Important to walk in the spirit, not the flesh

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 7:25–8:8)

Flesh is a term for our old nature. It is intellect/mind, emotions/feelings, and volition/will and makes up our human soul. Without Christ, it is our life, decisions, preferences and choices because the spirit is dead. However, when in Jesus Christ by faith, the Holy Spirit becomes the connection to God and the source of new life. That old nature is no longer needed as before, only to heed what the Lord says through our new nature — the spirit made alive by Him.

Our issue is knowing the difference. The Holy Spirit produces fruit: 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22–23)

If this fruit is missing, then I know I’m not filled with the Spirit. But what about commands and actions? How do I know if my ideas are from Him or that old nature?

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19–21)

These are obvious and usually identify someone who is not a Christian at all. Yet what about those actions that are not so obvious? I’ve learned two things, both being gifts from the Lord:
Know His voice. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)

 Read His Word. “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

He makes things plain also when I refuse to rely on my own ideas, or become overwhelmed by negative emotions such as rage, worry, and others, or when I have strong I wants and say things like “I must have this now” rather than hearing it from the Lord. 

Jesus, I get stirred up by those with “I problems” yet realize how easily I can listen to myself instead of You. Keep me in the Word and keep working on my ears. I’m so thankful that You love me and refuse to give me those ‘I wants’ that will do me harm. Bless Your Holy Name! 
 

 

Light that changes lives

“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.” (Luke 11:33–36)

In context, Jesus seems to be talking about Himself and the light that He sheds, but other passages use these terms to tell the disciples to shine the light He gives them so it might be seen or experienced by others. At the same time, His words indicate that the light we have must be pure. If there is sin present, then it becomes dark or untrue or hidden. Others cannot see truth in the way that I live if I don’t live according to the light that Christ gives me.

This is not a guarantee that if I live it, they will see it. Jesus lived a perfect life and they missed it. Even the reality of His resurrection was not discerned by their dark eyes.
This is logical. Our light depends on the reality of His eternal life:

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:12–14)

This passage goes on to say, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Corinthians 15:17–19)

Whatever light God has given depends on this one truth. If Jesus was not raised, then I have nothing to tell people that is powerful for them. Living a good life means nothing. Even answered prayer can be called a ‘coincidence’ by those who hear such things. Key to believing the gospel is the reality of the resurrection, not my light or the light shone by all the godly living of all His saints. It may get the attention of those who want a better life for themselves, yet if that light is perceived only as something I’m doing apart from the living Lord Jesus, they are still in the dark. Paul knew this, which is why he wrote: “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10)

And Lord Jesus, if my testimony is about me and what I have done and what I believe, and full of me, me, me, then I am not shining — a huge part is the dark when I foolishly rob God of His glory by telling others what I did or in any way make the gospel about me. That is a huge lack of discernment about the real needs of others, and even boasting or hypocrisy on my part. Shame on me. 

 

 

Three kinds of death

After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.” But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus says the Lord, You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’ ” So Elijah went. (2 Kings 1:1–4)

In the Bible, there are three kinds of death. One is the physical death, usually first thought of for this word;

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19) 

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, (Hebrews 9:27)

As my hubby often says, we are all terminal. This thought helps us make decisions in daily life. For instance, the accumulation of useless stuff is meaningless because we cannot take it with us. Unless our stuff has meaning for the time we are here, or can be helpful for others, possessing it has no meaning. Pragmatic thinking comes from recognizing this kind of death.

This physical death is the separation of the soul from the body yet the second one is of greater significance, spiritual death. This is the separation of the soul from God. In Genesis 2:17, God tells Adam that in the day he eats of the forbidden fruit he will “surely die.” Adam does fall, but his physical death does not happen at that point. However, he is separated from God. Because of that sin, all who have not been redeemed and regenerated are alienated from God by sin. 

