Is Your Christian Life Working - Continued
Is Your Christian Life Working?
(Continued)
So, lets look at some other KEY terms that you MUST understand and apply in YOUR life to be what God wants you to be.
The next key term is CONFESSION.
Confession literally means to say the same thing. Biblical confession means we call our sin what God calls it. (I John 1:9) We should never minimize sin in any way by calling it something less than what God calls it.
For example: God says that telling anything less than the truth, is a lie. Today, the common mans believes that if the situation merits it, telling a lie is acceptable and even desirable, depending on the situation. This is called situation ethics. The world in general calls the sin of lying, a white lie, a tall story, a fib, etc., etc. A true Christian who has been truly saved from sin is concerned about always telling the truth, because God is the truth (John 14:6).
God's Holy Spirit lives within us and He will lead us to the truth (John 16:13). Therefore a true Christian will seek to never distort the truth by giving a wrong impression or by slanting the truth in any way. (Eph.4:15) The Holy Spirit will convict all true Christians of any lying and falsehood. The Holy Spirits convicts the heart of a true follower of God so that he or she will then immediately confess and repent of this terrible sin.
A key ingredient of confession is total honesty. Without total honesty about your sinful condition before God, your confession is a sham. God highly values honesty in the heart of man, do you? (Ps.15:2)
SIN can be committed in thought (Acts 5:3), attitude (Mt.5:28) and action (Rom.5:18) by what we do or don't do. We can sin by commission, doing what God has forbidden, or omission, not doing what God commands.
Today, Satan has also employed another strategy to hinder God's solution and keep Him from saving mankind. Psychology has developed terms that redefine what God has called sin to a mental disease. Here is an examples of one of the many deceptive psychological labels:
God calls drunkeness a sin (I Cor.5:10), and if not repented from, will keep you from the kingdom of God. On the other hand, psychology defines drunkeness as a sickness called alcholism. By calling sin a sickness, man is now NOT morally responsible for his wrong decisions. When man redefines sin, he loses God's forgiveness, because God can ONLY forgive a man when a man agrees with God about his sin. Christ came to save man from His sin, not his mental illness.
God calls the unrighteous anger of man sin (Mt.5:22) and therefore commands that we "let ALL bitterness, wrath and anger be put away from you." (Eph.4:31) Psychology on the other hand says anger is NOT sin, but a feeling that must be expressed and an emotion that must be managed. That's why you have all these Anger Management classes springing up. Does God say we need to manage our sin or be cleansed from all unrighteousness? (1 Jn.1:9)
Psychology has NO interest in helping you have victory over sin. They have (in one way or another) redefined ALL sin as sickness. If you really want victory over sin, remove ALL psychological labels from your thinking and vocabulary.
Make no mistake here, YOUR eternal destiny is determined by what you think and ultimately what you do about your sin.
Repentance is a complete change of mind that results in a complete change of behavior. It involves a turning from sin to righteousness. (I Thess. 1:9) It involves godly sorrow for the sin, but repentance is MUCH MORE than just feeling sorry for what you have done. Repentance involves godly sorrow AND a 180 degree change of mind, heart and behavior. You were going one direction, now because you repented, you are going in the totally opposite direction.
In 1 Thess.1:9, Paul reported how that the those that repented "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God."
Here's the KEY and what we must examine in our own life - If there is NO change of behavior, then we can conclude that there has been NO change of mind and heart. A change of mind and heart ALWAYS results in a change of behavior. To say something has changed, is much different than showing by our life that we have changed. (Mt.7:20-27)
John the Baptist who was preparing the way for the coming Messiah preached repentance as the foundation and pre-requisite for the coming Kingdom of God. (Mt.3:2) John preached that man must turn from the "Root" of our sin (Mt.3:10). What is the root of sin? PRIDE & SELFISHNESS. That's why the Pharisees who came to John and Jesus NEVER followed the Lord. They were too proud to admit they were wrong and needed repentance. Jesus even told them, only the sick need a doctor. So you guys must be fine, since you don't think you need a doctor. (Mrk.2:17)
That's also why Jesus preached about a radical "amputation" from any sin that would seek to enslave and destroy us. (Mt.5:29-30)
"If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you, for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."
