FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
Heb
12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race
that is set before us,
2 Looking
unto Yahushua the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was
set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the
right hand of the throne of IAUE.
3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners
against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
4 Ye have
not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Last week’s post ended with this comment:
Once we have yielded ground to demonic
spirits in our lives,
we must reclaim that ground for a different
master in order to
experience freedom from the predisposition
to sin, the triggered
behavior created in our lives by their
wicked influence.
This concept of forfeiting ground
to the enemy is often discussed in the contemporary church, but almost always with
the understanding that all one needs to do is cast out the demon and all will
be well. This is not the teaching of
Scripture.
Luke 11:24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through
dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my
house whence I came out.
25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.
26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more
wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of
that man is worse than the first.
When an evil spirit/demon is cast out of a
man, he absolutely WILL return to examine whether or not his room has been made
up and tidied for him. Just because a
demon is cast out of a man does not mean that the reason why the demon was
there in the first place has been resolved.
It is imperative for us to understand this fact. Demonic participation in our sinful practices
exists because it is invited, whether knowingly or unwittingly.
As the Master said, “No
man can serve two masters.” It is
not possible to love both masters.
Yahushua said that we will either hate one and love the other, or hold
to one and despise the other (Matthew 6:24). When we give ourselves over to the dictates
of the flesh, we cast our affection upon the master of that domain. This has a calamitous
impact on how we view Messiah and IAUE.
Do not be deceived about this.
You cannot love the flesh and love IAUE.
It is not possible. You cannot love the thing from which Messiah died to
rescue you, and love him. Your choice
disdains his act. If you love the flesh, what you think you have for IAUE is
not love. It is a cultural attitude, or
worse, it is self-deception or even self-delusion.
One of the most classic ways in which
believers purport to “reclaim” lost ground is through self-disciplinary
behavior; by denying themselves certain actions or by restricting themselves to
certain patterns of behavior. Often,
fasting is used to “garner in the flesh” to demonstrate control over the flesh.
Enforcing a daily “quiet time” to study or to pray; mandating attendance at
church services, religious or ascetic practices all may come into play. Paul had this to say about such things:
Colossians 2:23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made
religion and self-abasement and severe
treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly
indulgence. (NAS)
Listen
carefully to this. When we focus on the
flesh as something to be denied, and we act in accordance with that purpose,
all we are doing is strengthening the flesh in different areas of our lives. We
are using the flesh to overcome the flesh.
How then, should we reclaim the ground that had been forfeited to the
flesh?
Colossians 3:3 If ye then be risen with Messiah, seek those things which are
above, where Messiah sitteth on the right hand of IAUE.
2 Set your affection on
things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For ye are dead, and
your life is hid with Messiah in IAUE.
Remember, the root problem with the flesh exercising
control over our lives, and demonic spirits strengthening our sinful choices is
that we
have set our affection upon the flesh (No man can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the
other…). The remedy,
therefore, is to set our affection on “the right Master.” We need to reckon ourselves dead to sin and
alive to IAUE. If we are dead to sin
(and the flesh), how then can it occupy the focus of our attention and become
the object of our affection? Can we have
affection for a decaying, putrified corpse?
We must make a clean break from the flesh and relegate ourselves to be
alive to IAUE.
Colossians
3:4 When Messiah, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also
appear with him in glory.
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate
affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
6 For which things' sake
the wrath of IAUE cometh on the children of disobedience:
To mortify our members, our physical body, is to do what
Paul stated in Romans 12:1 in offering our bodies as living sacrifices. We are dead to our bodies. We no longer answer to the wishes of our
flesh. We regard our bodies as instruments
of righteousness to be used in obedience to the will of IAUE, only.
Colossians
3:7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
8 But now ye also put
off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy
communication out of your mouth.
9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man
with his deeds;
10 And have put on the new man, which is
renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor
uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Messiah is all, and in
all.
Put off the flesh.
Cast it aside. Put on the new man
which is the new creature in Messiah we became through repentance and trusting
in Yahushua, bowing our knee to his mastery over us.
Colossians
3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of Elohim, holy and beloved, bowels
of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man
have a quarrel against any: even as Messiah forgave you, so also do ye.
14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of
perfectness.
15 And let the peace of Elohim
rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye
thankful.
These verses provide us a wonderful litmus test to
examine where the seat of our affection truly is. Do mercy, kindness, humility, meekness,
longsuffering, forbearance and forgiveness characterize our lives? These are the virtues of the “new man.” Does peace rule in our hearts? Do we love the brethren? If these virtues are natural to the life we
are living, we have put on the new man; but if these are virtues we lack or
which we are practicing by choice, then the flesh still holds the seat of our
affection; and our choice to do the “good thing” is only because we have an
ulterior motive for doing them.
Colossians
3:16 Let the word of Messiah dwell in you richly in all wisdom;
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your hearts to IAUE.
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Master
Yahushua, giving thanks to IAUE and the Father by him.
This, too, will come naturally to you if you
have put on the new man, and the seat of your affection is in Messiah and IAUE.
* * * * *
For the past month, I have opened
with the exact same passage of Scripture; and yet, so far I have not made a
single comment about it. I have wanted
the sentiment of this passage to work quietly in the back of the reader’s mind
while we discussed the reasons why disciples still sin.
Heb
12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race
that is set before us,
2 Looking
unto Yahushua the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was
set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the
right hand of the throne of IAUE.
3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners
against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
4 Ye have
not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Have you ever
reflected upon your life, thinking “What if I was the one who was to be the
sacrifice for sin?” Thirty minutes later
you catch yourself lusting for the girl that you saw walking across the street;
or lying to someone to protect your own failure; or being angry or irritated,
frustrated or annoyed at someone. “Well,
there goes the sacrifice for the human race.”
See how easy it is for us to commit sin and cease to be a viable
offering for sin? Yahushua was a man of
like passions to us, and yet he chose never to respond to the flesh, to sin, or
to Satan. The Scripture says he was
tempted in all manners just like we are.
If we contemplate
the nature of his life contrasted with our own life, it produces such an
intense honor and respect for what he accomplished on our behalf. He endured every single human temptation, yet
without sin, because of the joy that was set before him. What was that joy? It was knowing he had accomplished the will
of his Father and thus provided a way for man to be restored into fellowship
and obedience to IAUE. The joy was the
knowledge he had done the will of IAUE.
I have always
admired the wisdom of the last verse in this passage of Scripture. “Ye have not yet
resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” Just how little of a fight do we put up
when we are tempted? Do we even think
about fighting; or is it, “Oh well, there is that temptation again. I guess I
should just go ahead and give in.” Or do
we EVER think, “I have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin?” This, too, lets us know where our affections
truly lie. Whom do we love? Ourselves…or IAUE?
Kingdom heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the performance
of the will of IAUE.
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