January 12, 2021 PUTTING TO DEATH
Romans 8:11-14 “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.”
Colossians 3:12-14 “And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
We are all guilty of bad or unbecoming behavior as well as wrong thoughts. However, the hard truth is that we have no excuse; we may try to justify our bad behavior-but still, no excuse. The discussion today is not about us being ‘perfect’ or achieving sinless perfection, but about realizing that God has given us the power and the choice to lay aside what we need to lay aside and to ‘put on’ what we need to put on. That has huge implications for us. At times, there will temptations to do the wrong thing or to think the wrong thoughts-BUT we don’t have to go there. Realizing and actually laying aside what needs to be laid aside is liberating for us and those around us. We may excuse our bad behavior by saying that ‘That is just the way I am wired.’ Again, God has super-naturally worked in such a way in us that we are not who we use to be-we are NEW creations, and as His new creations, we do have the power to lay aside any remnants of the old self and we have the power to walk and live as new creations. Just as we put on and take off clothing, we can put off anything unlike Christ, and we can put on the things that are like Christ. How does this look practically? For examples: we can put off being short-tempered and can put on patience; in place of anger, we can be kind; instead of not forgiving, we can forgive; we can put off being anxious and put on hope and trust in God; instead of being argumentative, we can be a peace-maker-you get the point. It is a major spiritual breakthrough when we realize and embrace the fact that we are under obligation not to the flesh, but to the Holy Spirit who indwells us. This is major because the world system and the culture in which we live promote the idea of satisfying self-making self ‘happy.’ However, in God’s economy, we find what we long for and what satisfies, when we die to self-who we use to be-and put on the ways of the Lord. The good news is that God who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to our mortal bodies-it is awesome that the power of God is at work in our spirit, but also is at work in our mortal bodies! The bottom line is that we have been made new, and the Spirit of God is at work in us, enabling us to live in the nitty-gritty of life in a way that pleases Him. Let us lay aside what we need to lay aside, and put on Christ.
Romans 8:9 “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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