(continuation of
Meditation 111)
“God
destroyed sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He
did this so that the requirement of the Law would be fully accomplished for us...
(Romans 8:3b and 4*)
We finished our last Meditation with these wonderful words: “This is
the greatest display of love in the history of all humanity and the heart of
the Gospel message: our Triune God sacrifices Himself to save humanity from its
sinful disobedience to His holy Law and from His righteous anger and judgment.”
However, the above-mentioned verses from Romans 8:3b and 4 are at first
sight not so easy to
understand. How can the apostle Paul say that the requirement of God’s
Law of love would be fully accomplished for us by Jesus’ self-sacrifice?
Actually, the original Greek text says: “... so that the requirement
of the Law would be fully accomplished in us...”
That makes more sense. Here we see our Triune God fully at work, solving
the human problem of sin within Himself:
-- God the Father condemns our sinful disobedience to His moral
Law.
-- God the Son
bears that condemnation in our stead and gives His life at the cross of Calvary
as a guilt offering for our sin. In this way He opens the door for our reconciliation
with His heavenly Father and saves us from God’s anger and judgment. If we
acknowledge our sinfulness before God and ask Him to forgive us on the bases of
Jesus’ sacrifice, God will forgive us completely and adopt us as His children
through the rebirth by His Spirit. That’s what Paul means when he cries out in
verse 1: “Now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1*)
-- God the Holy Spirit, who (like God the Father) has the
character of Jesus (see Meditations 14 and 28 ), is able to accomplish
in us the requirement of God’s moral Law. What does that mean practically? It
means that God’s Spirit wants to realise in us the sinless life of Christ which
is the fulfilment of God’s moral Law. How will He do that? Let us read the next
verse.
“... who
no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.” (Romans
8:4*)
All of us who are reconciled with God the Father through the sacrifice
of God the Son have received God’s Spirit. Now it is God’s desire that we no
longer follow our sinful nature, but instead learn to follow God’s Spirit and
overcome the power of sin.
It is important to
notice here that with our rebirth our sinful nature has not totally
disappeared! That would be the easiest way out. Listen to what the apostle John
writes to Jesus’ followers about this important matter: “If we say we have
no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth.” (1 John 1:8*)
Only later our sinful
nature will completely disappear. The apostle John writes in his first letter
to all God’s reborn children: “Yes, dear friends, we are already God's
children, and we can't even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns.
But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see
him as he really is.” (1 John 3:2*)
The apostle Paul teaches
the Christians in Corinth: “Just as we are now like Adam, the man of the
earth, so we will someday be like Christ, the man from heaven.” (1 Corinthians 15:49*)
To the Christians in Rome he writes: “God knew his people in advance,
and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the
firstborn (from the dead, see Colossians 1:18), with many brothers and
sisters.” (Romans 8:29*)
In Paul’s letter to Jesus’ followers in the Greek town of Philippi, he writes that one day
not only our very beings will be like God the Son, but even our bodies: “We
are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly
waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take these weak mortal bodies
of ours and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same
mighty power that he will use to conquer everything, everywhere.” (Philippians 3:20-21*)
So, why is it that following
our old sinful nature remains an option for God’s reborn children as long as
they live on earth? Does God want us to learn ‘to live by faith’? Does He want
to test our hearts to see if we truly love Him and want to follow and obey Him?
Does He want to use this option to help us grow in Christlike humility? Does He
want to make us strong in our battle against sin? Does He want to teach us self-control?
There are Bible verses in abundance that give an answer to these questions. However,
for the moment we need to concentrate on what it means to follow God’s Spirit.
“Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think
about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think
about things that please the Spirit.” (Romans 8:5*)
That is so very true. If my life is not controlled by God’s Spirit, my
way of thinking and acting will show it. If there is no place for God’s love in
my heart, my lifestyle will display my selfishness and sinfulness in a small or
big way.
The apostle Paul severely
warns Christians of a life dominated by their sinful nature when he writes: “When
you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these
evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful
pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling,
jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that
everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness,
wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again, as I have before,
that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”
(Galatians 5:19-21*)
However, the apostle continues by saying that the Holy Spirit wants to
generate a Christlike life in us: “When the Holy Spirit controls our lives,
he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict
with the Law.” (Galatians 5:22-23*). This is the life of
Christ and therefore the fulfilment of God’s moral Law!
Till their dying death God’s reborn children have the choice to follow
the ways of God’s Spirit and be controlled by Him, or return to the ways of their old sinful nature. Sometimes people wonder how it is possible that Christian
leaders and church members who lived a God-pleasing life, can then return to an unholy
and sinful lifestyle. We just found the answer in the above paragraphs: the
options to keep following God’s Spirit or returning to the domination of our
sinful nature remain open throughout our life time on earth.
God’s Word gives ample warnings:
-- The apostle Paul
writes about his co-worker Demas who “because he loved this world, has
deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica.” (2 Timothy 4:10**)
-- Paul mentions
others Christians who “craving money, have wandered from the faith and
pierced themselves with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy 6:10*)
-- The apostle warns the church in Corinth of idol worship and sexual
immorality, of testing God and other temptations: “These events (after God’s
people had been saved from bondage in Egypt) happened as a warning to us, so
that we would not crave evil things as they did or worship idols as some of
them did. For the Scriptures say, ‘The people celebrated with feasting and
drinking, and they indulged themselves in pagan revelry.’
And we must not engage in sexual immorality as
some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.
Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some
of them did and then died from snakebites.
And don't grumble as some of them did, for that
is why God sent his angel of death to destroy them.
All these events happened to them as examples
for us. They were written down to warn us, who live at the time when this age
is drawing to a close.
If you think you are standing strong, be
careful, for you, too, may fall into the same sin.
But remember that the temptations that come
into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is
faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't
stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that
you will not give in to it.” (1 Corinthians 10:6-13*)
The prophets in Old Testament times constantly warned God’s people not
to turn away from God and follow the sinful lifestyle of their neighbouring countries. More often than not their warnings fell on deaf ears. Here are some examples.
God laments by mouth of the prophet Jeremiah (7th century
B.C.):
-- “‘My people are foolish and do not know me,’ says the LORD. ‘They
are senseless children who have no understanding. They are clever enough at
doing wrong, but they have no talent at all for doing right!’” (Jeremiah
4:22*)
-- “The stork knows the time of her migration, as do the turtledove,
the swallow, and the crane. They all return at the proper time each year. But
not my people! They do not know what the LORD requires of them.” (Jeremiah
8:7*)
God declares through His prophet Hosea (8th century
B.C.):
-- “My people are determined to desert me. They call me the Most
High, but they don't truly honor me.” (Hosea 11:7*)
The New Testament is full of warnings not to desert God’s Word and His
ways. In earlier Meditations (see below) we gave countless examples of individuals and
entire churches that departed from God’s teaching and the guidance of God’s
Spirit and returned to the sinful ways of our world.
Why is it that leaving God’s ways and disobeying His Word has such far reaching consequences for God’s children? That will be the theme of the next Meditation.
(to be continued)
Translations: * New Living Translation; ** New International
Version
For more on ‘Christlike transformation by God’s Spirit’ see Meditations
29 to 34 and 49 to 56 and 105.
For more on ‘How will I be saved?’ see Meditations 19 to 26.
For more about the question ‘What is sin?’ see Meditations 101 to 103.
For more on ‘What does it mean to love God?’ see Meditations 57 to 62.
For more on ‘How to love God together as a church community?’ see
Meditations 63 to 100.
For more on ‘How do I and my church pursue Christlike holiness?’ see
Meditations 76 to 99.
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