Archive for Righteousness
The Mind of Christ
Posted by: | CommentsThe things we believe to be true are the engine of our thought life. Our thought life is the ground on which God engages us and He commands that we take every thought captive that is not pleasing to Him. God wants to replace our thought with His thought. He wants to exchange the mind of Christ for our carnal mind. The Three Holy Lies, if believed to be true, are a major roadblock that allow us to continue to think in ways that seem right to us but are not pleasing to God. All of the thoughts we have that are based on believing the Three Holy Lies are not pleasing to God. These are the thoughts we must take captive and these are the thoughts that we must take to the cross as we crucify the seven deadly sins of self.
In this blog I have discussed the concept of living Life on a Cross. To crucify self, the process of taking thoughts captive must be integrated with the Life on a Cross model. When we are able to do that a powerful transformation begins to take place at our spiritual core. The power of God to really change us at the level of thought and motive becomes evident to us. As we become more patient, more kind, more forgiving and more obedient, we begin to authentically reflect God in our lives for the first time. This is real Christianity. This is the purpose of God. This is how we are putting on the mind of Christ.
Take Every Thought Captive
Posted by: | CommentsFor though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete. (2Co 10:3-6) NASB
Are you willing to allow God to deal with you at the level of thought and motive? To allow God to deal with us at such a deep level begins with learning what it means to take our thoughts captive and bring them in obedience to Christ.
The truth is this: I think things I hate to admit I think. How about you? Years ago when I struggled with addiction, anger and depression, very little of my thought life was pleasing to God. My thoughts were nested in anger, resentment and getting what I wanted when I wanted it. My thoughts came in an endless stream and were constantly goading and leading me into behavior that produced spiritual beatings that tortured my soul and my spirit.
I once heard someone say they considered their mind to be like a bad neighborhood and they avoided going there alone! I’ve found a lot of truth in that remark. However, as I have learned to better submit to God’s purpose, the greatest single example of His work in me is the transformation of my thought life. I still think thoughts that I need to surrender to God but they do not begin to approach the character and nature of my thoughts as they existed long ago. The change in my thought life is factual proof to me that God’s grace has changed my heart to the extent that I am no longer the man I used to be.
Step 1 of Crucifixion: The Beating
Posted by: | CommentsThe Beating
The crucifixion of Jesus began with a beating – a scourging of unbelievable intensity. The purpose of scourging was to weaken the body in preparation for actual crucifixion. The intensity of the beating was dependent on the particular mood and disposition of those charged with performing it. In the beating and scourging of Jesus, scripture indicates he received a particularly harsh and extended beating. He was almost beaten to the point of death. Crucifixion was a long process and would have been even longer without scourging to weaken the victim. Jesus’ actual time on the cross was evidently shorter than what would be normally expected and it may have been the result of the extreme beating he received in the scourging phase of the execution. The important thing to remember is that the beating was administered in preparation for death.
When we consider the crucifixion of self-will, how does the beating of Jesus relate to the process we must experience? It is easy to make the connection when we consider the consequences of our sin and the results they produce in our lives. When self-will is rampant in the life of a person it produces spiritual disaster and the effect is much the same as a beating. There are beatings we receive from the results of addiction. They are beatings that accompany divorce. There are beatings that accompany anger and resentment. There are negative spiritual consequences that follow every human activity that is not consistent with God’s will and His truth.
The beatings we experience as the result of our sin should be indicators for us that something about our spiritual condition is corrupt. God allows us to experience these spiritual beatings so that we might come to the end of ourselves and begin to allow him to work in and through us so that we will be conformed to the image of Christ. The scourging of Jesus was designed to weaken His body in preparation for death. The beatings we experience as the result of sin produce the same effect – weakening of the flesh so that we may die to it.
The beatings we receive as the result of our sin come in many forms, but there are four broad categories that are most prevalent: Broken Relationships, Addiction, Depression and Anger. These fruits of sin should serve as danger signals for believers because if any or all of these fruits exist in the life of a believer they are the result of a rebellious self-will living independently of God. These fruits of sin produce the spiritual beatings we are allowed to experience and the beatings will continue until we surrender to God’s great purpose, which is to conform us into the image of Christ. These spiritual beatings are administered and allowed by God to bring us to the end of ourselves. In the same way Christ was beaten in preparation for his execution, our spiritual beatings prepare us for the death of self.
The Process of Crucifixion
Posted by: | CommentsJesus’ crucifixion was an event, but it was also a process. Crucifixion was a long ordeal and Jesus moved through five stages or steps in the process of being executed. I believe spiritual truth can be seen in each step of His crucifixion and we can use that truth to better understand how to crucify our self-will. I certainly do not claim that these truths are the ultimate truth of the cross and the only way to view Jesus’ crucifixion. The complete theology of the cross is a great mystery and no doubt God speaks to us in diverse ways through the Holy Spirit and His revealed word. However, I have found the five steps of the crucifixion process to be a powerful analogy and a practical model that helps me understand how God changes me from within. Here are the 5 steps of Jesus’ crucifixion process:
1. The beating
2. The crown of thorns
3. The Fixing of hands to the cross
4. The Fixing of feet to the cross
5. The Spear in the side
Each step in the crucifixion process of Jesus provides a visual and mental picture of the way we must engage ourselves to the same process in order to crucify self. In the days ahead we will share these principles in more detail.