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 flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 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, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:1–7)

By faith in Jesus Christ, anyone who is dead in sin passes from that death into spiritual life, a life that is no longer lived apart from God. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

The third death mentioned is really the second one. It is eternal death or eternal separation from God after physical death. This is true for those who reject God’s gift of forgiveness of sin and eternal life. They remain eternally separate from the One who loves them and died for them.

Jesus, You died for a brief time and then were raised from the dead because You didn’t want me to remain separated from You. I shake my head in amazed wonder at the sacrifice You made for me and millions more. How utterly wonderful that Christians cannot be killed! I will live forever with You. 

 

 

Overwhelming Truth

The preacher asks, “Why am I here?” He then answers that the desire and purpose of God is that we should reflect the image in whom we were created, yet more than that, reflect the image of the One in whom we were re-created.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. . . . and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 2:10 & 4:24)

This morning I read again in Charnock a description of what that means. It takes my breath away and calls me to worship. His writing is restated here, with some changes since he wrote in 1853 and even though his thoughts are eternal, they need a bit of editing. Charnock says…

The effects of redemption proclaim God's great goodness. We are delivered from the corruption of our nature, the ruin of our happiness, the deformity of our sins, and the punishment of our transgressions. He frees us from the ignorance that darkened our minds and the slavery to sin that enchained us. 

When He came to make Adam after his crime, instead of pronouncing the sentence of death he merited, God utters a promise no man could have expected. God's kindness rises above His provoked justice, and while He put Adam and Eve out of paradise, He gives hope of regaining even a better eternal home. God is more ready to pour out the blessings of His goodness than charge them with the horror of their crime.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)

God's goodness pardons us from more transgressions than there are moments in our lives. His goodness overlooks as many follies as there are thoughts in our hearts. He not only relieves our wants, but restores our dignity. What a great testimony of His goodness to instate sinners with the highest honors rather than merely supply our present necessity. In an admirable pity He is inclined to redeem us, and in incomparable affection He resolved to exalt us. 

What can be desired more from Him than His goodness has granted? He sought us when we were lost and ransomed us when we were captives. He pardoned us when we were condemned and raised us when we were dead. In creation He reared us from nothing yet in redemption He delivers our understanding from ignorance and vanity, our wills from impotence and obstinacy, and our whole person from a death worse than that nothing He drew us from by creation.

God's liberality in the gospel infinitely surpasses what we admire in the works of nature. His goodness in redemption is more astonishing to our belief than His goodness in creation is visible to our eye. There is more of his bounty expressed in this verse, “So God loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16), than there is in the whole volume of the created world! In creation, heaven spoke and the earth was formed. In redemption heaven Himself sank to earth and was clothed with dust to reduce man’s muck to its original state.

For this, God parts with his dearest treasure. His Son eclipses His choicest glory. For this, God must be made man, eternity must suffer death, the Lord of angels must weep in a cradle, and the Creator of the world must hang like a slave. He must be in a manger in Bethlehem, and die upon a cross on Calvary. Unspotted righteousness must be made sin, and unblemished blessedness be made a curse. 

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11–14)

PRAY: What else can I say but “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” (Psalm 51:15) The reality of redemption described by this writer, Steven Charnock, has a greater impact on my heart than the magnificence of the Rockies, the color and beauty of flora and fauna, and even the wonder of babes and children and people created in Your image. May I praise You night and day, in sickness and well-being, and with all of my heart. 

Put off the dead stuff…

Imagine having a billion dollar bank account, getting statements each month, but not believing it, so you are working hard to keep afloat financially. If that seems silly, imagine having faith in Christ and being dead to sin, reading what God says and still not sure this is true, particularly each time you disobey God. In both cases, inner thoughts do not line up with facts like this:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:1–10)

Key to both issues is what I am listening to? Is it the statements regarding my wealth? Is it the Word of God stating my status? Or am I looking at something else? The above passage asks, “If you have been raised with Christ” — a question puts those who hear it into a dilemma. How do I measure the answer?

