Now before I start, I want to encourage you to listen to Lesson 8: The Cycle of New Life in this series of videos. What I am doing in these videos is teaching a school of discipleship based on my book Building Your Spiritual House. Each lesson is intended to build one upon another. You can watch them out of order and get a lot out of each individual lesson, but if you watch them in order and follow along in the book you will get a more balanced view of what I am trying to teach. What we are looking at today is Part II of Lesson 10: A Lifestyle of Repentance. Let’s do a little review so I can remind you of a few of the main points in Part I.
The soul is the interface by which we reflect Christ within us to the world.
I gave you the example in the last lesson that the soul is like the screen on our cell phone that displays Christ within us and when it is cracked it needs restoration. We are saved instantly as we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths Christ as lord while at the same time salvation is a journey as we progress in our faith and our souls are saved as we humbly allow the word of God to restore us. Jesus said our goal in this life is to first love God with all of our hearts and souls. Then out of that love we are to lay down our lives for others walking with them and helping whomever we can along our journey.
In this world we have relationships with many different people: working, school, friends and family members. All have different levels of intimacy and commitment. However, the most important relationship that we have is the one we have with Father God. Our relationship with God is the key to living a fulfilled and meaningful life in this body. There are many things in this world, which can hinder our relationship with God from growing. Living in a lifestyle of repentance will help keep our hearts humble, adaptable and changeable grounding us in the love of God. We live in this world surrounded by enemies to the cross of Christ. We have been born again by the Spirit of God through the kingdom inaugurated through the victory of the cross and that needs to be our primary focus.
Our goal in this life is being transformed by the Spirit of God in our hearts from the inside out to display the glory of God.
It is the enemy of our souls that will try to keep us from fulfilling our purpose in this life. There are three main enemies that we will encounter along our journey. They are constantly present to harass us, create conflict for us and put obstacles in our pathway. It is impossible to escape any of them completely as long as we live in this body and this present age.
The three main enemies that we will face are: Satan, the world and the flesh. Repentance is an important key to living this life of faith. Repentance keeps the soil of our hearts soft and fertile so that the seed of God’s word will produce fruit in our lives. The flesh or as I call it the lower nature is where the rubber meets the road. The lower nature could be termed the enemy within if we allow it to dominate our souls. Discipleship is the pathway of learning how to deal with the lower nature, but we have to first get an understanding of what the Bible calls the flesh or the lower nature.
As we look at the Bible, we will soon discover that many times in scripture the word flesh is not necessarily referring to our physical body. You have to look at the context in which the word is being used to determine if it is referring merely to our human body (II Corinthians 7:1), outward ordinances of the Mosaic Law (Galatians 3:3) or man living independent of the redeeming work of Christ (Romans 8:8).
The Gnostics were a heretical group during the first century, which taught a false concept concerning the makeup of man and the material world. John in his gospel and epistle confronted the false doctrine that the material world is evil. Gnosticism had many variations, but it basically taught that anything that was material or of this physical world was evil, yet everything of the spirit was good, therefore Jesus could not have come in a human body. It’s why John said in I John 4:2 that "by this you know the Spirit of God, every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God".
The practical result of the Gnostic doctrine in the early church and today is that people teach that your physical body is evil.
The result leads you to either give in to the unrestrained cravings of our unredeemed bodies since we are powerless to overcome, or live as an ascetic monk to brutalize the body, bringing it into subjection through self-effort since to enjoy the material world is evil. I want us to take a holistic approach which recognizes that although this age has been corrupted by sin and is under satanic control, we are not to live lives detached from creation. Jesus came to redeem not just mankind, but eventually even the created order itself Romans 8:19-21. We are to live in this world, which means we can enjoy ourselves without being subject to idolizing its pleasures, power and corrupting practices.
Jesus himself as the pattern son gave us an example to follow. Spirituality is not detaching ourselves from life's experiences or withdrawing from our communities. We don’t have to be spiritual Essenes, or Amish that withdraw into their own communities having no contact with the corrupt outside world. We are to affirm creation by finding a sense of holiness in the here and now without having divisions between the sacred and secular in our lives.
The makeup of man is debated in modern Psychology, but it really is an ancient debate. In Hebraic thought, the soul refers to the whole person or individual as a living being.
I Thessalonians 5:23 teaches that man is a triune being made up of spirit-soul-body. Looking at the tri-unity of man helps us to understand that we are a spiritual being that lives in a body. Paul called our body a temple or a clay jar that houses our true self made in the image of God.
