Page 6 - lifeandgrace
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can do it.” But in Romans we learn that we are dead to the law! What does that mean? It means that the
Law does not hold anything for us. We are not related to the law at all. Paul explains this carefully in
(1 Tim 1:8-9 RSV) "Now we know that the law is good, if any one uses it lawfully, 9understanding
this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and
sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers."
The law is not for us! We are the just. Paul teaches us that we are now righteous and holy and
complete in Christ. We are saints of God. He tells us this over and over again. But you may say, “But
brother Rene, I still sin”. Yes, that is correct. We do sin but we are not “sinners”. That is, “sinner” is not
our identity. Our identity is now that of “saint.” The alive spirit that is within us, the spirit that is now
connected to God and joined to His Holy Spirit and is alive in Him - that spirit cannot sin. (1 John 3:9
RSV) "No one born of God commits sin; for God's nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is
born of God." Down deep inside in our new alive, holy and righteous and complete in Him spirits, we
cannot sin because God keeps us. Then where do we sin because we all plainly do sin???
It is in our members (physical bodies) according to Paul. We may have a new spirit but we have the
same old body and the same old brain. And we have a propensity for listening to the lies of Satan. He
whispers lies to us, and we then act as if the lies are true. Then as we act on his whispers, we sin. For
example Satan whispers to us, that is, to our members: “Your wife doesn’t love you. If she loved you, she
would cook your favorite food.” And what do we do? We may say in our thoughts, “yes, that’s right, if
she loved me, she would cook my favorite food.” What should we say in our thoughts or even out loud?
Just this: “get behind me Satan. My wife does love me but regardless of that, Jesus loves me and I am
complete in Him. He will never leave me nor forsake me. I reject your lies and whisperings.”
What is the source of our stance against Satan? It is our new spirit, reborn in Christ, alive to Christ
that is holy and righteous and complete in Christ. We resist him, firm in our faith! He is a liar and the
father of lies just like Jesus told us. But if we take those thoughts captive, trusting the power of Christ in
us, we do not sin. What are we doing? We are “walking in the spirit”. Walking in the spirit simply means
that our new holy, righteous, and complete spirit, alive to Jesus Christ through His Life that is in us will
dictate to our soul-man what we are going to do. We have for the most part lived out of our soulish life
all our lives. Mostly the soul - man decides things based on “feelings” and not on the word of God.
Walking in the spirit demands that we walk as if God’s word is true - which it is - and not pay attention to
our feelings.
Your soul life is completely captive to its surroundings in a sense. It responds to what people say,
what people do, what is happening to us in the physical world. If things are going good, the soul is “up”
and happy. If things are going bad, the soul is “down” or sad. If we make decisions based on these
feelings, we are living out of our soul life and not out of our spirits. At that moment we are not “walking
in the spirit”.
Our spirits, our NEW MAN spirits are totally alive to Jesus Christ and joined to His Spirit. In our
spirit we believe the word of God, we desire the things of God, we desire to do what God desires we do.
So long as our spirits dictate to our soul, we will follow God. Down in our spirits the word of God is
received as truth because it is truth. But in our souls, given the opportunity to control, the word of God is
set aside in favor of “feelings”. Our soul always wants comfort! It will not voluntarily choose suffering
nor deprivation nor problems. It always desires to respond to our surroundings. Its focus is always on
performance. It responds to performance in others and tries to perform itself so that others are impressed
by its performance. It even tries to serve God with performance. Soul life will never please God,
however. He is not looking for performance coming out of our soul life. He is looking for relationship
through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
In the Christian life most Christians spend time concerned about sin - more time concerned about sin
than time relating to Jesus. They sin, feel badly, even get depressed and determine to obey God. But God
Law does not hold anything for us. We are not related to the law at all. Paul explains this carefully in
(1 Tim 1:8-9 RSV) "Now we know that the law is good, if any one uses it lawfully, 9understanding
this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and
sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers."
The law is not for us! We are the just. Paul teaches us that we are now righteous and holy and
complete in Christ. We are saints of God. He tells us this over and over again. But you may say, “But
brother Rene, I still sin”. Yes, that is correct. We do sin but we are not “sinners”. That is, “sinner” is not
our identity. Our identity is now that of “saint.” The alive spirit that is within us, the spirit that is now
connected to God and joined to His Holy Spirit and is alive in Him - that spirit cannot sin. (1 John 3:9
RSV) "No one born of God commits sin; for God's nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is
born of God." Down deep inside in our new alive, holy and righteous and complete in Him spirits, we
cannot sin because God keeps us. Then where do we sin because we all plainly do sin???
It is in our members (physical bodies) according to Paul. We may have a new spirit but we have the
same old body and the same old brain. And we have a propensity for listening to the lies of Satan. He
whispers lies to us, and we then act as if the lies are true. Then as we act on his whispers, we sin. For
example Satan whispers to us, that is, to our members: “Your wife doesn’t love you. If she loved you, she
would cook your favorite food.” And what do we do? We may say in our thoughts, “yes, that’s right, if
she loved me, she would cook my favorite food.” What should we say in our thoughts or even out loud?
Just this: “get behind me Satan. My wife does love me but regardless of that, Jesus loves me and I am
complete in Him. He will never leave me nor forsake me. I reject your lies and whisperings.”
What is the source of our stance against Satan? It is our new spirit, reborn in Christ, alive to Christ
that is holy and righteous and complete in Christ. We resist him, firm in our faith! He is a liar and the
father of lies just like Jesus told us. But if we take those thoughts captive, trusting the power of Christ in
us, we do not sin. What are we doing? We are “walking in the spirit”. Walking in the spirit simply means
that our new holy, righteous, and complete spirit, alive to Jesus Christ through His Life that is in us will
dictate to our soul-man what we are going to do. We have for the most part lived out of our soulish life
all our lives. Mostly the soul - man decides things based on “feelings” and not on the word of God.
Walking in the spirit demands that we walk as if God’s word is true - which it is - and not pay attention to
our feelings.
Your soul life is completely captive to its surroundings in a sense. It responds to what people say,
what people do, what is happening to us in the physical world. If things are going good, the soul is “up”
and happy. If things are going bad, the soul is “down” or sad. If we make decisions based on these
feelings, we are living out of our soul life and not out of our spirits. At that moment we are not “walking
in the spirit”.
Our spirits, our NEW MAN spirits are totally alive to Jesus Christ and joined to His Spirit. In our
spirit we believe the word of God, we desire the things of God, we desire to do what God desires we do.
So long as our spirits dictate to our soul, we will follow God. Down in our spirits the word of God is
received as truth because it is truth. But in our souls, given the opportunity to control, the word of God is
set aside in favor of “feelings”. Our soul always wants comfort! It will not voluntarily choose suffering
nor deprivation nor problems. It always desires to respond to our surroundings. Its focus is always on
performance. It responds to performance in others and tries to perform itself so that others are impressed
by its performance. It even tries to serve God with performance. Soul life will never please God,
however. He is not looking for performance coming out of our soul life. He is looking for relationship
through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
In the Christian life most Christians spend time concerned about sin - more time concerned about sin
than time relating to Jesus. They sin, feel badly, even get depressed and determine to obey God. But God