I remember one man who claimed to be sinless. He said that salvation was death to sin and since he was saved, he no longer sinned. Anyone who knew him knew otherwise, but this man measured his answer by what he wanted to be true, and that desire blinded him to reality:

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8)

If I have money in the bank and yet insist I am poor and do not rely on that money, I would be like a person who claims to be saved, but is not relying on the Lord Jesus Christ to redeem him. I might be trying hard to redeem myself, or like the man I knew, denying I needed further work and denying there is any sin left to fight. What is true?

Today’s devotional talks about reckoning or considering. The Bible says that because of faith in God’s Word, I have died and my life is hidden with Christ in God. But it also speaks of earthly things in me, things to put off and not rely on or be involved in. I have to live according to what God says, not according to what I think or want.

The error comes by supposing “to live I must first die” or lose my life and find my life hid with God. However, the Bible says I am already dead. I don’t need to die, but to realize what I already am dead to that old life because of what Jesus has done. Reckoning is thinking the truth, not making it happen. When I think the truth, it shows up in the way I live, not the other way around. In other words, I don’t have to make a large income and deposit it in my account because that account is already full, established, there for me to live. Not ignore as if I didn’t have it and had to work hard to get it.

Putting off the old way is realizing the old way is a lie and no longer alive. Instead, I am not spiritual poor but very rich in the resources of my Redeemer!

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. (Galatians 2:20)

Losing the old life is key to discovering the new, but key to losing the old life is realizing and believing it is already lost, dead to God and useless. What I have in Christ is life and truth and reality, not a charge to go get it.

PRAY: Feelings, sinful behavior, any kind of selfishness can mess with truth, and Jesus, that is a big reason You tell me to shed that stuff and live in the joy You give. It happens by loving You and loving others and reckoning truth about me — truth that You proclaim and even put in writing for me to read and rejoice — to believe and obey. Sometimes this is difficult to explain, yet knowing the truth sets me free from that deceptive and useless self-effort.

 

Flesh vs. Spirit

 
I cannot describe the spiritual battles that others face, only my own. Today’s devotional is about the author’s battle with consecration. She writes about finding herself too weak and full of  imperfection and sin to dare dedicating herself to the Lord, but if she looks at Christ, all those thoughts vanish and she is left with a great desire to live for Him.

I know that battle, yet in my description I make a distinction between the flesh and the Spirit. Christ lives in me, but that old sinful nature clings to me like the ancient practice of putting the body of a murdered victim unto the back of the one who killed that person. What a stench, what a horror, but it does make vivid the reality of this war between God’s Spirit and my former nature. It is dead to God but still wants to rule my life. The NT is filled with instructions to help me recognize the difference and to live accordingly.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Galatians 5:16–17)

Sanctification is the work of God who changes my heart and desires, yet that sin nature resists doing God’s will because it is contrary to the nature of sin. However, God says:

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. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:24–26)

This is just one difference: the old nature is conceited, envious, and apt to spats with others. The Holy Spirit is not like that…

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Galatians 5:13)

The devotional writer speaks of choosing to live for Jesus, and by looking to Him to make all fleshy thoughts vanish, then adds “I know it is His will that I should live like that, and that He is able to keep me from falling. And so all I can do is trust Him.”

It is no secret that the enemy wants God’s people to follow the dictates of that dead thing that seems strapped on our back. He uses various schemes to appeal to us. For me, it is a disguised pride that insists my own ideas are okay. For the devotional writer, it is doubt that God accepts her sacrifice of herself. Again, that could be rooted in that prideful idea that we need to be ‘good enough’ to serve God. If that notion governs me, then I will never serve Him because I will never be ‘good enough’ — which is a denial of the very basic truth of the gospel; we are not accepted or used by God based on our worth or abilities. Obedience is not about being able but about trusting Him and doing what He says, relying on His enabling and His Spirit. Still, it is a battle.