Man is one whole unit and we are to function as a person living wholly to God. Paul in Galatians 5 talked about the works of the flesh. In Galatians 5:13 he tells them that they have been freed from the outward requirements of legalism, but not to use their freedom as an opportunity to do whatever they feel like doing.
If you have not listened to Lesson 5: Why the Law? I encourage you to do that since it will help you understand how as believers, we are to relate to the Torah law. Paul in verses 16-18 says, "walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the lower nature. For the desires of the lower nature are against the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are against the lower nature, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from fulfilling the will of God for your life. But if you are governed by the Spirit, you are not under the law".
The battle between walking in the desires of the lower nature and walking under the power of the Spirit is the struggle of this age. Paul then goes on to give us an extensive list of what he defines as the works of the lower nature or living life as a person outside of covenant. I am going to break down the works of the lower nature into 3 categories that I call hedonism, emotionalism and legalism.
All the sins of the flesh or lower nature are found in Gal. 5:19-21 and are rooted in these three areas. Let’s take a quick look at each of these so we can understand what Paul called the works of the lower nature because these are the areas that try to keep us from walking in the Spirit and growing in grace. If you remember what I have said in previous lessons that Satan’s food is the lower nature of man. It is when we walk in the flesh that we allow Satan to eat our lunch.
Demons feed off of the lower nature and its where they get their power, so obviously it's where they want you to live your existence.
Hedonism is the works of the lower nature that Paul defined as sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, sorcery, idolatry, drunkenness and partying. Let’s take a look at each one of these. All of these works of the lower nature have to do with either sexual activity or partaking of substances that lower your inhibitions making you more susceptible to sexual immorality. I clearly showed you in the last lesson that sexual immorality is sexual activity outside of the covenant of marriage. I understand this is a very foreign concept to many who are listening to me, but it is the clear teaching of the New Covenant. I’m not judging anyone and this is not legalism, but the teachings of Christ and his apostles.
The Greek word porneia is where we get the word porno from and it covers the same broad class of behaviors as pornography does today. Porneia is used over 50 times in the New Covenant.
The abundance of scriptures is evidence that this is one of the main areas men and women will have to face concerning the lower nature. It’s as old a struggle as humanity itself. Sexuality in the modern world has become extremely confusing to most and I am not going to get into the weeds. There are a lot of rabbit holes on this subject and I don’t have the time in this lesson to go down all the rabbit holes. I understand this can be a very divisive and passionate subject for many. I’m not teaching you something that I don’t live myself nor am I teaching you something that you cannot live. God’s word is to help us understand how to live a life that is the most fulfilling one to live in this body.
To me, I Thessalonians 4:3 states it very clearly. Paul makes it very clear that this area in your life is not negotiable. He says this is the will of God. He does not say this is a suggestion or I think this would be the best thing for you. He says this is the will of God, your sanctification and then defines sanctification in this verse by saying "that you abstain from sexual immorality". Sanctification means to be separate from the world.
The world's ideas of sexuality and the Creator’s ideas of sexuality are diametrically opposed to one another. Again, sexual immorality is any sexual activity outside of the covenant between a man and woman going back to Genesis chapter 3. Remember Satan was able to convince Eve, through his subtle and cunning speech that what was forbidden by God, would be good for her. It’s the postmodern lie of relativism which says truth is whatever you make it. Satan was the first post-modernist who destroyed morality through relativism where there are no absolutes, but just the mushy grayness of man being his own god.
Satan has devalued sex for a reason and it’s because sex is not just a physical act, but it’s just as much a spiritual act.
It is a union of more than just the body because man is a spiritual being. The essence of life is in the blood and our bodies secrete or release that essence when we have sexual relations. Paul in I Corinthians 6:18 tells us to "flee sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside of the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body". Then in vs 19 he says "do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body".
God never gives us a command that we cannot keep and the Holy Spirit is the only one who can strengthen you to live a life free from sexual immorality.
Let’s look at the next word which is impurity. Impurity means filthiness or uncleanness. It goes beyond just sexual acts to the evil thoughts and intentions of the mind. It refers to what we would call perversions like pedophilia, transsexualism, wife swapping, polyamory and various strange and kinky sexual practices, which are all covered by this one-word impurity.
