To press on towards maturity in the fulness of life we MUST discern between spirit and soul and also between Christ my life verses the flesh. We must become weened from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and stop seeing and judging and attempting to walk by laws and rules and the wisdom and philosophies of men no matter how good and noble, for these are all still according to the wrong tree. We must then repent from this way of life unto the tree of life for the walk in spirit as Christ my life. This way has the divine nature which cannot sin... 1 John 3:9No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 1 John 3:2Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. Though we are NOW born of God we do not yet fully see what we are but by faith, we walk in spirit... 3And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Though we are not yet pure, yet we are being purified! Now then we need to see the distinction between the two parts and two natures within ourselves in order that the one may decrease while the other may increase, but if we do not adequately see this, it becomes quite difficult to know to which we are sowing and facilitating because if we sow to the flesh, we reap from the flesh corruption but as we sow to the spirit, we reap from the Spirit, eternal life. 4Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 5You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. 6No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. 7Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. Does this mean that anyone who commits a sin is not saved or born of Him? Not exactly but this word is about differentiating between Christ my life, and the indwelling sin and its nature and turning from the latter to the former in practice and abiding. It is a matter mainly of from which tree is your base and fund for life. Lawlessness is a matter of the natural life wherein one lives according to his natural desires in and for the world and he consequently finds himself sowing to the flesh and from the flesh reaping corruption. Righteousness here refers not so much to the individual acts of righteousness but to the righteous act of faith in turning from self to the Lord in spirit as the life giving Spirit. Now I would go on to Romans where Paul helps us to see this vital distinction more clearly. Romans 6:2... How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Paul shows us that it is by Gods doing that we are IN Christ so that the sinful flesh might be dealt with in death. 3Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, The only proper and effective way to deal with sinful flesh is to put it to death, but since the flesh resides within us, we must die also, yet because we are in Christ and He was raised, we too are raised unto newness of life. 3Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7for he who has died is freed from sin. So then, how does one deal with sin and sins? Is it by trying or is it by resting? It is by resting because of Him are we in Christ. We merely accept this fact as a fact, and this is what it means to abide in Him. We cannot abide in Him if we still have hope in ourselves to try not to sin and to try to be a good person. That is not faith...that is still self. Now then we are ready to see this further revelation of who we are in Christ as Paul goes on to differentiate between the old man and the new man. 14For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. Paul is showing this distinction here by the reality that I am doing things which I hate! How can one hate what he himself is doing except that there is a division within him self. Part of him wishes to sin and the other part confesses that he does not wish to sin. Paul is saying all of this to prove that those who are truly born again have the new divine nature of God within them which cannot sin and does not approve of sin and so it must object. Now then we begin to see a distinction within our own person and this helps us to become aware of the division between spirit and soul and Christ verses the flesh. Christ is the tree of life which produces the good fruits while the flesh is the bad tree which produces sin and death. And now we go on to see this most remarkable revelation of truth from Paul... 16But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17So now, NO LONGER AM I THE ONE DOING IT, but sin which dwells in me. WOW, do you see this? This is NOT a license to sin willfully, of course but what Paul is doing is showing that a believer has not one but two natures and these two natures come from two separate fathers; the divine nature which comes from our heavenly Father and the sin nature which comes from Satan, the father of all sin, disobedience and rebellion! 18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. If one sins willfully it remains he, himself for he is in agreement with the sin nature of Satan, but if we become as those who detest sin, then we find the distinction and the reality that there is another person within me which both wishes and compels one to sin and that person is Satan! Here we find not a dead end but we find the solution to the problem in the salvation of Jesus Christ in turning from self with its abiding sin nature in every way and continually by faith unto the life giving Spirit within. 21I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Ill stop here since this is so long. : )
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 19:18:38 +0000
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