“Doing what comes naturally.”
“Acting on impulse.”
“It’s in our nature.”
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” (Romans 6:6)
Sanctification takes time, in fact, it will take your entire lifetime, the old nature, our sinful self that we have crucified will not die until we are glorified, and every moment until then it will scream at you, plead with you, attack and try to coerce you, and at times we will heed the call.
There seems to be a growing trend over the last few decades in the belief that the Almighty understand that what we do sometimes just comes naturally, that we should not be held accountable for every minor sin, changing the name to an infraction, or perhaps just a simple mistake, a momentary lapse of reason. And to a degree He does.
“For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:14)
But I speak here of those who are using grace to an advantage, who see no real need to be overly cautious, as they would call it, in regard to the walk they profess to be on.
Perhaps it’s not as bad as when Ezekiel was told to look into the inner chamber and saw the religious leaders worshipping Tammuz, or nearly as bad as the thoughts that Judas Iscariot might have entertained about all that money in the bag he carried, but sin is sin.
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. (2nd Chronicles 16:9a)
Little sins, if we may call them that, defile the man of God as much as what we like to call the “major sins,” and in these, if we are not cautious, many of those little sins will outweigh a major one.
It is quite easy, and the amount of examples would fill this notebook, but one thing can never be done, you cannot blame your old nature anymore than you can blame Satan when you fall into a temptation.
A duality might be the best way to express it, we walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, our greatest desire is to serve Him in love, in submission, in all humility and thanksgiving, yet we are also up on that cross of ours being crucified at the same time.
You cannot rip away from yourself that which only the Living God can remove.
But you also cannot blame anyone but yourself when a sin is acted upon by you.
“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)
I mean no offense to the Holy Spirit when He had Paul pen those words, but it would have been much easier if he would have started that verse out with, “I do my best to keep my body under subjection.”
How difficult is it to crucify yourself, so to speak, to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, to set your face like a flint for the glory of God for the entirety of your life once you have been born-again?
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” (2nd Tim. 4:7)
“It used to be in my nature.”
“I used to act on impulse more frequently than I do now.”
“I no longer consider those things as those that I perform naturally.”
Not beating the air means that you are hitting something, usually something you do not like. There are no Queensberry Rules of order in this boxing match my friends, this is your constant enemy, and he does not know the word “quit,” he never submits, he never listens. You are expected to subdue him, and you have all the help you need.
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;” (John 14:16)
He will help you, but you are expected to stand your ground in this, you are responsible for you. Do not give in, do not give up, do not quit.
