We are Being Delivered from the Power of Sin – Part 2
· As I continue with we are being delivered from the power of sin, the readers will learn about Apostle Paul’s experience when it comes to being delivered from the power of sin.
· For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me (Romans 7:18-20).
· A war was going on between Paul’s spirit (made in the image of God) and his unregenerate flesh. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 7:23-25).
· It’s the same with us; whichever we feed the most will be victorious. Our flesh is being constantly fed by the environment that we live in; by the things we see and hear on a daily basis. To counteract that, our minds must be fed the Word of God, prayer, and fellowship with fellow believers.
· If we renew our minds by the Word of God (Romans 12:2), it doesn’t mean that we will never sin again, but it does mean that we will sin less. By doing that we will eventually overcome sinful habits, which is a lifetime effort.
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God is faithful, and He will not show all of our faults at once; that would be too much for us to take. Yet, throughout our lives He reveals to us the things we need to be delivered from. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, He will make a way for us to escape every temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Are we saved? Yes!
Are we sinless? But we do sin less!
We will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to give account of the works, God told us to do. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10). This determines our rewards. We did not work to get saved; we work after we are saved. From the day we got saved, we will never be saved any more than that, but we should be growing. Our salvation does not hinge on works, We are going to be rewarded for our faithfulness (Matthew 25:21, 23).
· Ps. Some may think that certain scriptures Paul wrote were contradictory. That’s not true because none of the Word of God is contradictory. We are commanded to study and rightly divide the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). Paul wrote from man’s perspective and he wrote from God’s perspective, which is better. We live in time and go through the process of time, but God is eternal and He is is not confined to time or space, Therefore everything has already been done when it comes to God.
Despite being set free from the power of sin, from God’s perspective, Jesus has set us free.
~ Betty A. Burnett ~
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