The next word in this list is sensuality and it refers to a lack of restraint associated with sexual excess. It speaks of someone who flaunts their immorality, throwing off all restraint and having no sense of shame, decency, or embarrassment. The great characteristic of sensuality is this, the average person who does bad usually tries to hide their sin, but the person who yields to the lower nature of sensuality does not care how much they shock public opinion so long as they can satisfy their desires. Have you ever watched Howard Stern because his show is a perfect example of sensuality on display. Peter uses this word when speaking of Sodom and Gomorrah. II Peter 2:7 it says that "God rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensuality of the wicked for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, his righteous soul was tormented over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard".
Sorcery is the next word in this list and it comes from the Greek word pharmakeia from which the English word pharmaceutical comes.
The word pharmaceutical has to do with drugs and various potions. In the ancient world, the taking of drugs was many times associated with the occult, magic or witchcraft. America today has a major drug and occult problem. No, not everyone who does drugs is in the occult, but legal and illegal drugs are controlling minds, destroying lives and actually killing people. Drugs open your life up to the potential for spiritual forces to take over your life and yes it can even be the ones prescribed by doctors. Go watch the movie Dopesick, it’s very eye opening to the legal drug dealing of corporate America. Drugs affect your body and mind causing you to do things you would not normally do and many times give access to spiritual forces to take over your life.
The next work listed is idolatry. It's a broad term that refers to anything in our lives that has become more important than God and literally takes over our hearts. Idolatry is closely tied to covetousness. Paul in Colossians 3:5 tells us to put to death therefore what is earthly in you sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry. Covetousness which can also be translated as greed is the root of idolatry. Greed refers to an inordinate affection placed upon the object of desire. It can be money, possessions, climbing the ladder of your career or even allowing a person to become more important in your heart than God.
Idolatry has to do with giving excessive amounts of time, money and affection to something that goes way beyond normal limits. It’s not just doing a good job at your career, but it’s letting your career take complete control of your life to where it is the center of all that you do. It’s not just being a good steward over the possessions God has entrusted to you, but it’s putting your possessions at the center of your life where your identity becomes what you possess.
Idolatry can take many forms like an obsession for food, sex, religion, money or gambling.
The phone in your hands has become an extension of you in today’s world. The phone is not evil just like money is not evil. They are both mediums, but it’s what we allow them to be used for that makes them idols. Idolatry is spending inordinate amounts of time and energy where you are consumed and taken over by that which you are pursuing. How about the teenage boy going 12 hours or more straight on video games? I would call that obsessive idolatry. Idolatry like drugs takes over your life.
I’m going to lump these last two works of the lower nature together which Paul refers to as drunkenness and partying. Paul is not telling us that we can’t have an alcoholic drink or enjoy a good party with our friends, family, co-workers or community. Paul is talking about excessive out of control behavior. Drunkenness and partying can be thought of as social sins, sins that are often committed in the company of other people. Drunkenness is clearly described as one of the works of our lower nature. Ephesians 5:18 says "do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit".
Paul describes drunkenness as debauchery, which means reckless behavior. Getting drunk leads to reckless behavior.
Alcohol is called spirits and the term goes back to alchemists in the Middle East trying to make medical uses from fermented drinks. They invented the process we now call distillation where basically water is removed from a fermented drink and the vapor or spirit of the alcohol is gathered. It’s why alcohol is much more potent than, let’s say beer. If you’ve ever drank too much alcohol, then you know that it can take over your body and will cause you to do things you would not normally do and act in ways that you would not normally act. It lowers your inhibitions and like drugs it opens your soul up to the spirit world.
Drunkenness is usually paired with partying. The word partying has to do with unrestrained behavior.
It describes the kind of partying which lowers a man's self-restraint. It can lead to group fighting or group orgies. If you have ever been to a party where people are getting drunk then a lot of times a fight, arguments or some type of disagreement breaks out because that’s what drunkenness and partying lead too. The vultures or let me be very clear demons come out to feed on the rotted lower nature of man. Drunkenness and partying are demons’ playground because it’s where they can fully display their personalities freely. The same type of partying can end in group sexual activity where all restraint is thrown to the wind.
The list we just went through are what I call the Hedonistic works of the lower nature. Hedonism is basing our lives on the pleasures of this world. If we place having a pleasurable life at the expense of a covenant relationship with God Mark 4:19 says that our hearts become thorny and will not grow in grace. Hebrews 11:25 talks about the passing pleasures of sin.
Hedonism leads to temporary pleasure, but it’s like a vapor quickly fading then ending in spiritual death.