PRAY: Lord, so often the enemy whispers that I cannot do whatever it is that You ask me to do. I know that this statement is partly true but mostly a lie. In You and because of You, I can do all things. This is a trust issue, not an ability test. I have just over three weeks to do what seems impossible, but know it is Your will to get with it and just obey You, “for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through You who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:11–13) Thank You for this timely reminder that my life is in Your hands!

Are tempting thoughts sinful?

An elderly pastor was asked if evil thoughts were sinful. He said, “A bird can fly over your head, just don’t let it build a nest in your hair.”

Not too long ago, I had dreams where I was doing sinful things. When I asked God about it, He said, “Would you rather do those things in real life so I could show you your sinful desires?”

Today’s reading says that sinful thoughts are not sin. However, Jesus said they are the root of sin. When asked about failing to do human commands such as a hand-washing ritual or other ‘rule’ He said:

Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Matthew 15:17–20)

Not only that, Jesus also said that thinking lustful thoughts was the same as committing the action. From this and other verses, I understand that evil thoughts are not always Satan’s idea. Human sinfulness is capable of all sorts of notions that defile us. They can be fleeting, like a bird flying over my head, but if I dwell on them and then act on them, these roots of sin grow and will ruin my life.

James put it this way:

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:13–15)

Last week someone did something that was inappropriate and angered me. This week I thought of what I would do if that happened again. My plan was not gracious, but retaliation of an unkind sort. As I did my chores, I rehearsed this plan. This bird was building its nest. Confession and repentance is needed.
Temptation happens because of two things. One is that my sin nature is prone to sinful thoughts and actions. Two is that Satan tells me lies that appeal to that sin nature, like a fisherman uses bait to catch a fish. The fish will not go for the bait unless there is a hunger within. A satisfied fish cannot be lured by something it does not want.

These two metaphors of a bird and fishing emphasize the need to watch out for what one Christian called “stinkin’ thinkin’” because they show the danger of temptation — if it appeals to a desire for a resting place or something to satisfy a need, then it is going to bring my sinful desire out in the open for one or the other. When that happens, that desire needs attention. I must confess it as sin because it is one of those “I want what I want when I want it” things, rather than being rooted in and satisfied in Jesus Christ.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8)

Thinking about evil is not a sin? I don’t agree. Apart from having the mind of Christ to enable me to obey this verse, I’m a sitting duck for that bird and that bait (oops, mixed metaphors again). My old nature may not show up in life like it does in bad dreams, and the lures Satan presents may not interest me, but if they do, then the sin is in me, not in the dream or the bait.

PRAY: Jesus, I don’t need nests in my hair or any other resting place for sin. I don’t need anything the enemy offers, and I do not want to be a target. However, I’m glad that You can use these things to show me what I need to confess and how I need to more deeply trust You. You are definitely my Lord and Savior, and I thank You for taking care of me, warts and all.

Self-Denial

 

The word for today is YIELD. A simple search in the English Bible gives only nine references using almost as many different Greek words. Most of them mean to produce something, or give off something which is what the word used here means:

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. (Matthew 27:50)

The only one that speaks of consecration to God in the sense of giving all of me into His care is expressed in a negative sense in relation to false teachers:

… to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. (Galatians 2:5)

A better term is SELF-DENIAL It means to deny myself by repudiating any gratification of self-centered desires and values that are outside of God's will and will not glorify Him. One writer describes it as getting out of the driver’s seat so that God is in that place, denying self any right to master my life. 

Jesus said it this way: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) This “cross” is not about hardships as many use the term, but about dying to our old way of life.

