It was only a few days after writing our last
mini-check-in that I was praying about it, when a student asked me a question
of “if we are a new man then why do we still sin?” Though at first in prayer
time these two (witnessing and sinning) had nothing to do with each other it
soon was made clear that in fact they do. With that let us take a few minutes
to look at what I mean.
What does sin do in the lives of saints? Of course it
brings death like it would with any other person. Though sin in the life of a
saint does more. It binds us from ministry! When there is an open sin, one not
brought before Jesus, asking for Him to cover it with His blood, and forgive
us, our mouths are shut! You see there is a power in sin that when we are in it
we are its slaves! Though when we are in Christ Jesus we are His! When we are
His we have the Holy Spirit, and when we have the Holy Spirit we can and will
walk in the power of His might!
Look at it like this, when we are in sin and we see person
who needs ministry we will not be able to minister to them. Not that we cannot
speak, but that even if we do our words will have now power from the Holy
Spirit. For if we are in sin (the flesh) then we cannot be in the Spirit as
listed here in Gal_5:16-17:
Gal
5:16-17 NKJV I say then: Walk in the
Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (17) For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and
the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that
you do not do the things that you wish.
Therefore if we do not minister as redeemed saints covered
by His grace, then we are not walking in the will of God! For He has called us
to be a witness to the world! We are to be a witness in word and deed! We must
have both. There is a time and place that one may prevail over the other, but
the fact remains we must be a witness in both word and deed. How we do it, and
what power we do it in is up to us. If we are in sin, then when/if we do
minister then it will be done in the flesh, and our words/deeds have no power
but our own. And we know just how NOT strong we are if we are left to
ourselves. But if we choose to walk in the Spirit and die to our flesh (like
Jesus commands that we do Luk_9:23) then we will walk in the
power of the Holy Spirit like we are promised in Act_1:8! For we know that it is Him
that calls all men unto the FatherJoh_6:44! So if He is the one doing the calling and we are not
walking in the Spirit, but in the flesh, then we know our words will have no
power but our own! It would be only by the grace of God and His will that any
ministry done in the flesh would be of any affect!
Now I say all of this not to say that every sin would have
this affect on us. But I am saying that if we sin willingly, knowing full well
what we are doing, then expect to be an effective minister of the gospel we are
fooling ourselves. For example, if we were to willingly have binge session of
sexual sins over a course of time we would be willingly putting our self back
into bondage of sin! There in this “sin state” we would not be an effective
witness! For we know that whom we present our bodies we will be slaves:
Rom
6:12-15 NKJV Therefore do not let sin reign
in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. (13) And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but
present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. (14) For sin shall not have dominion over you, for
you are not under law but under grace. (15) What
then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!
After reading this, is there any sin in your life that
needs to be dealt with? Have you gotten lax in an area that may lead to open
sinning? If so please share that with us now, so you can bring it into the
light, and we can begin to pray for you right where you are!
(Also below my signature block are the scriptures that I used today)
Your Brother in Christ
Grace and Peace be with you
Nate Cook, Setting Captives Free Team
Member
And Jesus said to me:
Eze 3:10b-11a "...Receive into your heart all My words
that I speak to you, and hear with your ears, and go, get
to the captives..."
Gal
5:16-17 NKJV I say then: Walk in the
Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (17) For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and
the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that
you do not do the things that you wish.
Luk 9:23
NKJV Then He
said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
Act 1:8 NKJV But you shall
receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be
witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of
the earth."
Joh 6:44 NKJV No one can come to
Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last
day.
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