Hello again my friends! Thank you for allowing me to share some of my own personal struggles with you last time. Even though I struggle daily with sin, I don’t really find myself despairing.
I don’t despair my struggle with my sin addiction because I know in my heart that I am not outcast by God. I know that there is no condemnation for those who belong to Jesus Christ, and because we belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed us from the powerful addiction of sin that leads to death. The law Moses gave in the Old Testament was unable to save us because of the weakness of our own sinful character. So God did what the law couldn’t do. He sent His own Sin in a body just like we lowly sinners have (Heb. 2:14). And it was in that body that God declared and end to sin’s control over us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins (Phil. 2:7, 8). He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit (Gal. 5:25).
Those who are dominated by their sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death, but letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God (Gal. 6:8).
But I know you are not controlled by your sinful nature. Instead, you are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you (and remember that anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to Him at all). And Christ lives inside you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you (John 14:20). And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living inside you.
Therefore, my friends, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. If you live recklessly, as it wants you to, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. Everyone who is led by the Spirit of God are children of God (Rev. 21:7).
So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful addicts. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children (John 14:26). Now we can truly call Him Dad or Father. Because His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are the heirs of all God’s glory. But if we share His glory, we must also share His suffering.
But if we suffer now, it is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later. All of creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who His children really are (Rev. 19:9). Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse (Gen. 3:17-19). But with eager hope, that same creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay (Rev. 21:4). We know that all creation has been groaning and crying out, just like a woman going through the pain of childbirth, right up threw this present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit inside us as a sample of the future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We also wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us (Phil. 3:21). We were given this hope when we were saved (after all, if we already have something, then we don’t need to hope for it, but if we look forward to something we don’t have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently).
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with sounds that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows every heart knows that the Spirit is saying, because the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called to His design for their lives (Jer. 1:5). God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the first among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen His people, He called them to come home to Him. And having called them home, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having given them right standing, He also gave them His glory.
What else can we say about such wonderful things as these? As the Bible says, if God is for us, who can be against us (Rom. 8:31)? Sine He didn’t even spare His own Son, but gave Him up for all of us, won’t He also give us everything else? Who would dare to accuse someone God has chosen as His own? No one—because God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—because Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or hard times, are ridiculed, or hungry, or outcast, or in danger, or even threatened with death? (As the Bible says, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep” Ps. 44:22). No, despite all these things, overwhelming victor is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Not death, not life, not angels or even demons. Not our own fears for what’s going on today or our worried about what’s coming up tomorrow—not even the power of Hell itself can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord!
I hope you all have a blessed evening!
Paul
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