A willingness to radically "amputate" any and ALL sin is a clear demonstration of how serious we are about following Christ.
Take this quick test - Which do you view as more devastating, AIDs or sin? If you contracted AIDs, would you be more concerned and motivated to get a cure for this physical disease than getting a cure for a sin you had committed?
Now be honest, most of us are really more concerned about our physical health than our spiritual health. We'll spend more time, money and attention on our physical body than our spiritual condition. But which is REALLY more important? Someone with AIDs can get into heaven, but someone with unconfessed, unrepentant sin CANNOT.
That's why Jesus made this astounding statement - "Unless you are (continually) repentant, you will ALL likewise perish." (Lk.13:3) True followers of the Lord don't just repent once, they live a live of repentance from any and ALL sins that they see in their life.
So, what do we repent from? Sin of course. Sin is ANYTHING unChristlike in our life. UnChristlike thoughts, actions, motivations and speech.
We must repent and forsake all our "darling" secret unChristlike sins like; lustful thinking, being the friend of money, seeking the acceptance and praise of men, all forms of hypocrisy (giving the impression you are more spiritual than you really are), showing no compassion to others, having an unforgiving spirit, spiritual pride and arrogance, not controlling our tongue, not being thankful at all times and in all circumstances (Eph.5;20), not being content, speaking unkindly, having any bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and slander in our lives (Eph.4:31), "not justifying ourselves before men" (Lk.16:15), etc., etc.
In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, Jesus outlined how HE lived, thought and behaved and what would also characterize the true follower of Christ. We must compare our life ONLY to His life. Therefore, ALL of our unChristlikeness must be admitted, confessed and forsaken.
Now we move onto Grace.
Grace is God's spiritual power to do whatever God commands. (2 Cor.12:9) The Grace of God (spiritual power) enables the believer to have victory over sin in every circumstance, shown by the example of Jesus Christ our pattern (Heb. 4:15-16).
Here's the KEY to having real victory over sin - God's grace (spiritual power) is ONLY given to the humble. (I Pet. 5:5-6; James 4:6-7)
If we are proud, arrogant, self reliant, conceited, haughty, puffed up, contemptuous, over bearing, pompous or presumptuous, we will NOT receive the grace of God to have victory over sin. That's why Christ had victory over ALL sin in EVERY circumstance, he had the grace of God in full measure in His life because He humbled himself fully. (Luke 2:40; Mt. 11:29; Philip. 2:7)
David, a man after God's own heart, also knew how important humility was. "Before I was humble, I erred inadvertently, but now I keep your word. Verse 71, "It is good for me to be humbled, to learn your statutes." (Ps.119:67,71)
So, if you haven't had real victory over sin, THIS is likely the reason for it. We haven't humbled our self before God and man.
Remember, ALL sin starts with PRIDE. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling." (Prov.16:18) "EVERYONE who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord, assuredly, he will not be unpunished." (Prov.16:5)
Notice what I Pet.5:5 says "...ALL of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
So what does it mean to humble our self? The word "humble" means to lower, to bow down, to self abase, to be of low degree. It means we see ourself as the lowest of the low. We esteem our self as nothing but a servant. Jesus ONLY viewed Himself as a lowly servant. (Mt.20:28)
Psychology says you need self esteem. God says you need to esteem others, not yourself. John the Baptist, the greatest prophet, said "He must increase, but I must decrease." (Jn.3;30)
That's why we are commanded to follow Christ's example of humility by:
"Do NOTHING from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, let EACH of you regard on another as more important than himself." (Ph.2:3)
"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus... who emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond servant... He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death." (Ph.2:7-8)
Here are the four major principles of humility from Phil.2. To humble ourself as Christ did, means we will:
#1 - Do NOTHING from selfishness or with a motive of self interest or to draw praise to oneself.
#2 - Regard and treat others as more important than yourself.