In Luke 15 Jesus told the story of a young man who wanted his inheritance and spent it all on Hedonistic behavior. He ended up in slavery because of his desire to live a pleasure filled life. The result of a life based on ease and pleasure is slavery to sin, which hardens our hearts to God Hebrews 3:13.
Now let’s look at what I call the emotional works of the lower nature which Paul called strife, outbursts of anger, enmity and jealousy. Let’s look at the first word strife which conveys the idea of constant quarreling. Have you ever met someone that can’t go through the day without arguing with someone else? The person has a stronghold of strife where their souls have yielded to the lower nature and strife has become a habit that they daily experience. Always arguing over this and arguing over that, making issues of things that should not be issues.
You know that person that just loves to argue. That is the emotional lower nature walking in strife.
The next word in this grouping is outburst of anger. Outbursts of anger speak of a sudden flash of anger. It’s what we call flying off the handle. It can lead to violence and destruction. It’s uncontrollably anger where you are unable to control your emotions. Road rage is an example of someone who gets mad and goes off into a cursing tirade. Turrets is not a medical disorder, it’s either a demon or just the lower nature out of control. Outbursts of anger can lead to physical and emotional abuse of others. It’s the source of most homicides.
The next word is enmity which means hatred. It is hating someone with intense passion. It’s more than not getting along with someone because the reality of life is that you are not going to get along with everyone. Enmity is being hostile towards someone. It’s an aggressive posture of hate that causes your heart to want revenge. Hatred will cause you to take action against the individual that it’s directed towards.
It’s the person who hires a hitman to take someone out because they want revenge, or they hate that person so bad they don’t want them walking this earth anymore.
The next word is jealousy which refers to someone who wants what other people have. It’s looking at your lot in life then comparing it with others and wanting what they have. Jealousy is more than looking at someone else and being inspired or motivated to achieve what they have, but it is a zeal in the heart where you want to take possession of what they have and it can lead to theft, murder or hatred. It’s something that consumes the heart affecting your emotional state in a negative way. It’s a feeling that takes over your emotions pushing you to do things you normally would not do to get what others have. All of these works of the lower nature are what I call emotionalism which is living life by our feelings which is a very unstable life.
The next area that I want to look at are what I call the legalistic works of the lower nature. Galatians 5:20-21 list these as rivalries, dissensions and divisions. Rivalries can be translated as selfish ambition.
It’s the type of thinking that always asks what’s in it for me? Only doing things with the motive of gaining and getting the advantage from what you do.
The Pharisees were skilled legalists and used their man-made moral codes to gain advantage, power and get profit. It’s using others to get what you want or using religion to get advantage over others. It’s the businessman that gives to the charity, but not to help the charity: to help his own business. It’s simply advertising where he gets profit and power. That’s called selfish ambition and can be understood as a motivation to elevate oneself or to put one’s own interests before another’s. Selfish ambition can be putting down others so that you can be lifted up.
Have you ever been around that person who is always putting someone else down to try to gain advantage? It is a self above others approach, which is the opposite of humility.
The next word is dissensions. Dissensions literally means division or sedition. It has to do with those who are actively trying to cause separation between individuals or groups of people. It’s more than just having a common disagreement or differing viewpoint, but it’s when an individual or a group of people are pursuing a goal to cause division. It’s an unyielding attitude that will divide over trivial issues because one does not get their own way. Pride is at the root of division in the same way Satan, through pride went his own way and took a 1/3 of the angels with him.
The last word in this list is heresies which means someone who divisively expresses their opinions creating factions. We think today of heresies in terms of wrong ideas and teachings. It is, but the word carries an emphasis on wrongfully dividing over opinions. Heresies can be thought of as hardened dissensions. There is all the difference in the world between believing that we are right and believing that everyone is wrong. It is an arrogant attitude which believes the way we think is the only way to think and not giving room for any differing opinion.
It’s not standing on clear laid out principles or clearly stated doctrinal positions, but it’s taking obscure positions and making them non-negotiable. It’s the attitude that says: it’s my way or the highway and it creates a faction.
Paul was dealing with this exact attitude when writing to the church in Galatia which had started listening to the heretical legalism that certain men started preaching.
We have the same legalists today who want to turn believers away from the focus on the cross of Christ to outward ordinances and legalism. It’s simply heresy that creates factions because selfish ambitious people want to take you captive and control you.
Legalism is living life by man-made moral codes that creates selfish ambition, dissensions and divisions.
