Stand fast therefore
in the liberty
by which Christ has
made us free,
and do not be
entangled again
with a yoke of
bondage…..
I say then: Walk in
the Spirit,
and you shall not
fulfill
the lusts of the
flesh.
For the flesh lusts
against the Spirit,
and the Spirit
against the flesh;
and these are
contrary to one
another, so that you
do not do
the things that you
wish.
Galatians 5: 1; 16–17
As
Christians we are “free” and our liberty is freedom. Freedom from what? By the
Holy Spirit living in a person they can by His guidance, His prodding, and by
His word, we do not have to sin: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your
mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your
members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God
as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness
to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but
under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?
Certainly no! do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to
obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death,
or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you
were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to
which you were delivered” (Romans 6:12–17. To walk in the Spirit is not to
“run” around doing things that seem to be pious, that have some form of piety
that makes a person to feel that they are doing so much good God must love
them. To walk in the Spirit is to walk according to the true doctrines of the
Bible and not those doctrines that have been formed by men who attempt to make
Scripture defend or prove their presuppositions, their theologies, instead of
allowing Scripture to determine their presuppositions, their theologies. Lust
can be defined simply as an intense sexual desire or appetite, and many only
use this word in that manner. But, lust is more than some sexual desire it can
be defined as a passionate desire, an ardent passion or enthusiasm, an intense
delight or passion; i.e., a lust for life. Lust occurs in our mortal life when
this life with all its trappings receives our lust, or deepest desire for
things which we enjoy at the expense of not just using them and to use them to
aid us in reaching that highest enjoyment which is to enjoy God. If we are
placing God as our object for our enjoyment and not for our use, then we will
not commit sin, even though a person who is fallen does by omission commit sin.
When we place temporal objects as our place of lust then we have sin and are
slaves to sin. To not allow this to occur then our hearts must be right with
God and this through the doctrine as revealed in Scripture.
Here is the
basis for our problem with sin. No man hates his own flesh, not even those who
abuse it. Abuse it? Yes! Do you overdo alcohol? Do you eat too much? Do you
allow sexual lusts to lead you to pornography? Etc! You abuse your flesh not to
even mention that you abuse others. Man does not hate his own flesh. Men in the
past have attempted to belie this problem by becoming ascetic, or cloister
themselves in monasteries, or as in our present have leaders of a Church become
celibate. This attempt to fight this problem of self hate of his flesh but
there is another side to this problem for man does not hate his own body. I
need not remind of the abuses caused by a person trying to not hate his own
body: they are abundant and public in many cases. Would it not then be better
to have not a body? Some would want this but it is not the physical body that
they object to or hate it is the corruptions that rise up in them that they
hate. This is the basis for the scourging of peoples bodies, i.e., nuns,
Catholic priests, Cardinals, Pope, etc. and is shown by their abstinence and
toil. But this is not the right spirit and it is not having the righteousness
of God, the Spirit of God or the right doctrine given to man in His word. Now,
if God has called a person to be celibate then they are to be celibate but his
is not the norm and should be entered into with all caution and prayer. Paul in
1Corinthians makes clear that marriage is commendable and marriage is under the
command of God. The question is simple: Who or what is the object of your
devotion? If this is not taking by the will of God then all that is being done
to a person is a destroying of themselves.
Root out
those habits that are not of the Spirit. Place as your highest object for your
enjoyment, for your devotion, for your worship; God. Do not follow those who
pervert the word of God for their own reasons, who have placed their
presuppositions ahead of Scripture by not allowing Scripture to interpret
Scripture or to allow Scripture to define their beliefs, their presuppositions,
their theology.
No one can serve two masters;
for either
he will hate the one
and love the other, or else he will be
loyal to
one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
Matthew 6:24
Today, turn all over to God
Richard L. Crumb
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