“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” (2nd Cor. 10:5)
Impossible.
“Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (1st Peter 1:16)
Again, impossible.
“She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” (John 8:11)
I will try, I honestly will, but I will sin again, either by commission or omission.
In the same breath, yet separated by time and distance, Paul said by the Holy Spirit to us, “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.” (Romans 7:25)
And then,
“But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (1st Cor. 9:27)
Willpower, submission, desire, sincerity, obedience, in love by faith, we try to be what we have been commanded to be. We pray for strength, but we are not puppets on a string, we are not preprogrammed robots, we have been blessed with free will, and our wills are to be set to His will who has called us to Himself.
“For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” (Romans 7:18)
Yet the flesh, the old man, the sinful nature you will battle against for the entirety of your life here, willfully, intentionally and in sincerity crucifying it daily, hourly.
The devil is indeed a formidable adversary, and he has much at his disposal to tempt us, to sway us, to offer us pleasures and desires meant to draw us away, if only for a short time from being holy, from keeping every thought captive. We do not fear him, but we do respect him, for he has been given power and authority in this realm beyond our understanding.
But that is all he has, upon all mankind free will is perhaps the greatest blessing that the Most High has given us, the ability to choose without interference from either Himself or our adversary the direction of our lives. The Almighty offers and Satan tempts, yet we make the choices in our lives.
“Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Eze. 18:4)
We are eternal, but not immortal, every soul was created by the Living God to last forever, and every one of us has not only been given the free will to choose, but the knowledge of the truth of two things.
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” (Romans 1:20)
And
“So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12)
Everything that we who have been crucified with Christ do, every deed, action, word and thought we try to do for the glory of God, and each of us who have been born-again realizes this truth, we fail at miserably every day. The cross we carry is heavy, the heartache because of the knowledge that we in some way each day dishonor Him can be unbearable, we take none of our service to Him lightly, our lives are spent in sincerity and failure.
But when we know we have obeyed His will, pride attempts to gain control over us.
It is called being sanctified and it is a blessing and a burden at the same time, it is a battle in the midst of a victory already won, and it will not be over for us until we take our last breath here.
I cannot be holy, I cannot obey that commandment, but I try, I cannot keep every thought captive for Christ, but I fight with all my effort to do so, I cannot go and sin no more, but in all sincerity in the fullness of my heart I try not to.
Hearts that have not been changed from stone to flesh cannot comprehend what has been written here, those that have been changed to flesh search diligently each day for the pieces of stone that still remain in it, and pray for the strength and desire to remove them, one at a time.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Phil. 4:13)
But not all at once.
“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24)
A cry that reached to the very throne of the Living God, and one we echo often.
It is not only the contrite and broken heart that the Lord will not despise my friends, it is the sincere heart that has submitted itself fully to His will.
