Yes, yes we do. Thank God that the wages of those sins (death) has been paid.
When I was growing up, during summer vacation there were various Christian summer camps that I attended. Sometimes the focus was on entertainment and other times the focus was spiritual and God's presence was felt.
I tend to remember more from those spiritual camps than the "fun" ones. At one of those spiritual camps I remember overhearing one of my female friends crying to her sister, "Every year I recommit my life to Christ. I want to change, but every time I go back home I get back into the lifestyle. Every year it is the same thing" and the crying continued as sister tried to encourage her. When we feel revival and renewal, how often is it that we are getting right spiritually, but haven't moved ahead, haven't matured in our walks with God?
The picture under the title is an illustration/metaphor of what is going on. My oldest son was given the task from his mother to dig out part of a hill in our back yard and arrange some bits of stone into steps. My son was out there for hours digging with a shovel, the ground was hard clay. He was getting the steps done, but it was slow and hard work. I suggested using the pic would make the job go a lot easier and he liked the suggestion. He kept forgetting to use it and work was slow. Days were spent on this project. One day I came home from work and he had used the pic. He said it was still a lot of work, after all the ground is pretty hard, but using the right tool made all of the difference.
The Bible is practical and explains that stopping the sinful behavior is not enough. Ephesians 4:22-32 states for those who follow Jesus, "to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."
After we are saved through our faith in Jesus, we are not to only stop sinning, this is putting off our old selves, but we are to put on the new self. This means to stop doing bad sinful habits that we have learned, and start doing righteous habits, transforming into the likeness of God. My son's work became easier when he replaced the old hard way of doing things with the right way of doing things. My friend from camp needed to put God's ways from the Bible into action, and replace her behaviors with new ones. Replacing sinful habits with godly ones is what becoming Christ-like is about. This can only be done with the help of God, and it is a process. The Holy Spirit can use a godly pastor and/or friend to help you search His word, and "speak the truth with his neighbor."
Jesus was the only perfect man. What does that mean? Christians have sin and commit sin, but thank God we have been forgiven. Does that mean we keep on sinning? No, when we put our faith in God the desire to please God is what our lives show. This broken world makes temptation attractive, and our sinful nature wants to rebel against the Creator, and that is why those sinful habits need to be replaced with godly ones. We are set free from this law of sin and death when we put our faith in Jesus. As Romans 7:14 says "For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin." We follow God's word that is spiritual and not the fleshly laws.
Remember, to stop the sinful behavior is not enough. We must be renewed in our minds and put on the new self. As believers we are to help each other. Don't hesitate to ask someone for help, it will bless them as well because it also helps them become more Christ-like.
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