When I received Christ by faith, I was baptized into the death of our Lord, and my spirit was raised with Him to a new life. My old nature was crucified with Him, so I am no longer a slave to sin. By faith, I walk in victory. So, why then do I still sin?
In the last article, I explained the Process of Transformation. As my mind gets renewed, my soul becomes more spiritual. My life expresses more and more the life of Christ, Who lives in me. To walk in victory, it is very helpful for me to understand which part of me has already died, and which part still needs to die. Once something dies, it is dead and it need not die again. For Christians, the Bible does not talk about us dying, it speaks of natural death as “falling asleep”. We have been recreated as spirit beings with eternal life. I do not only have an eternal spirit, but also an eternal soul which is growing spiritually. When our body goes through natural death, we put off the temporary dwelling of our spirit and soul.
As long as I walk with the Lord, my soul is going through transformation. To stand in victory over the power of sin, I must believe what the scriptures say about the death of the old nature. How do I explain then the fact that there are thought patterns in me that look like they belong to the old nature? It is my renewed mind. The instructions, the experiences, the hereditary tendencies, they all remain in me. My nature has changed, but now my thinking must change. As Christians we are taught to bear our cross, to live crucified to this world and alive towards God. This means I must daily put to death the behaviours that are not according to the new nature the God has given me. In Colossians Chapter three, Paul says: “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God….Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth” (Col. 3:2,3,5) The members he is referring to are behaviours like anger, malice, lying, etc.
Putting to death the old ways can be a challenge because some of those patterns are deeply rooted. As we discussed in a previous article, the process of transformation is a process of repentance and faith. Essential to this process is “accountability”. Forgiveness is freely given by grace, but there can be no forgiveness without confession and no change without repentance. I cannot cooperate with the Holy Spirit for transformation if I do not “own” the behaviour. I cannot blame others, the devil, or my old nature for my sins. It is as David confessed, “Against You, You only have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight” (Ps. 51:4). I must repent for my sinful behaviour, and by faith take a stand that because I died with Christ, sin will not have dominion over me. (This is the power of the cross.) In true repentance then, I must die to the thoughts and desires of the flesh. I renounce these ungodly ways, and if there are any demonic strongholds, I cry out to God for deliverance. He is quite able to forgive me and to deliver me.
This dying process is not pleasant, and neither is it instantaneous. The sinful behaviour may be rooted in wrong thoughts and beliefs. The Spirit leads me through the dying process as I learn to discern between good and evil. If I try to rush the process, the problem may spring up again and cause more trouble. It is imperative that I remain on the altar as a “living sacrifice” (Ro. 12:1). Jesus said the grain must die and stay in the ground a while before it can bear fruit. This is the burial period before the resurrection
How do I know if the behaviour has been pulled out by the roots? I must repent, not just for the behaviour, but also for the wrong belief that it is rooted in (i.e. I must renew my thinking). Let me share with you an experience the Lord used to illustrate this process to me. As a young believer I was struggling with giving up smoking. When I finally became convinced that He wanted me to give it up, I asked Him for a help to overcome. It came through a scripture, “for it is good that the heart be established by grace and not by food” (Heb. 13:9). That scripture in context is talking about religion, but the way the Lord used it in my situation was to reveal the root cause of my habit. He showed me that I was depending on this drug to strengthen my heart. I smoked when I was nervous, especially while socializing. He showed me that this drug, which was pretending to be part of my character, was not really me. I was being deceived. He also showed me that if I looked to Him for grace, I would get real character, which would remain with me even when I went to heaven. I know that now to mean that Christ would be formed in me. Because I wanted this grace instead of food, I decided to fast for three day to get the victory. Every time I was tempted, I prayed for grace. More and more the presence of the Lord would fill me. I never wanted to go back to the old ways. After three days, the physical battle was won. The psychological aspects of the habit took a little longer to die to, but the process was the same.
It is not enough to die to the old ways, we must also rise up and walk in new ways by faith. If we do not replace the wrong thought with good thoughts, the wrong ones will return, or others will take their place. As we look to the Lord, He will give us His Word which is spirit and life.
Highway in the Wilderness 