Five Operations of the Holy Spirit Part 17
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
If you or I choose to obey the adultery, hatred, lying, stealing, fornication, sorcery, covetousness, envy, deceit, criticizing, that our flesh desires so fervently, we will be chastened of the Lord in the hope that our spirit can be saved in the Day of the Lord Jesus. The fires of Divine judgment will seek to purify us.
If we choose to obey the purity, love, truthfulness, honesty, contentment, peace, straightforwardness, and compassion which the Spirit of God desires so fervently, our spirit, soul, and body will be brought into the fullness of Divine life.
The power of sin is a law that is present in the appetites of the flesh of each human, both Christian and non-Christian. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. (Romans 7:17) We who are endeavouring to follow the Holy Spirit in the life of victory are well aware of the power of sin in our fleshly nature.
There is a difference in available resources between the Christian and the non-Christian when it comes to gaining victory over sinful deeds. The Christian is without condemnation. He has been accepted of God. He has come into the Presence of God. The blood forgives the sin of his life.
His spirit has been received by the Holy Spirit. Christ has been born in him. He now possesses not only the Divine Substance, the new Nature, in him, but also the guiding and empowering of the resurrection life of the Holy Spirit to aid him in conquering his sinful tendencies.
Do you see the difference? Both the unsaved and the saved have the law of sin in themselves. The saved have all the resources of Heaven available to them so they can choose to overcome sin. The unsaved have only a sinful nature as a resource to help them overcome sin—an impossible situation.
It is not that we Christians cannot sin or have no tendencies toward sin or that God overlooks our sinning. Rather, we possess the fullness of the grace of God in Christ by which we are enabled to attain mastery over sin, overcoming its power. Mastery is to be attained now—in this life.
We are not to wait until we go to Heaven in order to gain mastery over sin. Victory in Christ is available to us today. We have no idea what will take place after we die.
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. (Romans 7:20)
Here is a picture of a man who is battling for control of his own conduct. He is doing things to which he does not give consent. He is suffering loss of self-control. Something other than his own choice is governing him.
In such a situation the non-Christian has a difficult problem. He is being forced to yield to the influence of the evil that surrounds him on every hand, both in the spiritual and in the physical worlds. The Christian has a choice: he can yield to his sinful nature or he can choose to avail himself of the grace of God and thereby resist the temptation to sin.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ, who walk not in the appetites of the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)
The moment we accept the atonement made by Christ on the cross of Calvary we are forgiven Adam's sin and all the sins that we ourselves have committed. Our sins are forgiven because of the blood atonement made by Christ, and now we stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
If a millionaire chooses to give us his money the bank does not care. They are interested only in the currency. If the judge throws the case out of court there is nothing the jailer can do. If God declares us righteous there is no voice that can be raised in condemnation. He is the Judge. If He throws our case out of court the jailer has lost his prisoner. When we accept Christ, the Judge dismisses the case against us.
Where do we go from here? Do we continue sinning and presume on the goodness of Christ? Or do we go forward in the Spirit to attain righteous conduct?
The blood of Christ keeps cleansing us and declaring us righteous while we are pursuing our pilgrimage. The Book of Romans has informed us we are not to keep on sinning. Being under grace instead of under the Law of Moses does not mean we are to continue in sin. Rather, we are to avail ourselves of the enabling grace of God so we no longer will choose to obey sin but will now obey righteousness.
We have not been called to continue as helpless sinners, trusting in the covering of Christ. We are to keep on trusting in the covering of Christ but meanwhile we must undergo the processes of redemption whereby the bondages of sin in us are demolished and the fruit of the Spirit is created in us.
This is not a haphazard program in which we stumble and fall, stumble and fall, stumble and fall, while we are waiting to go to Heaven. We are in a specific program tailored to our individual needs, designed to bring us into the image of Christ and into total union with God through Him.
We have stated that one of the operations of the Holy Spirit is the demolishing of the guilt, tendencies, and effects of the sin by which we have been influenced from our birth. Let us see what Paul has to say further concerning the overcoming of sin in our spirit, soul and body.
For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
The law of sin and death is the combined effect of the law of Moses (the Ten Commandments) and the law of sin (power of sin; sinful tendencies) that causes us to choose to obey Satan. The two laws interact. The Law of Moses and the law of sin work together to bring about our separation from God. The Law of Moses does not free us from sin, it makes sin more sinful by turning the spotlight on our actions. Then the law of Moses declares us unworthy of God and doomed to eternal death.