We will all at times struggle with emotionalism, hedonism and legalism. As long as we live in this world, we will struggle with these areas, but we can’t allow them to take us captive. Paul said the lower nature struggles against the Spirit trying to keep us from living in union with God. Let me now talk to you about temptation and testing. A lot of people get confused when it comes to temptation and testing. Let me help you understand the difference because it will keep you on the straight path.
In Part I of this lesson, I talked to you about Jesus being the pattern of our lives and that he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness after his baptism in water and the Spirit. The wilderness is a training ground where disciples learn to overcome evil. If you look at the scenario recorded in Luke chapter 4 that took place between Jesus and the devil, we see two things. Jesus was being tempted by the devil, yet at the same time He was being tested or proven by the Father.
There is a clear distinction between temptation and testing, yet many times they are taking place at the same time.
What was the devil trying to accomplish in tempting Jesus? The original Greek word for devil is diabolos. It is defined as one who falsely accuses and divides people. The devil was attempting to divide the Father and the Son just as he divided Adam and Eve from God in the Garden. The serpent divided Adam and Eve in the garden by speaking a lie to Eve that she received, believed in her heart and then acted upon. Instead of staying true to the word like Jesus did, Eve believed a lie and was taken captive.
Let me give you an example. When I was a youth pastor in upstate New York I was taking the youth group on a trip in the church van. At this time, I was also a professional bus driver and I always charted out my course in my mind before I drove, so I would know where I was going. I had gone down this road before and I knew the route. I had clarity of vision and understanding about where I was going.
I then made a turn on the road that I knew I was supposed to make. I had been that way before, however all of a sudden, the youth group, playing a trick on me, began telling me I had gone the wrong direction. At first, I just ignored them, but as I began to meditate on what they had said I began to doubt and became unsure of myself. Nonetheless, I really was going in the right direction, but because I listened to the other voice, which was a lie, it caused confusion and double mindedness in me until I took the thought captive and stayed on course. I was a professionally tested driver therefore, I stayed true to my training and instincts, which kept us going the right way.
This may seem like a silly and simple example, but this exact scenario goes on in the mind of a believer all the time. The battlefield is the mind, but the members of our body become the vehicle by which the works of the lower nature are carried out. The realm of operation, by which the devil operates through this world system, is temptation.
A temptation is simply the deceptive schemes of the enemy twisting reality in such a way that a person’s thought patterns cause them to live life by the lower nature. This causes the person to walk, talk and live in a way, which is contrary to God's will for his or her life.
As the world of virtual reality becomes more accessible to society, can you imagine what kind of a hay day demons are going to have. Satan loves to produce false illusions. He was the inspiration behind LSD and he desires to be a creator like God, but the best he can come up with is a temporary illusion, which fades into eternal darkness. Sin only brings temporary pleasure and then the poison sets in to bring death. Powers of darkness through this world system are continually thrusting arrows of temptation at our mind, will and emotions to cause us to become double-minded concerning the purpose of God. If we take the bait of temptation then it can cause us to set our affections on the world, then our faith will be quenched and we are double minded about which direction to take in life.
James 1:13 says "let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God' for God cannot be tempted by evil and He Himself does not tempt anyone." Always remember this fact. God is a good God all the time because He is love. His intentions towards you are always to do good to you. So, it seems pretty clear that God does not solicit us to do evil and does not tempt us. Temptation comes from this present world order in opposition to God and those powers of darkness dominating it, which entices our lower nature.
The devil doesn’t make you do it, but he entices you or solicits you to walk in your lower nature; however you don’t have to take the bait.
Proverbs 8:1-2 is what I call the 'Crossroads of the Heart'. Here, we see wisdom calling out where the paths meet. In life, our paths will meet with temptation. It’s a simple fact of life that every day you will have choices to make, to listen to the spirit of wisdom or give in to your lower nature. I Corinthians 10:13 tells us no temptation has come your way that is too hard for flesh and blood to bear. God can be trusted to not allow you to suffer any temptation beyond your powers of endurance. He will see to it that every temptation has its way out, so that it will be possible for you to bear it. At first glance, this text would seem to say that it is God who is doing the tempting. However, it simply says that God always provides a way of escape. God became man and knows our every frailty, shortcoming and weakness.
The Spirit is here to help us in our weakness because none of us can live victoriously over the lower nature through your own strength. In every temptation, it says that God provides a way out, so that we don't have to give in to the works of the lower nature.
