Jesus. Truly, His yoke is easy and his burden is light (Matt 11:30).
"O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
just to trust his cleansing blood;
and in simple faith to plunge me
neath the healing, cleansing flood!
Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
just from sin and self to cease;
just from Jesus simply taking
life and rest, and joy and peace. "
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