OK...Let me restate some simple basics. The Bible teaches anything we know about God is because the Holy Spirit has shown it to us.
John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." The Scriptures are living and active and powerful.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. So the scriptures are used by the Holy Spirit to work change in your life.
Well lately I have really been convinced of a very important truth.
My life depends more on God than it does on me. What do I mean by that?
Well who is the One who knows me and saved me from my sin? God.
Who is the One who keeps me and will carry me in His hand to perfection in heaven? God
Who is my shepherd who leads me? God
Look at the Apostle Paul's conclusion in Romans 8:
Rom 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God {is} for us, who {is} against us?
Rom 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.You see the issue for me is this:
Phil 1:6 {For I am} confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Now for the believer there is a real struggle that goes on internally. A struggle with sin. Again Paul describes it so well again in Romans (Chapter 7)
Rom 7:14-25 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. What I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I {would} like to {do,} but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want {to do,} I agree with the Law, {confessing} that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good {is} not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
Wow, there is a lot there. But see the difference between the flesh in which "nothing good dwells in me". Here will be the first argument. Most refuse to admit that about themselves. We have no CLUE how true that statement is. The human mind can not comprehend the just HOW true that statement is. It's not just THAT you sin, but you ARE sin at your very core. Again I know how hard of a job I have to try to convince you that is true. I can't. Only the Holy Spirit can show you the depth of your sin. Paul again in Romans says "
Rom 3:10-12,18 "as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN." v18 "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."
Did you see that "There is NONE who does good, there is not even one."
Well...How do you feel about that? Is the Bible wrong? Will your pride cause you to hold your opinion over the inspired Word of God?
I believe it. I am so wicked that I don't even know what evil God restrains me from. Even the sin in my life the Holy Spirit does show me is enough to drop me to my knees in need of mercy. I guess we need to know God to understand what "holy" is before we can see how "unholy" we are.
My point is this. Not only am I a sinner, I can't do anything about it. Christian churches will tell you to work at your sin and try harder. But it is the Holy Spirit who does the work in us. The Holy Spirit will cause the change in our hearts and actions. All I can do is pray! I am not saying that I dodge responsibility for my actions. I accept full responsibility. I am the one who chooses to sin. What I can't accept any credit for is when I don't sin. It's only because God carries me in His hand that I know He will change me. Because I know the character of God like we see in the end of Romans chapter 8 that I KNOW Christ has died for me, given me the faith to believe it and that He will never let anything snatch me from His hand.
If He has done all the work, and is doing all the work apart from anything I bring to the table.... What's the implication?
Well... There are really only two things for me to learn in life. Each days circumstances will either be God teaching me about Himself or God will be revealing to me who I really am and what I really think. That's it. It is a very personal relationship with God. Absolutely everything revolves around God and what He is teaching me through the Holy Spirit as He carries me towards the day He will bring me home into His presence.
My flesh will keep battling because of the Holy Spirit He has placed in me. My flesh is desperately wicked and I must overwhelm it with the things of God. I must pour so much scripture into my mind and seek the Holy Spirit so earnestly that my wicked sin is over-run with the goodness of God.
I do this with hard work in the flesh, but a real calm spirit. I KNOW the One who carries me. I know the One who has made the promises. I KNOW the One who died to pay the penalty for my sin.
I am HIS child by adoption....Not because I deserve it or have earned it, quite the opposite,. but simply because I am the target of His love and affection.
He loves YOU too and wants to carry YOU in the palm of His hand where no one can touch you without His allowing it for His glory.
Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
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