Every time Jesus was tempted, He referred back to the reference point of "it is written." The world says it is okay to sleep with the girl you met at the bar. However, "it is written" in I Thessalonians 4:3-4 that, "This is the will of God, your sanctification that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor." A little money from the register won't hurt. However, "it is written" in Ephesians 4:28 to, "Let him who steals steal no longer." If we want to find a way of escape in the midst of temptation, then we must rely on the tested and tried word of God. The word of God has been tested and proven giving us the inner strength to resist temptation.
It’s in John’s gospel that we see whole chapters telling us that Jesus would not leave us, but gives us the Holy Spirit to live in us, be with us and bring his words to us when we need them. The word is more than just the scriptures, but it is the very person of Christ living in us. If we will stay united to the word and Spirit then when temptation comes, we will pass the test! We have to learn to live life from the inside out. What I mean is living a life identified with the cross and being filled with the Spirit.
You can’t live the life of faith in your own strength; it is an utter impossibility. The best you can do is frustrate yourself with legalistic and moralistic religion.
I can tell you by experience that you will fail, no matter how strong your will is because the lower nature is stronger, unless you let the Spirit take control of your life. We have been crucified with Christ and His life lives in us, so it’s only as we learn to yield to His Spirit that we can overcome in this life. It’s what Paul was talking about in Galatians 5:16 when saying walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the lower nature.
When you walk with God many times it will seem that everyone else is walking a different direction. How did I stay on course when all the voices in the van were telling me I was going the wrong way? I took the thought captive before it took me off course. When the enemy throws a dart of temptation at you must take it captive. Ephesians 6:16 says in all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.
Spiritual growth is about learning to overcome the evil one. If you allow the darts of temptation to penetrate your heart it will seem like you are literally fighting within yourself because you are. Galatians 5:17 says "the desires of the lower nature are against the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are against the lower nature, for these are opposed to each other", to keep you from doing the things God has for your life.
I stayed on course in the van that day, because I stayed true to the information, I knew to be the truth. Many times it will feel like you are wrong. Face it, as a disciple of Christ, you are swimming upstream in this world. God's ways are not the world's ways! As long as we live in this world, our faith will be tested on a continuous basis with the fires of temptation, persecution and trials (James 1:2). If you stumble and fall then I am convinced that you will repent with a humble heart and keep moving forward. We are all going to stumble and struggle, but you can't give up because God is at work in you.
Temptation can only solicit us to evil. James 1:14 says that "we are carried away and enticed by our own lust".
The Greek word for lust here is epithumia. It’s important to take a look at this word because this word helps us to understand the need for healing and restoration to our souls. Epithumia is translated lust being defined as the active and individual desire resulting in pathos, a Greek word meaning the diseased condition of the soul. Remember the analogy of the interface of our phones. Our phones get cracked sometimes when we drop them and they can’t display clearly what’s on the inside of them. The word pathos meaning diseased condition of the soul is referring to the cracks in our souls.
You see, we all have areas in our soulish realm that have been damaged by our individual sin and the sin inflicted upon us by others. If these areas go without being healed and restored, then when the right circumstances arise, we will be led away by them and taken captive.
Take for instance a young girl or boy who may have been damaged in their souls through the molestation of a relative or stranger. When that child reaches puberty and the right circumstances arise, that child will have a much stronger bent towards sexual sin, because of the diseased condition within the soul.
A person who was raised in a home with arguing and yelling is going to have a stronger bent towards outbursts of anger. It is statistically proven that those who grow up in the home of an alcoholic will have a higher likelihood of also becoming one. Not every person will have the same damage or disease within their souls however, every soul born into Adam's race has been affected.
If we refuse to deal with the damage in our souls and fix our interface, then they will take us into slavery. I find this is the main reason so many believers' live unfruitful lives and are still dominated by the lower nature. It is because they refuse to allow God to repair and restore the soulish areas of the heart and it causes them to turn away from God like Adam and Eve did after eating from the tree.
Proverbs 14:14 says that "the backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways." I don't know about you, but I don't want to be filled with my own ways. The wages of sin brings death. It was Solomon who said, "there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" that's in Proverbs 16:25. It may seem appropriate to party with your co-workers after work in a place where there is adult entertainment and open sexual sin: You reason to yourself, "It's not like I party all the time. I just need to let my hair down."
The path of least resistance may feel like the right thing to do at the moment. However, it is a slippery slope that you cannot be assured to be able to climb back up. The famous last words are, "I thought I could handle just one night" or "I was only going to do it once."