#3 - Think and act like a bond servant. (A bond servant was one who voluntarily placed themselves in service to another for life)
#4 - To sacrifice yourself and your interests for others. Even sacrificing yourself to the point of death for another, without ANY notice, praise or glory for doing so.
So, how do you stack up to Christ's example of humility? Now can you see why you and I don't receive the grace and power of God to have victory over sin?
So what should you do?
1. Ask God earnestly for the Fear of the Lord. It is by the fear of the Lord that God gives us humility. For the fear of the Lord is to hate pride and arrogance in our heart. (Pr.8:13)
We MUST hate our pride and arrogance before we can ever expect to take the first step in becoming more humble.
How do you hate evil, pride and arrogance? You can only hate it by seeing and understanding how it destroys us and how it offends our Holy God. Secondly, we hate something by loving something else. The more we love God and righteousness, the more we will hate evil. Jesus said, you can't love and serve two opposites. You can't truly love both light and darkness, God and money, etc. (Lk.16:13)
How do we love something? Well, how do you love another person? By spending time with that person in mutually enjoyable interests, by studying their admirable qualities and by doing things for that person that bring joy to their life. This is how we love God.
Jesus said the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord God with all you heart, soul and mind" (Mt.22:37) What then is the GREATEST sin? To love something other than God.
Why was Jesus so humble? He delighted in the fear of the Lord (Is.11:3)
Why was Jesus full of grace? He delighted in the fear of the Lord and therefore hated pride and humbled Himself daily. (Phil.2:3-11) Remember, God ONLY gives His grace to the humble. (Jam.4:6; I Pet.5:5-6)
Why was Jesus the most JOY filled person that ever walked this earth? Because He loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore God anointed Him with the oil of gladness ABOVE His companions. (Heb.1:9)
2. Seek to humble yourself as Christ did. Study the life of Christ so you can see how to live like Christ. Put into practice the four (above) principles of Phil. 2. Write them down and think on them continually.
Jesus says to us - "Learn from Me for I am gentle and humble of heart." (Mt.11:29)
You are welcome to print this or share it with a friend, but only in it's entirety.
(Continued)
So, lets look at some other KEY terms that you MUST understand and apply in YOUR life to be what God wants you to be.
The next key term is CONFESSION.
Confession literally means to say the same thing. Biblical confession means we call our sin what God calls it. (I John 1:9) We should never minimize sin in any way by calling it something less than what God calls it.
For example: God says that telling anything less than the truth, is a lie. Today, the common mans believes that if the situation merits it, telling a lie is acceptable and even desirable, depending on the situation. This is called situation ethics. The world in general calls the sin of lying, a white lie, a tall story, a fib, etc., etc. A true Christian who has been truly saved from sin is concerned about always telling the truth, because God is the truth (John 14:6).
God's Holy Spirit lives within us and He will lead us to the truth (John 16:13). Therefore a true Christian will seek to never distort the truth by giving a wrong impression or by slanting the truth in any way. (Eph.4:15) The Holy Spirit will convict all true Christians of any lying and falsehood. The Holy Spirits convicts the heart of a true follower of God so that he or she will then immediately confess and repent of this terrible sin.
A key ingredient of confession is total honesty. Without total honesty about your sinful condition before God, your confession is a sham. God highly values honesty in the heart of man, do you? (Ps.15:2)
SIN can be committed in thought (Acts 5:3), attitude (Mt.5:28) and action (Rom.5:18) by what we do or don't do. We can sin by commission, doing what God has forbidden, or omission, not doing what God commands.
Today, Satan has also employed another strategy to hinder God's solution and keep Him from saving mankind. Psychology has developed terms that redefine what God has called sin to a mental disease. Here is an examples of one of the many deceptive psychological labels:
God calls drunkeness a sin (I Cor.5:10), and if not repented from, will keep you from the kingdom of God. On the other hand, psychology defines drunkeness as a sickness called alcholism. By calling sin a sickness, man is now NOT morally responsible for his wrong decisions. When man redefines sin, he loses God's forgiveness, because God can ONLY forgive a man when a man agrees with God about his sin. Christ came to save man from His sin, not his mental illness.
