Author: mary

Something wonderful happens when a person comes to know Christ and His saving grace. All at once, his life is not his own anymore and Jesus is Lord of His life. The Savior transforms the person’s life as he begins to trust in Christ more and more. This new believer is at a critical stage. With accountability, encouragement, and discipleship, he will grow in his relationship with the Lord. WIthout others investing in the new believer; however, he is in danger of falling away from his newfound faith and becoming entangled in the world once again.

Romans 8:10 tells us, “Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.” As believers, we get our life from Christ. This gives us great hope that even when the body dies, we will continue to live because we have His Spirit living inside of us. He gives us life through His resurrected body. Just as His body was resurrected, so was our lives when we chose Him and His salvation, and will be resurrected once again when the body dies. We have a great hope in Him!

Since we know this truth, we must spur one another on and encourage each other. We must live our lives as though we are transformed. We must disciple other believers (especially new believers) to live an abundant life in the Spirit instead of giving in to the ways of the world. We belong to Him and Him alone, so we must act like it!

If you live by the Spirit and are trying to live according to God’s Word, then you can probably see a battle going on in the world today between good and evil. Everywhere you look you can see friend against friend, brother against brother, and even Christian against Christian. We especially see this in the world today. Politics, difference in opinion, religion, and other hot topics drive a wedge between people, and we as Christians allow it to happen, and it drives what the world thinks about Christianity.

The sinful nature is always hostile to God, so if people don’t know the Father, they won’t live by the Word of God. We cannot hold people to godly standards if they themselves do not live by godly standards. We must understand that they still live in the darkness, by their sin nature. But we are not bound by this sin nature. While we still give into the flesh at times and make mistakes, we are controlled by the Holy Spirit. So we should see things differently than the world sees. We should see them through the eyes of the Lord because we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Every decision, every thought, every action should be a result of the Spirit guiding us.

These two natures are always in conflict with each other. When you are living by the Spirit, you will experience conflict as others are seeing things through their fleshly nature. Remember this when you are having conversations with others. You may be the only Jesus they experience. Be gentle with them and be the good they see.

It can be difficult to live as a Christian today when sin surrounds us. It has even seeped into the churches. We see people only living for themselves, making selfish decisions, and a world that tells you to trust yourself and “follow your heart.” The Bible teaches just the opposite.

Romans 8:5-6 describes the difference between living according to the flesh and living by the Spirit. Those who live according to the flesh set their mind on the things of the flesh, and those who live according to the spirit set their mind on the things of the spirit. Romans says that the way of the flesh leads to death and the way of the spirit leads to life. So what is the biggest difference between these two? The mind. It tells us to set our MINDS on the things of the spirit. That means to think about God, His goodness, His love, and the Spirit!

When you think about the things of God, you will see your mind and heart transform. He will become your priority and He will become your life. This is an everyday choice. When you wake up you must think about His goodness. When you go throughout your day, in the difficult times and even in the joy, you must think about the Lord. When you lay your head down at night, you must praise and thank Him.

Jesus freed us from the power of sin when He went to the cross. The chains were broken and we no longer had to live in our sin. So why do we put those shackles back on and continue to live in sin if we have been freed from it?

Sin is powerful. It can cause addictions and lead to a lifetime of pain and suffering. Man cannot defeat sin on his own which is why a Savior was needed to break its power. We can only overcome sin and its consequences with the help of Jesus Christ. Not only did He defeat sin, but He also continuously gives us the strength to live in the freedom of the cross. Still, we choose sin over the cross and freedom time and time again. The world and its pleasures can be so enticing. Even though we know God’s love is better, we still sometimes choose sin. We do this because of our sin nature. We were born into sin and sometimes still give in to the flesh and its desires.

So the only way to defeat sin and its powers is to look to Christ. He is the only one who defeated sin- He already won the victory. Remember when Jesus called Peter out of the boat to walk on the water? While his eyes were fixed on Christ, he was able to walk on the water, but when he looked down at the raging sea, he immediately fell. So if we live in light of the cross every single day, we will find that freedom again and again and we will be able to walk toward Jesus. It has to be a daily choice.

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus as Romans 8:1 tells us. No condemnation! We find condemnation in our world today everywhere we look. Sometimes it is found in our families and friends. Sometimes at work with our coworkers. Sometimes even in our churches. However, in Christ there is absolutely NO condemnation!

From the time sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, man was condemned to hell. Sin is always condemning. The moment we sin, we deserve hell and all of God’s wrath because sin is in direct disobedience with God’s Word. When the law was given to Moses, it condemned man’s sin. There was a need for someone or something to free man from sin. Enter Christ. God sent His only son to the world to live and breathe and walk with man. To develop a relationship with mankind. And then to die on a cross and condemn all sin, and resurrect three days later and free man from its chains.

So we can live in the freedom of the cross because we are not condemned. The world around us and anyone who doesn’t know Christ is condemned. We must bring them the good news so they can find freedom we have instead of the shackles of sin.