Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Grace

"5For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
Romans 8:5-8

In my future, when I am out of this corrupted body and living in a glorified one, I will no longer be capable of sin. Not there yet.
The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, which I understand fully; I have cherished that life and peace, that 'water which eternally satisfies' for many years.
But, still waiting for the final redemption, I struggle along in this sinful world, falling and getting up, falling
It is the common experience all Christians share-we want to please God, but in our lives we often fail and do things which displease Him. Paul said:
"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.
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! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin." Roman 7:18-25

Wretched about covers it. Our only Hope is in the goodness of God, that He will do as He has promised, freeing us from sin.
There is evidence of God keeping that promise in the Romans 8 passage above.
I would have no struggle with sin at all if I did not belong to God.
Pagans and those who do not know God may struggle with the breaking of moral codes, but they are generally self-imposed. They try to please themselves by living a good life and not murdering too many people, or only cheating a little on their taxes or spouses.
As with Paul, I say that nothing good dwells in me, in my flesh. If I had to trust in my goodness to get to Heaven I would be bound for hell. But we trust in the goodness of God, Who loves us in spite of our failures.
If you see a Christian sinning, don’t think for a moment that he or she is having a good time. We fall. We have defects, some of them debilitating to the point that we bring all kinds of grief on ourselves. Not because we are Christians, but because we are sinners, saved by God’s Grace, but still existing in this sinful world. Looking for the day of our redemption.

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