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (Romans 6:6)

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)

These verses make it clear that this is about considering “self’ being separated from God in a state called spiritual death, the state of anyone who is not “alive” through faith in Christ. However…

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. (Galatians 2:20)

Because this is true, I can live accordingly. Being able to deny sin and selfishness affirms that I believe the above verse. It is a faith issue. If I think I have rights and my way is okay, then I am not believing God, at least not for everyday life. Yet God’s Word affirms that those who believe in Christ for eternal life only will learn otherwise:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11–14)

As God teaches me to deny self, He also teaches me to identify self. I want good things, but good may not be best. It is His will to which I must yield, not my own, no matter how good my desires might seem. Jesus did say, “Not my will but thine be done.” For that reason, the goal is to… “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14) and to “present my body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is my spiritual worship, and to not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of my mind, that by testing I may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1–2, personalized)

PRAY: Lord, in the busyness and duties of this day, remind me often that Your will means abundant life and the very best for me. Help me think that way when the challenges come. They always do, and You are always here to guide me into self-denial and being wholly yielded to Your will. Amen.

Dead to sin, alive to God

 

Today’s devotional begins with this: “There is a subtle enjoyment in torturing the outward self if the inner self-life may be fed thereby.” It goes on to say that that old nature of a Christian likes to share in the glory and cannot bear to be counted as dead or ignored. All religions based on rules and do-it-yourself principles give followers the opportunity to be exalted. “Look what I did” is a common goal in even those who follow Christ. How many of us will credit ourselves (I follow Christ) rather than glory in God who changed our lives?

Legalism permeates the Body of Christ. We have our ‘rules’ even though many of them are unspoken because obedience to a rule is opportunity to pat myself on the back. In contrast, life in the Spirit is action that is seldom premeditated. It is doing the will of God and looking at what we have done with wonder (where did that come from?) rather than taking credit for it.

This is a serious matter. The NT says:

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:6–8)

Living legalistically by rules is useless. It does not accomplish the will of God nor give inner peace. It may produce a deep sense of inferiority, or feed the ego and fuel boasting, but that ‘pleasure’ does not last nor does living this way fill the empty place in our hearts. God gives His children the desire to serve Him, but doing it by rules cannot please Him. It should not please me either.

Being “in the flesh” is about living by the self-centered old nature of the life lived without Christ. It is being governed by the I-wants and gives little attention to what God wants. It is doing life without Him or the new power He gives. It is living to please me and impress others. The flesh can seem pious and full of goodness, but the inner man (mind, will, emotions) run the show, not the Spirit of God.

Being ‘dead to sin’ requires having the Spirit of Christ living in me. This is not an event that I can control or make happen.

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:3–11)

I need to read that often. Death to sin is my reality. Alive to God is my reality. Anything else is an illusion. I died with Christ and need to consider this is so, like Paul wrote:

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. (Galatians 2:20)

It’s important to know the difference. The flesh can make itself look good, sound good, even do good, but how can I know for sure when that dead thing is flopping around? My flesh resists being exposed for what it is, but God will let me know:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12–13)

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23–24)

PRAY: Lord God, You show me that my old nature with its desire for self-glory motivates me far too often instead of wanting to glorify You. I confess these as sin, and am thankful You forgive and cleanse (1 John 1:9) As the psalmist says, lead me in the way everlasting, that the life You gave me will glorify You.

Jesus is my endurance…

 

In “Streams in the Desert” the author tells of a deep trial in which God revealed to her the why of the agony she experienced. An old oak log in her fireplace began to ‘sing’ releasing noises that was trapped in its knotty hardened growth. She realized that those sweet sounds would not have been released if the log had not been in the fire.

This was the Lord’s way of showing her that His sweet music was like the songs of praise that flow out of hearts that are purified by trials, something like the singing of Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16) but even more — like Jesus who died on the Cross and out of that great pain brought forth the sweetest music of all time, the song of forgiveness and eternal life.

This story speaks to me of two things. One is that my trials are to produce the music of Jesus, His very goodness comes forth when my hard heart is totally yielded to Him in that fire.

It also speaks to me of the yielding. That log had no choice. It was in the fire and it could burn without a sound, but it yielded a song. I can be the opposite — silently enduring, making no music. Or I can deny myself and let the trial be my cross, my place of dying to self where music can come forth.