Paul the apostle in writing to the church in Rome said that when we give ourselves to the lower nature or sin, we become its slave. Although sin is not supposed to be the believers' master it still can be. Like I said in the last lesson that God is not going to control the fork in your hand. You can eat what you want. However, if we begin to serve our lower nature, we will pay the price for that servitude because its where Satan eats our lunch. If we refuse to listen to wisdom, then it leads to a life of slavery. If we begin to see our lives dominated by the lower nature, then it is time to make a radical cut.
As disciples, we have been called to live a life dominated by the Spirit God, not by slavery to the lower nature. It has been my observation that one reason we live in slavery to sin is because we have become friends with that which is holding us down. We’ve probably all heard about the story of Samson and Delilah. Samson was one of the strongest men of his day, but his weakness for women destroyed his strength and life. What happened to Samson? He put his head in the lap of the harlot, one too many times. He became comfortable with what desired to take his strength and destroy him!
Let's face it, sin is attractive, but we are in a dangerous place when we become comfortable with sin. The dangerous thing about this, is the sin we are holding on to so closely, is the very thing bringing death into our lives.
Jesus has given us solutions for dealing with the lower nature. He brought some radical thinking to this area. Jesus said in Mark 9:43-47 that if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, it is better for you to enter life crippled, than having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cast it out, it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell.
Michael L. Brown in his book "Go And Sin No More" comments on this text by saying, "There are few things more radical than amputation. Doctors cut off hands, feet, or legs as a last resort when all else has failed. They do it because they have no choice. If they don't, the infection will spread, destroying the whole body. So, it's either one limb that goes or the whole body that dies. And once the amputation is done, it can't be undone. Once the limb is severed it will never be used again. Yet, Jesus tells us to amputate our hands or feet if they cause us to sin." No, don't go out and buy a saw.
Jesus, as He did so well, was using a radical word picture to tell us a radical message that we cannot serve two masters. You cannot be a slave to your lower nature and serve God with your whole heart at the same time, you have to radically deal with that which is bringing death into your life.
James poses a question in his epistle. "Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." How do we become friends of the world? We become the world's friend when we begin to love the world. The Greek word John uses in I John 2:15 in telling us to not love the world is agapao and it means to set our affection upon something.
The Lexical Aids to the New Testament literally says that this word indicates a direction of the will. When we begin to set our affection upon this world more than God, then our pathway is diverted which will begin to affect what we do (our hands), where we go (our feet) and how we view things (our eyes). This leads to what the Bible calls idolatry!
An idol is something we give our time to, our money to and set our affections upon. What are some of the things that modern man idolizes? Money, sports, drunkenness, occupation, human body, sexuality, food, possessions, entertainment and the list could go on. A lot on this list are not necessarily bad in and of themselves, but when they become the center of our attention, then they can become idols in our lives. We have become friends of this world and put ourselves in opposition to God because our affections have been captivated. When our priorities have pushed God out of our lives and we have put other things as the center of our attention it is time to make adjustments.
In a practical way, how do we cut off our hands and feet or pluck out our eyes and throw them away, so that Jesus takes first place in our lives? It is not the physical members of our body, which is the root of our problem: these areas have just become the vehicle or instrument of the lower nature in our lives. I Peter 2:11 says "abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul". It’s the same type of terminology that Paul uses in Galatians chapter 5 concerning the works of the lower nature. It’s also the same Greek word eputhumia that Paul uses in Romans chapter 6 showing that there can be no co-existence with fleshly lusts.
In Romans 6 where Paul was talking about slavery to sin, he said, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey its lusts and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. If Paul was telling us to do something, then he obviously had a solution to the problem. He said that our lives don’t have to be dominated by the lower nature. We can be free to serve God with our whole heart, but we must bring those areas affected in our souls to the healing power of the cross. Just as a doctor will not operate on you without your consent, so you must present yourself to God as a willing sacrifice.
God's operating tool for dealing with the lower nature is His sharp two-edged sword.
Hebrews 4:12 says that "the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit…able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." It is the living word of God that will pierce our hearts and heal our wounds if we humbly receive it.
James 1:21 tells us to receive with humility the word allowing it to be implanted into our hearts which will save our souls.
