10/09/2018
Are you living out your life claiming to be a Christian while continuing to live under the control of your own will; skirting God’s? How is it that we can be satisfied in this? How is it that we can taste His will, experience a touch of sanctity, holiness, and joy, and then retreat back into our own humanity? This is the struggle of faith... the denial of the comfort we find in our own flesh, nature, and will, that we might accept God’s.
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor....
For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.”
1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, 7 ESV
God wills is for us to be sanctified and holy, but this requires more from us than to simply say “Alright Father, I accept your will... sanctify me!” It requires that we abandon those things in ourselves that are contrary to Him. It means we begin to walk FULLY in His Holy Will, not just when it feels good, but also when it challenges us.
In this portion of the letter to the Thessalonians, we read Paul teaching several actions that they need to refrain from... sexual immorality, the passion of lust, transgressing against and wronging their brother. These are all sins of the flesh... a relapse into pleasing oneself by falling back into his own nature and will. It was common at the time for gentiles to behave in this manner, but Paul warns that this is not sanctified or holy behavior.
These are just examples, but there are many desires of the flesh and mind that are contrary to the will of God, and they are hard to deny because they represent the sweet spot of our natural will... these are the things that make us feel good, and in which we are comfortable (even if just momentarily). These are the things we often do in secret, and these are the things we see the ungodly society around us not only accepting, but glorifying.
When I was young there was a great basketball player named Will Chamberlain. He was an inch over seven feet tall, and in a single game he singlehandedly scored more than 100 points; In a single season he scored 4,029. He was a remarkable basketball player. Yet there is another statistic that he is also known for... he claimed to have had sex with 20,000 women. There is some debate about this number, but you get the drift of what he was claiming... he was much more than simply promiscuous. What is also amazing was that people glorified him nearly as much in this statistic as they did his accomplishments on the court. He was the talk around every office water cooler. The sins of the flesh are just as alive today as they were when Paul wrote his letter to the Thessalonians. Gossip is just as prevalent today, and if it involves sexual subjects it spreads even further. Our natural will is not God’s.
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Galatians 5:19-21 ESV
So simply saying the words “I will follow the will of God!” is not enough. Going to church on Sunday and leaving your sins outside the sanctuary door with your umbrella, then picking them both up again after you shake the pastor’s hand is not living God’s will. This is not the life of Christ. We listen to Jesus as He interceded for a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery, and we might conclude that He tolerated her actions, but He didn’t... instead He used her sin of the flesh as a lesson regarding our own sins. He knew she was guilty, after all she had been caught in the act... but who was pure enough to stone her? The crowd left because they saw their sins, but Jesus gave her another chance... “go and sin no more.”
“Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."
John 8:10-11 ESV
So did she? Did she go and sin no more? Was she able to overcome her natural desire, and to adhere, from that moment forth, to God’s Will? We are not given the answer to this question. Maybe we aren’t because this isn’t about a woman long ago... this woman is us, and the story is still unfolding. Look at yourself and ask “How will it end?”
God desires us to abandon our own will, and our own sinful nature, so that we can adhere to His will, and conform to His character. He wants us to become sanctified and holy, but the task is daunting while surrounded by so much temptation and evil. So God sent Jesus, and He sent His Holy Spirit to help us. Listen to Jesus as He teaches His apostle’s to pray...
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Matthew 6:13 ESV
This should be our prayer every day! We should also lean on the Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and to give us the wherewithal to deny our own will.
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
Galatians 5:16-17 ESV
This is the road to sanctification, and this is the way to a deeper and more fulfilled relationship with Jesus and God. In God there is Holiness, and inasmuch as we abide in Him and He abides in us... we will be in His will, and we will be made Holy as He is Holy. Are you ready to pray as Jesus taught? Are you ready to lean on the Holy Spirit, and walk closely with God? Are you ready to be Sanctified, and Holy?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Holy Desire that pulls me out of my own worldly will, and calls me to yours. Help me Father to leave behind the sins of my flesh and to sanctify myself. Thank you Father for your Son Jesus, and your Holy Spirit, who work as one to remove the works of the flesh from me, and who replace them with the fruits of the spirit. Holy Father, the road to holiness is fraught with evil and temptation; I pray that you deliver me from all evil, and lead me not into temptation. Keep your hand upon me Lord and strengthen me so that my will would diminish, and yours increase within me. Let my days be spent walking with you, and learning to be more perfectly as you are. Draw me near Father, and abide within me. In this way Merciful Father I desire sanctification, and to be Holy as you are... let nothing hinder my longing for you. Hear my prayers each day as I ask for your forgiveness, and protection; I wish to stand before you every day as your Son Jesus did... pure, and blameless... wash me clean by His blood, and fill me to perfect satisfaction with His flesh. In this I praise you Father, and in this I find my deepest longing and desire. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God. Great are you who sanctified and makes holy! By your will I am made to be like you, and as I receive you, I pray that I might glorify you more each day.
Rich Forbes