The Death of Self
Posted by: | CommentsThe Bible only offers one prescription for the problems presented in the seven deadly sins of self and that prescription is the death of self! The Apostle Paul presents the issue clearly in his letter to the Galatians:
For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. (Gal 5:17)
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. (Gal 5:24-25)
And in his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote:
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. (Rom 6:4-7)
It is only by the death of self that the risen life of Christ may be revealed in us. Only by the death of self may His Spirit fill us. Jesus says we must take up our cross and follow Him. Paul says we must crucify our flesh and die to sin. The cross is the most powerful instrument of Christianity and crucifixion is a bloody business. Most of the modern church has lost the view that the cross is an instrument of death. Worse, most Christians have no idea how to use it for the purpose of learning obedience by faith.
The heart of real Christianity is found in the crucifixion of self and allowing the risen Christ to live through us. That is the only ground upon which the Holy Spirit may trod and invade our spirit. It is by the death of self that we are filled by the Spirit and the death of self only occurs when we bring the seven deadly sins of self to the cross of Christ for crucifixion.
Hostility Toward God
Posted by: | CommentsHostility toward God is rebellion against God. Rebellion against God is sin. That is the true nature of self-sin and that is why God is working all things together in the life of a believer to crucify self. These sins of self are the sins that matter because they are the sins that prevent us from being like Christ in motive, thought and deed. So one question remains. How much of God do you really want in your life? You can have all of Him you want, but the more you get means having less of yourself. That’s why I believe most of us really don’t want as much of God as we think we do. We want to hang on to as much of ourselves as we can. Hanging on to self prevents us from being filled with the Holy Spirit. It’s far simpler to be an external Christian working off a checklist of religious behavior. However, God will have little to do with that approach. God always goes for our heart and leads us toward the death of self.
What Does it Mean to be Filled With the Spirit?
Posted by: | CommentsThere is no question that the New Testament teaches a doctrine of being filled with the Holy Spirit and the filling is something that happens throughout the earthly life of a Christian. The filling of the Spirit has nothing to do with being “more saved” but it has everything to do with the extent that we surrender control of our lives to God. The filling of the Spirit is possible and is the will of God for every Christian. The filling of the Spirit is not just for preachers, teachers or any group of specially gifted believers. The filling of the spirit is not about spiritual gifts or signs and wonders. The filling of the Spirit is about allowing the Spirit of God to completely invade our soul and spirit and have His way with us. Simply put, every Christian can have just about all of God in them they really want! The truth of the matter is that most Christians really don’t want that much of God in them because the price of being filled with the Spirit of God is very high. The price is the death of self.
What Has God Called You to ?
Posted by: | CommentsChristians are not called by God to attend church regularly. Christians are not called by God to tithe. Christians are not called to donate to building funds or support ministries. Christians are not called to DO anything. Christians are called to be holy. Christians are called to BE! When I say Christians are called to be, I don’t mean called to maximize their full potential by seeking some secular purpose for their lives. Christians are not called to be successful. Christians are called to obedience by faith and to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. When that happens, they really begin to do things.
As a wise man (Zig Ziglar) once said, “You have to BE, before you can DO“
Lies Power Sin
Posted by: | CommentsOur sin nature actually shapes the development of our Body of Truth. As we add things we believe to our Body of Truth, the self-seeking heart colors the way we interpret the events of our lives and the things we believe to be true. So, in the final analysis, the things we do are influenced by the things we believe, but the entire behavior machine is fueled by the sin nature which is at the root of our lost state.
When we are infants and children in the process of building our Body of Truth, there is a motive that sustains the process. Every person lives in a state of fear that somehow, someway, we are not going to get what we think we have to have to be safe and secure. So, we come to believe the lies that allow us to do things by our own power to get what we want, so we can be “safe”. Lies thrive within human selfishness and sin. Lies also power our rebellion against God. Until our self-seeking hearts are put to death the truth transplant we need will be resisted.
“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.“ (Luk 6:45) NASB
A Wake-Up Call!
Posted by: | CommentsThrough Jesus Christ and His written word, God has revealed that he is a holy, righteous, just, loving God. But, He has also revealed that human beings are separated from Him by their sin and rebellion and have been judged for it. Unregenerate human beings exist in a condition of spiritual death. However, God has also revealed that we can be restored to life by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Once restored by faith, we are ‘born again’ to spiritual life that is eternal. The price of this redemption is that we repent of our sin and rebellion and accept His Lordship over all that we are and do. Men who create religions out of their efforts to define God always place men at the center and exalt themselves. The true revelation of God is a big slap in face for men who are lovers of themselves, who really want to be little gods themselves.