God calls the unrighteous anger of man sin (Mt.5:22) and therefore commands that we "let ALL bitterness, wrath and anger be put away from you." (Eph.4:31) Psychology on the other hand says anger is NOT sin, but a feeling that must be expressed and an emotion that must be managed. That's why you have all these Anger Management classes springing up. Does God say we need to manage our sin or be cleansed from all unrighteousness? (1 Jn.1:9)
Psychology has NO interest in helping you have victory over sin. They have (in one way or another) redefined ALL sin as sickness. If you really want victory over sin, remove ALL psychological labels from your thinking and vocabulary.
Make no mistake here, YOUR eternal destiny is determined by what you think and ultimately what you do about your sin.
Repentance is a complete change of mind that results in a complete change of behavior. It involves a turning from sin to righteousness. (I Thess. 1:9) It involves godly sorrow for the sin, but repentance is MUCH MORE than just feeling sorry for what you have done. Repentance involves godly sorrow AND a 180 degree change of mind, heart and behavior. You were going one direction, now because you repented, you are going in the totally opposite direction.
In 1 Thess.1:9, Paul reported how that the those that repented "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God."
Here's the KEY and what we must examine in our own life - If there is NO change of behavior, then we can conclude that there has been NO change of mind and heart. A change of mind and heart ALWAYS results in a change of behavior. To say something has changed, is much different than showing by our life that we have changed. (Mt.7:20-27)
John the Baptist who was preparing the way for the coming Messiah preached repentance as the foundation and pre-requisite for the coming Kingdom of God. (Mt.3:2) John preached that man must turn from the "Root" of our sin (Mt.3:10). What is the root of sin? PRIDE & SELFISHNESS. That's why the Pharisees who came to John and Jesus NEVER followed the Lord. They were too proud to admit they were wrong and needed repentance. Jesus even told them, only the sick need a doctor. So you guys must be fine, since you don't think you need a doctor. (Mrk.2:17)
That's also why Jesus preached about a radical "amputation" from any sin that would seek to enslave and destroy us. (Mt.5:29-30)
"If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you, for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."
A willingness to radically "amputate" any and ALL sin is a clear demonstration of how serious we are about following Christ.
Take this quick test - Which do you view as more devastating, AIDs or sin? If you contracted AIDs, would you be more concerned and motivated to get a cure for this physical disease than getting a cure for a sin you had committed?
Now be honest, most of us are really more concerned about our physical health than our spiritual health. We'll spend more time, money and attention on our physical body than our spiritual condition. But which is REALLY more important? Someone with AIDs can get into heaven, but someone with unconfessed, unrepentant sin CANNOT.
That's why Jesus made this astounding statement - "Unless you are (continually) repentant, you will ALL likewise perish." (Lk.13:3) True followers of the Lord don't just repent once, they live a live of repentance from any and ALL sins that they see in their life.
So, what do we repent from? Sin of course. Sin is ANYTHING unChristlike in our life. UnChristlike thoughts, actions, motivations and speech.
We must repent and forsake all our "darling" secret unChristlike sins like; lustful thinking, being the friend of money, seeking the acceptance and praise of men, all forms of hypocrisy (giving the impression you are more spiritual than you really are), showing no compassion to others, having an unforgiving spirit, spiritual pride and arrogance, not controlling our tongue, not being thankful at all times and in all circumstances (Eph.5;20), not being content, speaking unkindly, having any bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and slander in our lives (Eph.4:31), "not justifying ourselves before men" (Lk.16:15), etc., etc.
In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, Jesus outlined how HE lived, thought and behaved and what would also characterize the true follower of Christ. We must compare our life ONLY to His life. Therefore, ALL of our unChristlikeness must be admitted, confessed and forsaken.
Now we move onto Grace.
Grace is God's spiritual power to do whatever God commands. (2 Cor.12:9) The Grace of God (spiritual power) enables the believer to have victory over sin in every circumstance, shown by the example of Jesus Christ our pattern (Heb. 4:15-16).
