There are some things we can do and some things only God can do.
None of us is equipped to deal with sin—but most wonderfully our Mighty God and
Savior, Jesus Christ, dealt with sin through His redemptive sacrifice on the
Cross. God doesn’t ask us to deal with sin; He calls us to reckon ourselves as “dead to sin but alive to God in Christ
Jesus.”-Romans 6:11. If we reverse
this order and begin to “attack sin” we will become moralistic religionists who
are overcome with legalistic ambition. Sadly but inevitably the chaos of
comparative spirituality begins and anger towards those who dissent from “our
norm” ensues. This culture of comparison chokes out the liberty of walking in
God’s Spirit.-II Corinthians 4:17
God will not do for us what we must do. God has dealt with our sin but we must face our human nature and its tendencies. We each have preferences and prejudices that may be used wisely or foolishly. Our harmful preferences for comfort and destructive prejudices for conformity must be squarely faced with God’s love. God’s love doesn't destroy our harmful preferences or destructive prejudices; we must do that by confessing them and destroying them-“demolition of strongholds”-II Corinthians 10:4. Some strongholds are destroyed by active resistance (like prejudice, selfishness, argumentation-“Reject foolish and ignorant disputes”-II Timothy 2:23), others are destroyed by purposeful neglect (like sloth, lust and worry-“flee youthful passions”-II Timothy 2:22).
Healthy spiritual growth results in us Becoming like Him as
we trust God for what He alone can do and buckle down to do what only we can
do.
pdan
LINK to the audio file for "How God Changes My Life" on September 11, 2016
pdan
LINK to the audio file for "How God Changes My Life" on September 11, 2016
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