Today’s devotion says that trusting Jesus is both simple and very difficult. The old nature continually resists. When Jesus said to take up my cross, He was not talking about the challenge of obedience being a difficult cross, but the challenge of death to self and being willing to obey, even dying for Jesus.

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? (Matthew 16:24–26)

Some have assumed that “taking up the cross” means doing the will of God and the challenge of obedience is the ‘cross’  but that is not the main idea. While obedience means giving up what I want to do, the heavy burden is not in obeying God but dying to sin. That old nature resists death rather than welcomes it. As for obedience, Jesus said:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30)

He never indicated that taking up His cross is about serving Him. Instead, it is about leaving me, myself, and I out of it. Doing His will is a delight and the abundant life. Denying myself is a battle and all about death.

And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:38–39)

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:6–11)

This is where I always need to remember that facts pull the train and faith follows facts, not feelings. The old nature bases its desires on what feels good or what I think will feel good. The new person in Christ bases its desires on the will of God and considers the old nature a bothersome noise and a slave to sin. But that slave is dead.

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. (Galatians 2:20)

PRAY: Lord, that old nature already died on the cross in You. I need to take up that cross and quit trying to retain anything of that old life. This is a wonder and a joy. May I stop fighting to keep a dead thing alive, always remembering I was crucified with You, but also that “if I endure, I will also reign with You” (2 Timothy 2:12) — and not only that, You are my endurance!

“In Christ” isn’t simply a belief system . . .

 

“God . . . has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3.

Many people believe that one’s religious preference is irrelevant because all religions eventually lead to the same spiritual destination. However, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) His claim cannot be ignored. The entire NT supports and explains it. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

The devotional for today says Christianity isn’t simply a belief system—it’s a whole new identity. Being united with Christ changes who I am because I am “in Christ” something like putting a piece of paper between the pages of a book; that paper is ‘in the book.’ Yet that is hardly adequate to explain what God has done in redeeming His people.

But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. (1 Corinthians 6:17)

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. (Romans 8:9)

The phrase “in Christ” occurs thirteen times in Ephesians. The first verse addresses this letter to those who are faithful in Christ. The third verse says we are blessed in Christ. Verse 9 says God’s purposes are set forth in Him and 12 declares that those who hope in Christ bring praise to Him.

God’s power is revealed in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, yet the startling truth is that we have also been raised up and seated in heavenly places with Him! How can that be? I’m still here, as are many who hope in Him. This must be understood in terms of status not location, eternity not time. That is, the eternal God declares that from His perspective, I am already there with Jesus. He has united me with His Son “so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

For the present location and time, I am here with things to do: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

How did God do that? He says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” and that both Jews and Gentiles are heirs in this union. God’s promises are ours because we are in Christ and that happens when we believe  the gospel. It is a faith thing on our part, but according to God’s eternal purpose. Therefore we say, “to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Being “in Christ” is spiritual reality that affects the way we live. Galatians 2:20 declares, “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.” This new life comes with new thoughts, new ways of living. For instance:

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:29–32)

Before Christ came into my life, I was in bondage to my sinful I-wants, spiritually dead, and without hope. Then Jesus arrived and I became a new creation. God reconciled me to Himself. He also gave me the ministry of reconciliation; that is, telling others that “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them . . . .” He took my sin, died for it, and gave me His righteousness. I had much to learn about mind renewal and transformation and now realize this is a life-long process, but also realize that in Christ I am His child, an heir of God, and eternally secure. As MacArthur says, what He is, I am. What He has, I have. Where He is, I am.

My response? I’m to “let my light shine before others, so that they may see my good works and give glory to my Father who is in heaven.” For that, I pray for a shiny life today and a deeper understanding of the reality of being in Christ.

MORE: Matthew 5:16, 2 Corinthians 5:17–19, Ephesians.