6)
For to be carnally minded
is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7)
Because the carnal mind is
enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can
be.
8)
So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God.
9)
But ye are not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of
his.
10)
And if Christ be in you,
the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of
righteousness.
11)
But if the Spirit of him
that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit
that dwelleth in you.
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he
ability to live the life necessary for salvation comes only through the
indwelling of the Holy Ghost. Life as we know it is not life at all, but at
best a difficult, cheap imitation. It is the Spirit which brings true
life.
In
the beginning, Man was given life that he might live it in the manifestation of
God's Spirit. Now that He has made this possible, Man still has a problem when
he accepts the plan of salvation but tries to live his life by following the
dictates of the flesh. Many have yet to accept that once one is delivered, it
is unnecessary to "go back" and "get" that which was unable
to help in one's previous life. If we are ever to make progress in our
spiritual lives, we will have to be honest with ourselves and God and admit
that what did not work the first time, will not work the second time, either.
We
are going to have to deal with the issue of "power." The power that
every saved man is to manifest is only realized when man ceases to live after
the flesh. The life lived in the flesh was so unproductive because there is no
power in the flesh. Those who turn back after salvation have forgotten their
utter powerlessness and the fact that a search for something that does not
exist is fruitless.
The
sheer unpredictability of day-to-day events teaches us that the world is under
pressure to offer a source of hope. Salvation has been offered as that hope for
hundreds of years--yet, has been rarely accepted. The greatest factor
contributing to Man's refusal of the Holy Ghost is the fear that accepting Him
will mean a loss of control on the part of the individual. If we would examine
our previous lives, we would realize that we never had control. We were
dictated to by our flesh—and the Enemy.
Since
we have been given the responsibility to "revelate"
the world, once we are revelated, we cannot afford to
have any worries for ourselves. This also means that we must cease to deal with
things according to what we want. You see, one reason that it was necessary for
the habits of the flesh to conquer us is because we were trying to do something
for ourselves (flesh). If God would ever allow fleshly work to succeed in the
life of one saved, we would never be moved to depend on Him.
Salvation
has been lived for too long as if what we do really doesn't matter and "my
salvation is my salvation." Therefore, it has been difficult, if not
impossible, for many to promote the cause of Christ except in the most
superficial way. God has promised that if we will but promote the plan
of salvation, people will be won to it. But, then again, the possessor of
salvation must care that others be won.
All
too often, we are "sidelined" through our wandering gaze--that is, a
gaze that questions everyone about why-they-do-what-they do,
yet excludes the asker. As men, we are "mirrors" of our brothers and sisters,
so what better way to understand them than to look at ourselves? If we would
ever accept this, we would be able to help someone else. Besides, what another
might do in innocence, we sometimes do presumptuously (that is, we sin with
knowledge). Scripture even states, "Lord, save me from presumptuous sins.
If
there is any recognition in us at all of from what we have been delivered, we
ought to be determined to praise God and let nothing and no one interfere with
our relationship with Him. Who we have within us has empowered us to turn from
sin, live a righteous life and to turn from all the cares of life.
Living
in sin is not an option. True, when we were born the first time, we had
no choice but to be born in sin. In contrast, our second birth birthed us away
from sin. It is this birth which has benefit in the eyes of God and this birth
which must be advanced to Man.
Missing
in the lives of many saints of God has been a proper outlook on life after
salvation. When one is baptized and filled, he becomes a new person and
everything about him becomes new. What we have a tendency to do is to look at
whatever happens to us after salvation as a problem. The reality of our
existence is that whatever happens in our life has a meaning in the
In
these last days, the "successful" and blessed saints of God will be
separated from the unsuccessful by determination. With the increase in
activity in the spiritual world, one will not make it through this walk if not
determined to live to the praise and glory of the God Who has saved us. Now is
not the time to be "weak-kneed". If there ever was a time to be heard
for the Lord, the time is now.
There
is no point to being saved, yet remaining unhappy. All that we ever could have
thought would make us happy has already been given to us in Jesus. The
satisfaction we often go after through the flesh is available only in
Jesus. He satisfies like a cool drink of water satisfies the thirsty man. He is
what we do not even know we have a "taste" for.
We
might as well get used to the fact that we serve the God of
"better"—better life, better health, better finances, better self. Whatever is given to Jesus cannot help but to
be better. Nothing can stand in the presence of God and not be better for He
has and is the solution.
"The
Spirit is life" and our life is Spirit. In the Spirit is victory—for
a life already changed. In the Spirit is healing for all things—both
those things past and whatever might come in the future. For the people of
God to fully realize life in the Spirit, we will have to stop living in the
past and enter the present—the only place where life resides.