Post by Cindy on Sept 17, 2015 12:08:44 GMT -5
Growing up
“We are all as an unclean thing.”
— Isaiah 64:6
The believer is a new creature, he belongs to a holy generation and a peculiar people—the Spirit of God is in him, and in all respects he is far removed from the natural man; but for all that the Christian is a sinner still. He is so from the imperfection of his nature, and will continue so to the end of his earthly life. The black fingers of sin leave smuts upon our fairest robes. Sin mars our repentance, ere the great Potter has finished it, upon the wheel. Selfishness defiles our tears, and unbelief tampers with our faith. The best thing we ever did apart from the merit of Jesus only swelled the number of our sins; for when we have been most pure in our own sight, yet, like the heavens, we are not pure in God’s sight; and as he charged his angels with folly, much more must he charge us with it, even in our most angelic frames of mind. The song which thrills to heaven, and seeks to emulate seraphic strains, hath human discords in it. The prayer which moves the arm of God is still a bruised and battered prayer, and only moves that arm because the sinless One, the great Mediator, has stepped in to take away the sin of our supplication. The most golden faith or the purest degree of sanctification to which a Christian ever attained on earth, has still so much alloy in it as to be only worthy of the flames, in itself considered. Every night we look in the glass we see a sinner, and had need confess, “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Oh, how precious the blood of Christ to such hearts as ours! How priceless a gift is his perfect righteousness! And how bright the hope of perfect holiness hereafter! Even now, though sin dwells in us, its power is broken. It has no dominion; it is a broken-backed snake; we are in bitter conflict with it, but it is with a vanquished foe that we have to deal. Yet a little while and we shall enter victoriously into the city where nothing defiles.
Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening
What he says here is very true but I felt led to add both an admonition and an encouragement to it today. What he is basically trying to get across is simply how very far from the perfection of God even our very best is. Although we will always be sinners and be defiled by sin in this life, the Lord tells us that we are not to simply accept that give up trying to do better.
Romans 6:1-3 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Romans 6:11-12 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
We are told over and over that we are no longer slaves to sin, we can now choose who we serve, sin or God, and that we are to choose righteousness over sin. Paul likens it to being an athlete in training which is really appropriate because this life for us is a school and we are in training for what we will be doing throughout eternity.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
We are told to remember our blessed hope because it is then that we will receive our new bodies which will be totally free from the stain of sin and those bodies will match the new spirit that was given us at salvation. So at the moment we receive our new bodies our "old spirit or nature" is totally done away with, it will no longer exist and the only spirit within us will be the new spirit that God placed in us at our salvation.
Think back again to the passage I just posted from Paul about how we are in training. I'm sure you've all familiar with the facts of life that if you don't use your muscles they will deteriorate and you'll get flabby and be out of shape. Even the world tells us that our minds are the same way--if we don't use them, then our ability to remember things will deteriorate and so will our ability to process and understand information. So just like a muscle you have to keep your brain in shape. We're all aware too that when a baby is born they aren't born knowing everything or being able to do all that an adult can do--they can't even crawl yet much less walk! Every moment a baby is awake they're learning; they're absorbing all the information around them, they're using their muscles as they wave their arms and legs around, etc so they're actually with the help of good parents training their bodies and minds. As they get older the training continues. Every parent wants their child to do their best and use all the abilities that God gave them, so they certainly don't want their children to get lazy and stop studying or even to stop playing because "play" is how they exercise their bodies too.
The reason I bring this up is because the new spirit the Lord puts in us at salvation is very much like a newborn baby. It's at a tremendous disadvantage too because it's been born right beside our old spirit which we've been "teaching and growing" every since we were born. If it wasn't for God's grace and mercy, our new spirits wouldn't stand a chance against our old fleshly spirit! God expects us to nurture our new spirit and grow it up to maturity. That's what Paul is talking about. We have to feed our new spirit with God's Word in order for it to have the knowledge and tools it needs to defend us from our old spirits.
