Hi there,
So it occurs to me that there is a link between being a slave to sin and the pressure we feel to act, under the influence of sin. Basically we become slave to sin, hoping to gain the strength of God without God. In doing so, we discover that we do get some strength, and we can see it. We can see it, in part because we are able to flex it. But what we notice is, that as we flex our strength in sin, is that that strength diminishes. We are trapped with diminishing strength; it gets harder and harder to flex. That doesn't change that we are slaves to sin, just that we have to borrow more strength from God, without acknowledging that it is God who is giving it to us.
The Devil can easily take advantage of us, while we are busy making a name for ourselves with our ill begotten strength (in sin). But actually what we should really be worried about, is deciding to abuse that strength, while we still have time. This is something that we do out of desperation (our sin causes us to be desperate). The anti-Christ when he comes to the Earth, will blaspheme God and those who dwell in Heaven - he does this for no other reason than that he loves himself: he, the owner of his strength, which he also loves. This is the deception, that if you have no feeling for your sin to begin with, you don't need feeling for your sin to finish with.
So can we confess? Yes we can confess, but every so often we are going to have to try to flex our flesh, to remind ourselves that strength comes from God, not Man. Why? Because we will continue to see that it is getting weak, no matter how much extra time we are able to give it. This is a do or die, fact: either we put stock in the flesh and be condemned or we put stock in the soul and be delivered (not because we have a soul, but because without the flesh we see the soul's connection to God). The point is we should be listening more to the connection of the soul to God, that the Holy Spirit convict us of our sin and prolong the usefulness of our flesh, for what is good in God's sight. We can't do it on our own, because we confuse testing the flesh with flexing it (the more we test the flesh, the more we are tempted to think it would be easier if we flexed it).
The power of knowing what it is that you do, when you are a slave to sin, is that you are able to circumnavigate either testing or flexing the flesh and so empower your soul, to find strength in something other than the flesh. Confessing will make this easier, as will trusting your confession to someone else (you can trust). The momentousness of our confession, should justify us - just as the tax collector in the story of the two confessing men. Being justified, we should be freed to praise God. Praising God, all sins are forgiven and forgotten. This is the power of God's love, that He not desire the destruction of the flesh, but the salvation of the soul that lives in it - ultimately for eternity. Indeed we can praise God, for eternity!
I hope this has been a blessing to you, that you thoughts are less and less on the flesh and more and more on God.
God bless.
So it occurs to me that there is a link between being a slave to sin and the pressure we feel to act, under the influence of sin. Basically we become slave to sin, hoping to gain the strength of God without God. In doing so, we discover that we do get some strength, and we can see it. We can see it, in part because we are able to flex it. But what we notice is, that as we flex our strength in sin, is that that strength diminishes. We are trapped with diminishing strength; it gets harder and harder to flex. That doesn't change that we are slaves to sin, just that we have to borrow more strength from God, without acknowledging that it is God who is giving it to us.
The Devil can easily take advantage of us, while we are busy making a name for ourselves with our ill begotten strength (in sin). But actually what we should really be worried about, is deciding to abuse that strength, while we still have time. This is something that we do out of desperation (our sin causes us to be desperate). The anti-Christ when he comes to the Earth, will blaspheme God and those who dwell in Heaven - he does this for no other reason than that he loves himself: he, the owner of his strength, which he also loves. This is the deception, that if you have no feeling for your sin to begin with, you don't need feeling for your sin to finish with.
So can we confess? Yes we can confess, but every so often we are going to have to try to flex our flesh, to remind ourselves that strength comes from God, not Man. Why? Because we will continue to see that it is getting weak, no matter how much extra time we are able to give it. This is a do or die, fact: either we put stock in the flesh and be condemned or we put stock in the soul and be delivered (not because we have a soul, but because without the flesh we see the soul's connection to God). The point is we should be listening more to the connection of the soul to God, that the Holy Spirit convict us of our sin and prolong the usefulness of our flesh, for what is good in God's sight. We can't do it on our own, because we confuse testing the flesh with flexing it (the more we test the flesh, the more we are tempted to think it would be easier if we flexed it).
The power of knowing what it is that you do, when you are a slave to sin, is that you are able to circumnavigate either testing or flexing the flesh and so empower your soul, to find strength in something other than the flesh. Confessing will make this easier, as will trusting your confession to someone else (you can trust). The momentousness of our confession, should justify us - just as the tax collector in the story of the two confessing men. Being justified, we should be freed to praise God. Praising God, all sins are forgiven and forgotten. This is the power of God's love, that He not desire the destruction of the flesh, but the salvation of the soul that lives in it - ultimately for eternity. Indeed we can praise God, for eternity!
I hope this has been a blessing to you, that you thoughts are less and less on the flesh and more and more on God.
God bless.
