Romans Chapter 7: Sin That Dwells In Me
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 8:09 pmGood afternoon Christianity Oasis,
I hope your Sunday has been wonderful!
Blessings!
One of the more frustrating aspects of a Christian's life tends to be something out of our control. Paul called that thing, "sin that dwells in me." My response after reading that statement had pretty much always been, "naw, that doesn't apply to me because Jesus took sin out of me when I was born again. But now I recognize that it is a fact, sin dwells in me, that is myself, my soul. I recognize the problem. It is clearly this. I side with the flesh from time to time, and when I do, I have left the law of the inward man, and sided with the law of sin and death. Immediately the light goes out and I die.
What does it mean to abide in death? When I die what exactly is it that takes place? Isn't it that the light goes out and I abide in darkness? Yes, that is the answer to the question. I didn't understand that before, but now I do. I know how to deal with that sin problem now. Before... I didn't. Now I do. Yes, before I knew that if I confessed my sin to God He would be faithful and just to cleanse me of all unrighteousness. But quite often my confession did not turn the light back on like it does now. Why? I lacked understanding. I didn't understand the working of the Spirit of God that God has given me of Himself. And often when in darkness already because I failed to discern my actions as right or wrong, I would stay in the dark for a long time, thinking I was still in the light, when actually I wasn't. I walked around dead while I was alive.
Where the Apostle John said. "If we walk in the light as God is in the light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us of all sin." What I knew about the light was what I was taught. The light discussed here I was told, was the light of God's word. Interpreting such in that way had a multitude of directions to go in, as the word of God is mutitudinous in its many parts, teachings, history, hidden meanings wrapped in symbols and so on and so forth. But Jesus was that light that God sent into the world. He is the Word of God. Why did He come? He came to give us eternal life. He is our light. If we desire to walk in the light as God is in the light we walk in the Light of His Son.
What light did our Lord walk in? He walked in the light of what His Father was. Who did the Apostle John tell us the Father is? God is love. His commandment to us is love. The light we are to walk in is His love. The light of God is love. He is love. If we would live less in the dark and more in the light, we would walk in the Love of God. The more we walk in love, the more we walk in the light. The more we walk in the light, the less time we will die in the dark, and we will continuously be cleansed by the blood of Jesus.
I now know what sin is. Sin is walking out of love. Now I understand the sin that dwells in me and where it lives. It lives in the actions of the flesh that are contrary to the love of God. If I would live more and die less, now I understand, I know what to do. To walk in the love of God is to walk in the Spirit of God....sin ends the moment I choose to walk in the light. If I walk in the Love of God, I walk in His marvelous light, and when I do, sin has no say. It does not dominate me. Love dominates me and my soul delights to walk in that light.
Blessings!
Love, In Christ Jesus, Saint701.
I hope your Sunday has been wonderful!
Blessings!
One of the more frustrating aspects of a Christian's life tends to be something out of our control. Paul called that thing, "sin that dwells in me." My response after reading that statement had pretty much always been, "naw, that doesn't apply to me because Jesus took sin out of me when I was born again. But now I recognize that it is a fact, sin dwells in me, that is myself, my soul. I recognize the problem. It is clearly this. I side with the flesh from time to time, and when I do, I have left the law of the inward man, and sided with the law of sin and death. Immediately the light goes out and I die.
What does it mean to abide in death? When I die what exactly is it that takes place? Isn't it that the light goes out and I abide in darkness? Yes, that is the answer to the question. I didn't understand that before, but now I do. I know how to deal with that sin problem now. Before... I didn't. Now I do. Yes, before I knew that if I confessed my sin to God He would be faithful and just to cleanse me of all unrighteousness. But quite often my confession did not turn the light back on like it does now. Why? I lacked understanding. I didn't understand the working of the Spirit of God that God has given me of Himself. And often when in darkness already because I failed to discern my actions as right or wrong, I would stay in the dark for a long time, thinking I was still in the light, when actually I wasn't. I walked around dead while I was alive.
Where the Apostle John said. "If we walk in the light as God is in the light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us of all sin." What I knew about the light was what I was taught. The light discussed here I was told, was the light of God's word. Interpreting such in that way had a multitude of directions to go in, as the word of God is mutitudinous in its many parts, teachings, history, hidden meanings wrapped in symbols and so on and so forth. But Jesus was that light that God sent into the world. He is the Word of God. Why did He come? He came to give us eternal life. He is our light. If we desire to walk in the light as God is in the light we walk in the Light of His Son.
What light did our Lord walk in? He walked in the light of what His Father was. Who did the Apostle John tell us the Father is? God is love. His commandment to us is love. The light we are to walk in is His love. The light of God is love. He is love. If we would live less in the dark and more in the light, we would walk in the Love of God. The more we walk in love, the more we walk in the light. The more we walk in the light, the less time we will die in the dark, and we will continuously be cleansed by the blood of Jesus.
I now know what sin is. Sin is walking out of love. Now I understand the sin that dwells in me and where it lives. It lives in the actions of the flesh that are contrary to the love of God. If I would live more and die less, now I understand, I know what to do. To walk in the love of God is to walk in the Spirit of God....sin ends the moment I choose to walk in the light. If I walk in the Love of God, I walk in His marvelous light, and when I do, sin has no say. It does not dominate me. Love dominates me and my soul delights to walk in that light.
Blessings!
Love, In Christ Jesus, Saint701.