This is why it's so true that the more time you spend in God's word, reading it, studying it, and reflecting on it, while talking to the Lord about it, the stronger and more mature your new spirit becomes. That's what becoming mature in Christ is all about. We want our new spirits to be mature when we receive those new bodies to match it! More importantly though, God wants us to be mature by then! While we will all have a wonderful life in eternity, God will not be mocked even then.
Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
We will all be saved, yes, but our future in eternity will be dependent upon how much we mature here. This is our one and only chance to grow our new spirits, train them and make them strong in the Lord. This is what this is talking about:
Hebrews 11:35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.
Philippians 3:10-11 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Now for the encouragement. To put it simply and bluntly, the more time we spend in God's Word, talking to Him about it, reading, studying and reflecting on it, the stronger our spirit will be and the less we will sin; the stronger our connection to the Holy Spirit will be and the quicker we will hear Him as He guides us and teaches us. So while we will always be sinners and be defiled by sin as long as we are in these bodies, we do not have to be wallowing in it! We can be victorious over it to a great degree! No, we won't be perfect, but the more and more mature we become, the closer to perfect we'll get and the easier it will get too! Again, it's just like a baby growing up. When they're first learning to walk, they fall down a lot, and as new baby Christians or any Christian who hasn't worked to become mature in their faith, (by studying God's Word etc) when we first begin to say no to sin and fight against it, we'll fall down a lot. However, the more we study and talk to the Lord, the more mature we get and the stronger we become until little by little, we're not falling down so much anymore; and then after yet more time, we rarely fall down at all!
Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Hebrews 5:13-14 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
1 Peter 2:2-3 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
We are living in the last days. There is no doubt about that anymore. God is calling us all back to His Word. This is our very last chance to grow to maturity in whatever time we have left here in this school. Have no doubt about it, the Lord is testing each of us to see if we are committed to Him and willing to obey Him by spending time each day studying, reading, and reflecting on His Word and talking to Him about it so that we can become mature. When we do that then the Lord changes us to be more like Jesus every day.
“We are all as an unclean thing.”
— Isaiah 64:6
The believer is a new creature, he belongs to a holy generation and a peculiar people—the Spirit of God is in him, and in all respects he is far removed from the natural man; but for all that the Christian is a sinner still. He is so from the imperfection of his nature, and will continue so to the end of his earthly life. The black fingers of sin leave smuts upon our fairest robes. Sin mars our repentance, ere the great Potter has finished it, upon the wheel. Selfishness defiles our tears, and unbelief tampers with our faith. The best thing we ever did apart from the merit of Jesus only swelled the number of our sins; for when we have been most pure in our own sight, yet, like the heavens, we are not pure in God’s sight; and as he charged his angels with folly, much more must he charge us with it, even in our most angelic frames of mind. The song which thrills to heaven, and seeks to emulate seraphic strains, hath human discords in it. The prayer which moves the arm of God is still a bruised and battered prayer, and only moves that arm because the sinless One, the great Mediator, has stepped in to take away the sin of our supplication. The most golden faith or the purest degree of sanctification to which a Christian ever attained on earth, has still so much alloy in it as to be only worthy of the flames, in itself considered. Every night we look in the glass we see a sinner, and had need confess, “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Oh, how precious the blood of Christ to such hearts as ours! How priceless a gift is his perfect righteousness! And how bright the hope of perfect holiness hereafter! Even now, though sin dwells in us, its power is broken. It has no dominion; it is a broken-backed snake; we are in bitter conflict with it, but it is with a vanquished foe that we have to deal. Yet a little while and we shall enter victoriously into the city where nothing defiles.
Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening
What he says here is very true but I felt led to add both an admonition and an encouragement to it today. What he is basically trying to get across is simply how very far from the perfection of God even our very best is. Although we will always be sinners and be defiled by sin in this life, the Lord tells us that we are not to simply accept that give up trying to do better.
