“God gives us a heart and
mind that is new and no longer feels satisfied with a sinful lifestyle.” - Philippians 2: 12-13
If a person can sin without
any remorse, then he/she is not truly born again and the Spirit of God does not
reside within them (Romans 6:2-4).
If we are not willing to crucify all sinful passions and desires, we do not
really belong to Christ (Galatians 5:24). If the Spirit of God does reside in us, however, then we are dead to any
attraction to sin and to the world (Galatians 6:14). Sin does not appeal to us any longer, because we are
not enticed by it. We are even grieved by sin now, because of the Holy Spirit
within us. We died to sinful desires and we do not want to
live in sin a moment longer. We are baptized into Christ’s death and raised in the power of the Holy Spirit to live a new life.
Once a person does choose to
follow Christ, Jesus’ saving work on Calvary
is appropriated to his/her spirit. If this same person dies physically the very
next day, they are saved and will live for eternity in heaven, even though they
never started the sanctification process. Think of the thief on the cross. He
believed in Christ as he hung there next to Jesus. Our Savior assured him,
"Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). This person is justified and still gets
"paid" a day’s wage...they still go to heaven; but they will have
very few rewards in heaven and they lived a very sorrowful life here on earth (Matthew
20:1-15).
Once the Spirit of God moves
in, our base nature no longer has any claim on us. We are not drawn to partake in
the lower level of human behavior. Through Christ’s death, we put to death all the
sinful longings of our body, so that we can live now in the resurrection power
of Christ (Romans 8:12-13). We
are like a seed of wheat. We have been buried with Christ in baptism and now we
produce a fruitful life.
People who claim to be
Christians, but who still continue in worldly fellowship with carnal friends
and who continue to partake in a lifestyle of sinful behavior, risk the wrath
of God falling on them because of this disobedience (Colossians
3:3-7). If we love the old way of
living, we will lose our life forever; however, if we hate the sin-filled life
we once lived, we will remain alive in Christ for eternity (John
12:24).
Due to God’s forgiveness of
our sins, our eyes are wide open to His mercy. We give Him our body as a living
sacrifice, consecrated to Him and accepted by Him. We no longer allow the world
to squeeze us into its mold, but we submit to God as he remodels our actions
and improves our attitude (Romans 12:1-2).
We lay down the old nature, which has a propensity to sin, and we destroy any
deceitful, indecent desires that linger in us. We can do this only because God
gives us a heart and mind that is new and the power to stand against temptation
(Philippians 2: 12-13). We no longer feel satisfied with a sinful lifestyle.
The tyranny of sin over us
is broken and we are free from sin from now on, because we died with Christ (Romans
6:5-7). Since Jesus died for our sins,
we are now alive in Him (Romans 6:8-11; 2 Timothy 2:11). He erased every record of sin against us by nailing
it to the cross (Colossians 2:12,14,20). He died for us so that we no longer live for our self, but we now live
for Him. Our past is dead and buried, and God gives us a fresh, new life (2
Corinthians 5:15,17).
Prayer:
Lord God, Your grace appears to every person who is born on this earth. You call us to refuse the draw of sin and worldly passions and to live a decent, self-controlled, godly life instead (Titus 2:11). Your Spirit works right along with us, replacing our old habits with the His fruit. He weaves into the fibers of our personality the works of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness self-control and faith (Galatians 5:22). We live upright and holy lives in honor of Christ who sacrificed Himself for us all (Ephesians 4:22-25; Galatians 2:19-20).
Thought for the Day:
Born Again Believers focus
on spiritual desires and set our hearts on pleasing the Lord. - Colossians
3:1 