Here's the KEY to having real victory over sin - God's grace (spiritual power) is ONLY given to the humble. (I Pet. 5:5-6; James 4:6-7)
If we are proud, arrogant, self reliant, conceited, haughty, puffed up, contemptuous, over bearing, pompous or presumptuous, we will NOT receive the grace of God to have victory over sin. That's why Christ had victory over ALL sin in EVERY circumstance, he had the grace of God in full measure in His life because He humbled himself fully. (Luke 2:40; Mt. 11:29; Philip. 2:7)
David, a man after God's own heart, also knew how important humility was. "Before I was humble, I erred inadvertently, but now I keep your word. Verse 71, "It is good for me to be humbled, to learn your statutes." (Ps.119:67,71)
So, if you haven't had real victory over sin, THIS is likely the reason for it. We haven't humbled our self before God and man.
Remember, ALL sin starts with PRIDE. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling." (Prov.16:18) "EVERYONE who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord, assuredly, he will not be unpunished." (Prov.16:5)
Notice what I Pet.5:5 says "...ALL of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
So what does it mean to humble our self? The word "humble" means to lower, to bow down, to self abase, to be of low degree. It means we see ourself as the lowest of the low. We esteem our self as nothing but a servant. Jesus ONLY viewed Himself as a lowly servant. (Mt.20:28)
Psychology says you need self esteem. God says you need to esteem others, not yourself. John the Baptist, the greatest prophet, said "He must increase, but I must decrease." (Jn.3;30)
That's why we are commanded to follow Christ's example of humility by:
"Do NOTHING from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, let EACH of you regard on another as more important than himself." (Ph.2:3)
"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus... who emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond servant... He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death." (Ph.2:7-8)
Here are the four major principles of humility from Phil.2. To humble ourself as Christ did, means we will:
#1 - Do NOTHING from selfishness or with a motive of self interest or to draw praise to oneself.
#2 - Regard and treat others as more important than yourself.
#3 - Think and act like a bond servant. (A bond servant was one who voluntarily placed themselves in service to another for life)
#4 - To sacrifice yourself and your interests for others. Even sacrificing yourself to the point of death for another, without ANY notice, praise or glory for doing so.
So, how do you stack up to Christ's example of humility? Now can you see why you and I don't receive the grace and power of God to have victory over sin?
So what should you do?
1. Ask God earnestly for the Fear of the Lord. It is by the fear of the Lord that God gives us humility. For the fear of the Lord is to hate pride and arrogance in our heart. (Pr.8:13)
We MUST hate our pride and arrogance before we can ever expect to take the first step in becoming more humble.
How do you hate evil, pride and arrogance? You can only hate it by seeing and understanding how it destroys us and how it offends our Holy God. Secondly, we hate something by loving something else. The more we love God and righteousness, the more we will hate evil. Jesus said, you can't love and serve two opposites. You can't truly love both light and darkness, God and money, etc. (Lk.16:13)
How do we love something? Well, how do you love another person? By spending time with that person in mutually enjoyable interests, by studying their admirable qualities and by doing things for that person that bring joy to their life. This is how we love God.
Jesus said the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord God with all you heart, soul and mind" (Mt.22:37) What then is the GREATEST sin? To love something other than God.
Why was Jesus so humble? He delighted in the fear of the Lord (Is.11:3)
Why was Jesus full of grace? He delighted in the fear of the Lord and therefore hated pride and humbled Himself daily. (Phil.2:3-11) Remember, God ONLY gives His grace to the humble. (Jam.4:6; I Pet.5:5-6)
Why was Jesus the most JOY filled person that ever walked this earth? Because He loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore God anointed Him with the oil of gladness ABOVE His companions. (Heb.1:9)
2. Seek to humble yourself as Christ did. Study the life of Christ so you can see how to live like Christ. Put into practice the four (above) principles of Phil. 2. Write them down and think on them continually.
Jesus says to us - "Learn from Me for I am gentle and humble of heart." (Mt.11:29)
You are welcome to print this or share it with a friend, but only in it's entirety.