Romans 6:1-3 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Romans 6:11-12 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
We are told over and over that we are no longer slaves to sin, we can now choose who we serve, sin or God, and that we are to choose righteousness over sin. Paul likens it to being an athlete in training which is really appropriate because this life for us is a school and we are in training for what we will be doing throughout eternity.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
We are told to remember our blessed hope because it is then that we will receive our new bodies which will be totally free from the stain of sin and those bodies will match the new spirit that was given us at salvation. So at the moment we receive our new bodies our "old spirit or nature" is totally done away with, it will no longer exist and the only spirit within us will be the new spirit that God placed in us at our salvation.
Think back again to the passage I just posted from Paul about how we are in training. I'm sure you've all familiar with the facts of life that if you don't use your muscles they will deteriorate and you'll get flabby and be out of shape. Even the world tells us that our minds are the same way--if we don't use them, then our ability to remember things will deteriorate and so will our ability to process and understand information. So just like a muscle you have to keep your brain in shape. We're all aware too that when a baby is born they aren't born knowing everything or being able to do all that an adult can do--they can't even crawl yet much less walk! Every moment a baby is awake they're learning; they're absorbing all the information around them, they're using their muscles as they wave their arms and legs around, etc so they're actually with the help of good parents training their bodies and minds. As they get older the training continues. Every parent wants their child to do their best and use all the abilities that God gave them, so they certainly don't want their children to get lazy and stop studying or even to stop playing because "play" is how they exercise their bodies too.
The reason I bring this up is because the new spirit the Lord puts in us at salvation is very much like a newborn baby. It's at a tremendous disadvantage too because it's been born right beside our old spirit which we've been "teaching and growing" every since we were born. If it wasn't for God's grace and mercy, our new spirits wouldn't stand a chance against our old fleshly spirit! God expects us to nurture our new spirit and grow it up to maturity. That's what Paul is talking about. We have to feed our new spirit with God's Word in order for it to have the knowledge and tools it needs to defend us from our old spirits.
This is why it's so true that the more time you spend in God's word, reading it, studying it, and reflecting on it, while talking to the Lord about it, the stronger and more mature your new spirit becomes. That's what becoming mature in Christ is all about. We want our new spirits to be mature when we receive those new bodies to match it! More importantly though, God wants us to be mature by then! While we will all have a wonderful life in eternity, God will not be mocked even then.
Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
We will all be saved, yes, but our future in eternity will be dependent upon how much we mature here. This is our one and only chance to grow our new spirits, train them and make them strong in the Lord. This is what this is talking about:
Hebrews 11:35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.
Philippians 3:10-11 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Now for the encouragement. To put it simply and bluntly, the more time we spend in God's Word, talking to Him about it, reading, studying and reflecting on it, the stronger our spirit will be and the less we will sin; the stronger our connection to the Holy Spirit will be and the quicker we will hear Him as He guides us and teaches us. So while we will always be sinners and be defiled by sin as long as we are in these bodies, we do not have to be wallowing in it! We can be victorious over it to a great degree! No, we won't be perfect, but the more and more mature we become, the closer to perfect we'll get and the easier it will get too! Again, it's just like a baby growing up. When they're first learning to walk, they fall down a lot, and as new baby Christians or any Christian who hasn't worked to become mature in their faith, (by studying God's Word etc) when we first begin to say no to sin and fight against it, we'll fall down a lot. However, the more we study and talk to the Lord, the more mature we get and the stronger we become until little by little, we're not falling down so much anymore; and then after yet more time, we rarely fall down at all!
Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Hebrews 5:13-14 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
1 Peter 2:2-3 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
We are living in the last days. There is no doubt about that anymore. God is calling us all back to His Word. This is our very last chance to grow to maturity in whatever time we have left here in this school. Have no doubt about it, the Lord is testing each of us to see if we are committed to Him and willing to obey Him by spending time each day studying, reading, and reflecting on His Word and talking to Him about it so that we can become mature. When we do that then the Lord changes us to be more like Jesus every day.