The word implanted is the idea of allowing the word to literally take root in your hearts where it becomes a part of your soul. It is the restorative process of healing and deliverance within your soul. It’s the power of covenant working through you as you learn to abide in Christ your covenant partner. Our identification in Christ is tied to our covenant relationship with Him. If you have not listened to Lesson 8: The Cycle Of New Life of this school of discipleship, I encourage you to do that.
I John 5:8 speaks of what I refer to as the threefold cord of covenant which is the Spirit, the water and blood. The blood of the covenant must be applied to our lives, as we totally identify with the cross and follow Him. It is being established in the grace of God and the freedom we have in His unfailing love of forgiveness. The water speaks of two things which is baptism and daily renewal. Our baptismal identification with Christ is more than going into water one time. Colossians 2:11 says our baptismal identification with Christ is like circumcision, but it’s a circumcision of the heart and sets us free from the 'lower nature'. It is our daily commitment to identify with the cross.
We live, work and play in this world and we will get the dirty residue on us affecting our view of Christ in us.
The interface of our souls gets fingerprints and what we’ve been eating through the day on it. Our phone screens need to be cleaned even after they’ve been repaired. It is for this reason that we must be daily washed off by renewing our souls with the water of the word of God Ephesians 5:25. The Spirit has come to live within us, changing us from the inside out. Ephesians 3:16 says that we are "strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith". The threefold cord of covenant is about partnering with the ability of Christ to bring us into all that He accomplished for us on the cross.
Now that does not mean it’s not going to be without struggle. Peter described Satan as a prowling lion lurking and looking for those whom he can devour. Demons are like vultures who roam around looking for dead flesh to eat. Jesus in Matthew 11:12 said, "the kingdom of heaven is forcibly entered and violent men seize it for themselves". What he was saying is that I’m giving you my kingdom, but you have to take hold of it. You have to fight off the works of darkness in this age.
The work is finished, but you have to surrender your life as a covenant partner to partake of the Spirit's power. If you are constantly walking in the works of the lower nature, you are literally fighting against the Spirit of Christ within you. It’s where the vultures feed and Satan is able to eat your lunch.
The beauty of the cross is that our greatest weapon is humility and surrender allowing our covenant partner to fight through us. Covenant is about being joined to the cross through the blood, water and Spirit. It is the 'mystery of Christ' that Paul talked about which is growing daily in the knowledge of Christ in you.
The goal of every believer in this age is to learn to allow Christ to dwell within our hearts and grow in the knowledge of that understanding. The blood, water and Spirit are deep wells of eternal life giving us a taste of the age to come in the here and now. Jesus said the kingdom of God is within you.
As the Spirit fills us, we are literally tasting of heaven and our hearts are being transformed by the power of grace from the throne resulting in change from the inside out. All you have to do is surrender to the power of the cross. No one can do it for you. The greatest counselor is the Holy Spirit, but you have to listen. Right now, if you have an open heart the Holy Spirit is speaking to you about things, He wants to change you.
Just yield to the Spirit and he’ll change you from the inside out. As you surrender to the Spirit the works of the lower nature will lose their grip over your life.
You don’t have to be controlled by the lower nature. Am I saying that we can be sinless? Is it possible to live a life without ever yielding to the lower nature? I believe if we take a balanced view of scripture, then we can say that it is impossible to never yield to the lower nature that is never committing a sin, yet we can live life without the lower nature dominating and controlling our lives. We grow in Christ and it’s a process of allowing the seed of God’s word to mature in us. Always remember that our God is a holy God, but he is also a merciful Father who has compassion on us and knows our frailties. Just as a tree grows in stages and is perfect in each stage so it is with our walk in Christ.
The more you learn to yield to the Spirit of life then day by day you will find yourself living freely in the presence of the Father.
If we find ourselves overcome by the lower nature, then the only way to get free is repentance. Repentance is simply responding to the Holy Spirit's loving conviction which draws us back to the Father. The Holy Spirit will remind us of the work of Christ on the cross and the commitment we have made to Him. Repentance is renewing our covenant relationship with God. I John 1:9 says that "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Repentance does not change God's love for us, because He never stopped loving us. It changes our direction from a life entangled in the lower nature back to the foundation of God's love and forgiveness.
To 'grow in grace' we must live by God's love. When we base our lives on Hedonism, Emotionalism or Legalism it hinders our relationship with Father. God never leaves us, but we leave Him when we base our lives on these things. When this happens, we must repent and turn back to our loving Father. To 'grow in grace' our lives must be based on the solid foundation of Christ. I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in Him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love.
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Next Lesson: Lesson 11 - Living Faith
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