“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Prov. 16:18)
We are not so much given to moments of sin as we are seasons of sin. I speak here to those who are indeed born-again, for the wicked, although they may comprehend when they have done an act that is wrong, do not recognize it as sin, but as going against the moral construct of how they were raised, those they associate with, the society they live in and numerous other factors. And while Romans 1:20 is indeed true, those invisible things are clearly seen by them, they do not corelate those actions and even thoughts as sin against the Sovereign Lord of all creation.
We do, and as such we despise ourselves because of our actions, repent, ask for strength, and then continue moving along the path that He has set before us.
Being faithful to Christ requires action and forethought of those actions every day, I know of no one who can claim Jesus Christ as Lord who continues in sin, but everyone I know that has been saved by His grace sins. It is the manner in which we approach those sins that we must consider, and that word “approach” is key to this subject.
I have contemplated the account in Proverbs 7 many times, especially that singular verse that states, “With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.” (Prov. 7:21) We know why the adulterous woman was out late at night, the young man we know little about, save for the fact that when the sin was made available to him, he acquiesced to it, he was forced. The only explanation I have been shown so far in the matter of him being forced, is that he gave into the desires of his flesh, his flesh forced him, in other words, he forced himself.
I know this sounds contradictory, but I bring to light here Romans 7:25, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
Pride can find no place in the mind of the one who serves the Lord for the glory of God, we, recognize that pride, self-righteousness is foolish to even contemplate in His presence, but our flesh does not recognize the Most High as Sovereign, it recognizes and accepts no authority of any sort over it. In a sense, we can repeat that opening verse from Proverbs such as this, “The flesh goes before destruction.” It desires to place itself in situations that it cares little about the consequences of, it gives no thought to sin or the moral standards of the world, it does not care at all for anyone or anything, it does as it pleases.
Now of course the difficult part of all this is that in that last sentence I could have replaced the word “it” when referring to the flesh with the word “you.” Again, with that verse from Romans 7:25 in mind, we can also place 1 Corinthians 2:16 in context here, “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” Along with Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
If you can see the correlation here, then you can understand the battle that most Christians cannot, a continual fierce and frustrating war that rages within us, our attempt to obey 1 Peter 1:16, “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
Here, depending on how the singular battle unfolds, how that sin or denial of it is fought or acquiesced to when it approaches us is where your actions are recorded in your book in heaven. Our flesh searches out opportunities to sin, for there is pleasure in that season of sin, (Heb. 11:25) our mind, the mind of Christ, the indwelling Holy Spirit, attempts to help, to assist that part of us that has free will to deny those lusts, no matter in what form they arrive. This statement is true and holds more weight than many born-again believers realize I think, “God forces virtue on no one.”
It is not simply a decision that you must make, it is a battle you must fight, and that war will rage within you until you are glorified, and that old nature is finally removed from you. Destruction awaits the flesh, eternal life awaits you.
