"And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." ~ Romans 8:11 (NIV)
When I'm driving, cooking, or putzing around the house doing chores, my mind drifts to this grace in which we now stand. I'm SO grateful, more than words can say. Because if you knew how I've tried to escape the tyranny of my own self-life, you'd either chuckle or admit you've done it, too. All of us want to overcome sinful self, and grow spiritually. But thinking we can do this, in and of our own power, is misleading to ourselves and anyone looking to our example.
These ideas and activities don't work:
1. Denying self. Beef up my efforts; get self out of the dog-gone way so Christ can work, make sure I'm denying my affections on a daily basis.
2. Conquer self by doing more spiritual stuff. "Feed the white dog, not the black dog." Attend more church gatherings and bible studies, pray harder and longer, become more involved at church, start a ministry, lead a class, get on the prayer team, witness, disciple or mentor others, give more money, make sure I'm using my gifts, write a spiritual blog, etc.
3. More education and training. Sign up for spiritual conferences, workshops, sermons, tapes, videos, books; go to the right church, get a theology degree, train to be a counselor, life coach, chaplain, or apologist, etc. Learn all I can! Knowledge is power, they say!
4. Attend revivals. Confess, commit, care about souls more, pray for change, evangelize, make new spiritual resolutions, "get right with God" again and again.
5. Stay "cleansed" and forgiven. Make sure I'm current with God in regards to my sins. Confess every known sin to "keep short accounts." If I don't, God won't answer my prayers or empower me!
6. Grow spiritually. Aspire to the "deeper" life. Plod along and don't stop lest I become "stagnant" in my walk with Him. Keep the spiritual disciplines; do whatever's necessary to further my growth in the Lord. "If you're not growing, you're backsliding!"
7. Seek bigger and better experiences. Pray for more power, anointing, speaking in tongues, discernment, gifts, etc; travel near and far to 'healing' and prophetic conferences, meetings, or retreats, fast, etc. Keep the spiritual disciplines, follow the "ancient pathways," or discover "XYZ Keys to Spiritual Growth. "Don't wanna miss anything God has for me!"
These are some examples of many ways we've been taught to grow spiritually and deny self. Ironic, isn't it? The Lord says His yoke is easy, His burden is light, yet all this activity makes my head spin. When we focus on an area, trying to attain something, we lose sight of the Person. After several years, I realized I'd shot myself in the foot by, first, trying to hurry my own growth and, secondly, trying to keep up spiritual appearances. That's a lot of trying! Sheer exhaustion, growing irritability, and deep frustration about my many failures signaled something really wrong. The Lord didn't fail me; I had turned this Christian life into a chronic treadmill. Nothing destroys rest for our souls like striving to make something happen.
Abiding in Him is enough. He will work through any surrendered life, yours and mine, as we trust Him and believe in His finished work. Others may think I'm not doing enough to prove my godly devotion, but what a blessing to be freed from their opinion of me!
So I'm learning this, flesh can't improve itself for very long. It needs to die. If we've received the Lord's life, our old self DID die in union with Him on the cross. The old has passed, the new has come. The moment we trust Him and receive Him - the Gift of Grace - we become a new creation, raised with Him and blessed with His indwelling life. We're forgiven, cleansed, accepted, and empowered by His life to make right choices.
Yes, we have plenty (ineffective) ways to deal with the core problem of self, but God has only ONE way: His Son, Jesus Christ. At the Cross He dealt with us fully, and did more than pay for the penalty of our sin. He knew our flesh could never yield to good-intended resolutions or effort. Even educating ourselves about the Truth is not the same as being set free by Him. Jesus is truth. Why would He help improve our old sinful nature, the Adamic nature, when He can make us completely new in Him?
Our spiritual lives flow from His indwelling life, nothing else. There are no new revelations out there, folks, only Truth we need to receive and believe.
It's the Holy Spirit who holds "self" to the cross, rendering it inactive, causing us to respond to His grace, day by day. This life in Christ is a beautiful, fruitful, loving life of peace and rest - no more striving for what is already ours. Open God's Word today and find the many ways He's provided for you through His Son. All we really need to do is take our place of union with Him. He does the rest.
(graphic courtesy of www.heartlight.org)