Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”… (Romans 13:7-9)
There are in reality only 3 commandments. They are to love God, love your neighbour and to love the brethren. No one who is not born again has any hope of obeying God's commandments. No Christian who strives to obey God's commandments will succeed. Why? We have not the capacity in ourselves. Only those who walk in the Spirit know the victory over sin, self and Satan that God intends for us to have.
Focusing on sin is like pulling the fruit off a tree. Some trees have awful fruit. You may improve the look of the tree, but the fruit will reappear soon enough. God's answer is to lay the axe to the root of the tree (Luke 3:9). This is the work of the cross. God kills us. Many Christians refuse to judge themselves as helpless sinners. They get their pruning shears out and go around snipping off the "bad" fruit. Of course, they insist that everyone else must do the same. That is not God's way. He rids us of the old nature and puts a new spirit within us. Jesus is the Life of that new spirit. However, it is our choice as to whether or not we depend on Him for life.
Adam and Eve were presented with a choice in Eden. They choose Life as represented by the Tree of Life. Or they could choose knowledge of good and evil. Many Christians care more about good and evil than they do about the Life that only Christ can give us (John 5:21). It is wise to resist sin, of course. But to obsess about it is to focus on the problem and not on the answer. If you must, so be it. Your life will be unfulfilled and joyless. How much better to walk in the liberty of the sons of God.
There are in reality only 3 commandments. They are to love God, love your neighbour and to love the brethren. No one who is not born again has any hope of obeying God's commandments. No Christian who strives to obey God's commandments will succeed. Why? We have not the capacity in ourselves. Only those who walk in the Spirit know the victory over sin, self and Satan that God intends for us to have.
Focusing on sin is like pulling the fruit off a tree. Some trees have awful fruit. You may improve the look of the tree, but the fruit will reappear soon enough. God's answer is to lay the axe to the root of the tree (Luke 3:9). This is the work of the cross. God kills us. Many Christians refuse to judge themselves as helpless sinners. They get their pruning shears out and go around snipping off the "bad" fruit. Of course, they insist that everyone else must do the same. That is not God's way. He rids us of the old nature and puts a new spirit within us. Jesus is the Life of that new spirit. However, it is our choice as to whether or not we depend on Him for life.
Adam and Eve were presented with a choice in Eden. They choose Life as represented by the Tree of Life. Or they could choose knowledge of good and evil. Many Christians care more about good and evil than they do about the Life that only Christ can give us (John 5:21). It is wise to resist sin, of course. But to obsess about it is to focus on the problem and not on the answer. If you must, so be it. Your life will be unfulfilled and joyless. How much better to walk in the liberty of the sons of God.
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