FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
Romans 7:19 For the good that I would I do
not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but
sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present
with me.
22 For I delight in the law of IAUE after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of
my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my
members.
Last week’s post ended with this comment:
The
reality is this: We
are not in control. We
merely choose who is.
We
may choose
to obey the flesh, resulting in an unrighteous lifestyle
of obedience to the natural
desires (1 John 2:15-16) that leads to death;
or we may choose
to obey the will of
IAUE, resulting in a righteous
lifestyle that leads us to life.
It has
been said that the greatest lie the devil ever sold to man was that he does not
exist. I have heard many believers and
nonbelievers alike say, “I don’t believe in demons,” meaning they do not
believe there are such things as demons.
As with the devil, so too with demons, believing they do not exist does
not make it so. What it does is make YOU
an easy prey for both. Ignorance is not
bliss. Ignorance is deadly.
Those
who have put their trust in Yahushua Messiah and truly want to walk in
obedience to the will of IAUE consciously attend to the instruction of the
Master and incline their hearts to hear the voice of the Spirit. It is serious business with disciples, this
matter of walking after the Spirit.
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Messiah Yahushua, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
One of
the greatest pitfalls to successfully walking in/after the spirit is ignorance.
(Ignorance is not a function of one’s IQ. It is simply the absence of knowledge or
understanding of a matter.) This “pitfall of ignorance” pertains to the
nature of sin. Many students of the
Scripture are familiar with the term, the “Old Sin Nature,” often simply
abbreviated as the “OSN.” This refers to
the nature of the “Old Man.” The Old Man
is a term that refers to the nature of human life that results from conception
by the union of the seed of man and the egg of woman; the natural life of man
before being acted upon by the Spirit of IAUE to make us a new creature in
Yahushua Messiah.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Messiah, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new.
Here is
the problem. Because we are still keenly
aware of how easily we succumb to the flesh, how quickly we can choose to
disobey the will of IAUE to fulfill the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the
eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:15-16) we think that is just the Old Sin Nature kicking in
and drawing us away to the flesh, like it always did before we came to Messiah. Nothing could be further from the Truth.
Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him,
that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from
sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Messiah,
we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Messiah
being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he
died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto Elohim.
When we became united with Messiah, we became united with
him in his death. We were separated from
that Old Sin Nature which ruled our lives because the Old Man was crucified
with Messiah along with its Nature. In
its place was created a new life (2 Cor 5:17); and the nature of that new life is free from sin and alive unto IAUE
our Elohim. This is not mental
gymnastics. It is spiritual reality.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Messiah: nevertheless I live; yet not I,
but Messiah liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
the faith of the Son of IAUE, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Theologians
tend to complicate this reality for the followers of Messiah by talking about our
“position” in Messiah as something that is akin to a legal concept whose
ramifications will be realized in experience in the resurrection rather than a present
day functioning reality. There is
something to be said for the legitimacy of “positional” theology; but not when
it robs us of present day experience.
The present day reality for those who are “in Yahushua Messiah” is that
their old man is dead, and with it, their old sin nature. The nature of the new creature they have
become is righteousness. It does not
sin. It is in perfect harmony with the
will of IAUE.
So,
if we have a new life within us that is in perfect harmony with the will of
IAUE, why are we so messed up in our actual life experiences? It is because we have not yet taken the “position”
of our old man having being crucified with Messiah and recognized that it is present
day reality.
1 John 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in
him is no sin.
6 Whosoever
abideth in him sinneth not:
whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth
righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8 He that committeth sin
is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the
Son of IAUE was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whosoever is born of IAUE doth
not commit sin; for
his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of IAUE.
Verse
9 has perplexed pretty much everyone who has ever read it; because we know
ourselves and we know others, and we know that even though we have been born of
IAUE we still commit sin. So how can the
apostle John say such a thing as this?
He can say it because he is referring to the actions of the new creature
in Yahushua Messiah which we have become.
He is not referring to the actions of the flesh. The nature of the new life is humble
obedience to the will of IAUE. The
problem is that we who are born of the Spirit still think that the OSN is alive
and well within us; because we are keenly aware of our day to day struggle with
sin.
The
truth is that we are not struggling against our nature. We are ignorant of the law of sin in our
physical bodies. We lack understanding
that there is a virus of sin within our bodies that constantly attempts to draw
us into satisfying its cravings. That
law of sin is not our life. It is not
our nature. It is the voice of a
commander within our bodies attempting to get us to obey its orders, to subject
ourselves to its authority and become its servant. Paul had an answer to the law of sin in the
flesh.
11 Likewise reckon ye also
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto Elohim through Yahushua
Messiah our Master.
This word “reckon” is a legal term that means to consider
the evidence presented and render a conclusion based upon that evidence. Paul tells us that the incontrovertible evidence
concludes that we died in Messiah. We
are dead to sin. We are alive to Elohim.
Do you really believe that? Is that real to you? If it isn’t, you will never be free from sin;
because this is the cure to our walking in the flesh. This is the remedy to the dangerous ignorance
that thwarts the good intentions of disciples.
Romans
6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts
thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your
members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto Elohim,
as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto Elohim.
Notice
in these verses the implied subject is YOU. You are being asked to make a
choice. On the one hand, you have the choice of yielding to the dictates of
your flesh and becoming its slave; or, on the other hand, you may choose to
relate to your body as nothing more than a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1), something
to which you are dead because you have offered it up to IAUE to use as He
pleases; and your use of your own body is now only that of a vehicle for doing
the will of IAUE. This results in you
becoming a servant of righteousness.
Do not
fall prey to the lie that YOU are still a sinner; because that is no longer
your nature. If you believe that you are
still a sinner, guess what will happen.
You will continue to sin. The
reality is that YOU are dead, and your life, now, is hidden with Messiah in
Elohim, and the only hindrance to your walking after the Spirit and doing the
will of IAUE is your continuing to choose to obey the enemy of IAUE…the law of
sin in the flesh.
It
makes a difference that we think we are denying a nature of sin in order to
obey the voice of the Spirit. In essence
that gives sin a second vote in our life against only one vote for righteousness. Our soul agreeing with the flesh is more
often going to result in obeying the flesh.
There
are three reasons why we who are disciples still sin.
1. Our minds are in agreement with the impulses of our
flesh. We enjoy sin, and want to
continue therein.
2. Our minds are not renewed to understand what is the
good, acceptable and perfect will of IAUE; and we sin ignorantly, not even
knowing we are failing the will of IAUE.
3. Our lives have been so consistently disobedient to
the will of IAUE that we have allowed the influence of demonic spirits into our
life that are now generating almost automatic behavioral responses to certain “triggers”
in our life.
We will
take up these issues, next.
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