Call-In Classic Christianity Radio – Bob George P682 (10-22-21)
Let Truth set you Free and Learn to Walk in Grace
As a new believer, you will tend to have more of a struggle in overcoming sinful habits, and that is not unusual, as you are just now on the starting line of having your mind renewed. Even as you mature in Christ, you will continue in that process of having your mind renewed until the day we meet the Lord. We will all continue to battle the flesh, and God knows our weaknesses and tendencies. We are all reminded to guard our life and doctrine closely and take heed that we do not fall, and to be gentle and humble toward others, as we ourselves could easily get caught up in any sin ourselves. Along with allowing God to change us, our thinking and attitudes of heart, to let your actions be in accordance with who you are as a child of God, then your emotions will follow. You will no longer be miserable but experience the fruit of the Spirit God wants produce in you and through you. Learn to trust the mercy and grace of God. So, for us to help others, we are firm with truth while gently guiding the humble of heart to grab a hold of such truth that will set them free. We can learn to walk in the new life of freedom God has called us to.
Although we need that person who can point us to that unconditional love and acceptance that can only come from God, we also need that firmness with truth that helps us realize that what we are doing is not working and there is a way of walking in the spirit, of letting truth set us free. You are a byproduct of your belief system and your choices that come from that.
Romans 8:37-38
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If you are choosing to live, knowingly, in sinful behavior, then you need to stop that behavior. God has given you the Spirit of self control. Thank the Lord that your sins have already been forgiven 2000 years ago on a cross, but realize also that Jesus did not just die to take your sins away, but He came to live in you so you can live in the way of the Spirit. You will not experience love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self control thinking and living the way you are living. You do not have to change but it is not profitable for you. If you are continuing to do what made you so miserable in the first place that you came to Christ for life, and you are now a child of God, a new creation, what sense does it make to continue to do something that makes you miserable? Why not trust God in what He says He has for you, that He has given you everything you need for life and godliness, and learn to walk in the newness of life He has given you?
The way to overcome sin in your life is not in the energy of the flesh. We cannot obey in our own weakened state of sin that was inherited in Adam. We still have sin-indwelling flesh, as the apostle Paul describes in Romans 7, that is contrary to the Spirit who lives in us. That is why Jesus came to begin with, so He can live His life in us and through us. He wants us to be totally dependent on Him, knowing we cannot do it. He is the source of power, the power of His love in us, to live in a new way of the Spirit. God is love, where love does its neighbor no wrong, and now God is living in us, and so we allow His love, living in us, to produce in us and through us what we could never produce in the energy of our flesh.
