Post by beloved on Oct 12, 2007 8:29:13 GMT -5
Romans 6: 11- 13
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
Notice this says, "offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life.."
This means that we have been - past tense- brought to life and no longer have to live in death (sin). We don't have to try to become dead to sin; we are dead to sin. What we have to do is believe that, accept it, and we will naturally begin to walk in it.
It's funny how when we quit trying with our own human efforts to be what we already are (inside spiritually) how the life of the Spirit begins to flow out of us.
What we do have to do is guard our minds against the lies of the world, the lies of sin. Sin can be so deceptive and so we become deceived and believe it will bring us life when it is nothing but death. Many men and women in the body of Christ have sexual bondages because of believing these worldly lies.
Romans 6:13
The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
When we try to use our bodies for something they were not meant for, natural laws (and spiritual ones) begin to unfold in our lives; consequences. And those consequences are not pretty; STD's, unwanted pregnancies, broken relationships, broken families, broken minds, broken sexuality, sexual dysfunctions (emotionally and physically).
Romans 6:18
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
Indeed, we sin against our own flesh. This reminds me of an article I read once that stated there seemed to be a link between people who masturbated and the inability to orgasm with a partner easily; if at all. For men, this could be even worse; losing the ability to get an erection.
These are just natural laws; not unlike the law of gravity. If you jump, walk, skip, or fall off of a house you will still hit the ground, and hard, because of the law of gravity. It doesn't matter if you believe or don't believe in the law of gravity, you will still hit the ground. It's a law. In the same way, human beings are constantly trying to to do things, that there will be natural consequences for, but they try to believe there won't be, and they act completely shocked when experience those natural laws taking effect in their lives. You may be able to get by with sin without any or much consequence in the short run, but eventually those laws produce their fruit. Would they be shocked that they fell to the ground hard if the jumped off a roof? No, because they believe in the law of gravity. So, why is it so hard for us to believe in the law of "sin and death"?
To give an example of even what many Christians buy into the lie that sin brings life, from the book, "Who I am in Christ" by Neil T. Anderson
It is deception from the world, and/or the enemy that causes us to not believe in the "law of sin and death". We allow him, or the world's system to convince us that there is a "law of sin and life". We walk right off that house and fall to ground and wonder how we got there; because we were blinded to the truth.
That is why it is important for us to guard our minds against lies of the world's system (lies the enemy has placed there) and renew our minds with the truth found in God's Word. If you want a good life, follow God's laws. They are there to protect us and those around us. They are not there to "take away our life" but to "give us true life" here on earth. Although they cannot give us eternal life, because we cannot (in our human flesh) keep them 100% of the time. Our eternal life comes from trust in Jesus atonement for our sins; and telling him so.
So, how do we get free from our sins? We renounce the use of our bodies in sinful immorality but we also must renew our minds to truth; and we must meditate (continually remind ourselves) of who we are in Christ now. We are "dead to sin and alive unto God.", for one thing. We are many, many things in Christ that we need to learn about so we can reap the fruit of it and not keep it stored up in our spirits alone. In our born again spirits we are holy, we are righteous, we cannot sin. The more we learn what we have been made in Christ, and identify with that, the more we will become those things on the outside as well.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
Notice this says, "offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life.."
This means that we have been - past tense- brought to life and no longer have to live in death (sin). We don't have to try to become dead to sin; we are dead to sin. What we have to do is believe that, accept it, and we will naturally begin to walk in it.
It's funny how when we quit trying with our own human efforts to be what we already are (inside spiritually) how the life of the Spirit begins to flow out of us.
What we do have to do is guard our minds against the lies of the world, the lies of sin. Sin can be so deceptive and so we become deceived and believe it will bring us life when it is nothing but death. Many men and women in the body of Christ have sexual bondages because of believing these worldly lies.
Romans 6:13
The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
When we try to use our bodies for something they were not meant for, natural laws (and spiritual ones) begin to unfold in our lives; consequences. And those consequences are not pretty; STD's, unwanted pregnancies, broken relationships, broken families, broken minds, broken sexuality, sexual dysfunctions (emotionally and physically).
Romans 6:18
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
Indeed, we sin against our own flesh. This reminds me of an article I read once that stated there seemed to be a link between people who masturbated and the inability to orgasm with a partner easily; if at all. For men, this could be even worse; losing the ability to get an erection.
These are just natural laws; not unlike the law of gravity. If you jump, walk, skip, or fall off of a house you will still hit the ground, and hard, because of the law of gravity. It doesn't matter if you believe or don't believe in the law of gravity, you will still hit the ground. It's a law. In the same way, human beings are constantly trying to to do things, that there will be natural consequences for, but they try to believe there won't be, and they act completely shocked when experience those natural laws taking effect in their lives. You may be able to get by with sin without any or much consequence in the short run, but eventually those laws produce their fruit. Would they be shocked that they fell to the ground hard if the jumped off a roof? No, because they believe in the law of gravity. So, why is it so hard for us to believe in the law of "sin and death"?
To give an example of even what many Christians buy into the lie that sin brings life, from the book, "Who I am in Christ" by Neil T. Anderson
The enemy distorts sex, which God created to be beautiful, wholesome and intended only for the marriage relationship. In our present culture, sex is synonymous with love, and it has become a "god" to be worshiped. And many Christians believe that lie.
It is common for us to have a Christian woman name 30 or more people with whom she has had intercourse, perhaps including several long - term affairs.
I spend the majority of my counseling time with Christian leaders, many of whom have fallen prey to the enemy in the area of forbidden sex.
It is common for us to have a Christian woman name 30 or more people with whom she has had intercourse, perhaps including several long - term affairs.
I spend the majority of my counseling time with Christian leaders, many of whom have fallen prey to the enemy in the area of forbidden sex.
It is deception from the world, and/or the enemy that causes us to not believe in the "law of sin and death". We allow him, or the world's system to convince us that there is a "law of sin and life". We walk right off that house and fall to ground and wonder how we got there; because we were blinded to the truth.
That is why it is important for us to guard our minds against lies of the world's system (lies the enemy has placed there) and renew our minds with the truth found in God's Word. If you want a good life, follow God's laws. They are there to protect us and those around us. They are not there to "take away our life" but to "give us true life" here on earth. Although they cannot give us eternal life, because we cannot (in our human flesh) keep them 100% of the time. Our eternal life comes from trust in Jesus atonement for our sins; and telling him so.
So, how do we get free from our sins? We renounce the use of our bodies in sinful immorality but we also must renew our minds to truth; and we must meditate (continually remind ourselves) of who we are in Christ now. We are "dead to sin and alive unto God.", for one thing. We are many, many things in Christ that we need to learn about so we can reap the fruit of it and not keep it stored up in our spirits alone. In our born again spirits we are holy, we are righteous, we cannot sin. The more we learn what we have been made in Christ, and identify with that, the more we will become those things on the outside as well.