You are not your sin

"To put it bluntly, your flesh is a weasel, a poser, and a selfish pig. And your flesh is not you. Did you know that? Your flesh is not the real you. When Paul gives us his famous passage on what it's like to struggle with sin (Rom. 7), he tells a story we are all too familiar with:

I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take the charge. (The Message)

Okay, we've all been there many times. But what Paul concludes is just astounding: "I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it" (Rom 7:20 NLT). Did you notice the distinction he makes? Paul says "Hey, I know I struggle with sin. But I also know that my sin is not me - this is not my true heart." You are not your sin; sin is no longer the truest thing about the man who has come into union with Jesus. Your heart is good. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you..." (Ezek. 36:26). The Big Lie in the church today is that you are nothing more than "a sinner saved by grace." You are a lot more than that. You are a new creation in Christ. The New Testament calls you a saint, a holy one, a son of God. In the core of your being you are a good man. Yes, there is a war within us, but it is a civil war. The battle is not between us and God; no, there is a traitor within who wars against our true heart fighting alongside the Spirit of God in us:

A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death... Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells... if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus... When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. (Rom. 8:2-3, 9-11 The Message)

The real you is on the side of God against the false self. Knowing this makes all the difference in the world. The man who wants to live valiantly will lose heart quickly if he believes that his heart is nothing but sin. Why fight? The battle feels lost before it even begins. No, your flesh is your false self - the poser, manifest in cowardice and self-preservation - and the only way to deal with it is to crucify it. Now follow me very closely here: We are never, ever told to crucify our heart. We are never told to kill the true man within us, never told to get rid of those deep desires for battle and adventure and beauty. We are told to shoot the traitor. How? Choose against him every time you see him raise his ugly head. Walk right into those situations you normally run from. Speak right to the issues you normally remain silent over. If you want to grow in true masculine strength, then you must stop sabotaging yours."

-Wild at Heart

I think that for some reason, I've always believed that I'm truly nothing more than a "sinner saved by grace". It's a mentality that I developed at some point and continued to feed. But this passage reminds us that it's a lie to believe in this as the definitive picture of who we are. Believing it is neglecting the redemption that Christ brings, and in doing so we just place ourselves under a lot of guilt and frustration. That's exactly what the enemy wants. He will try the hardest to impose that belief upon us, and he'll stop at nothing because he's afraid. He knows what we're capable of as sons and daughters of God, so he'll feed us lies - that we aren't good enough, that we have no authority, that we can't be leaders. But, like the passage says, we are new creations, with new hearts and new spirits. And as new creations, our hearts are good.

Ripe for Harvest

"I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." I've been hearing a lot over the past year about a spiritual revival going on in Boston. Pastor Josh of Highrock Brookline mentioned it again yesterday while telling the story of the Samaritan woman who, in her excitement, decided to go back to her town and spread word of the "strange man" that she had met by the well. I see evidence all around us that such a "revival" is real, happening now, and that the fields really are ripe for harvest. On our campus alone there are many Godly men and women that are passionately promoting this spiritual revival. I know some brothers and sisters who have started GIGs (Groups Investigating God), and have been putting their own time and energy on the line, week after week, for their non-believing/cynical/seeking friends. When new people decide to eat with and/or visit our West Small Group, there seems to be an understanding among all of us that this newcomer is be pursued and invited into our group. It's as if everyone is on their toes, actively trying to pull others in. In just the past year, Men and Women Groups have been started, and they've been dedicated to raising up and empowering Godly men and women to serve and lead in our fellowships, and to pursue Christlike perfection in every aspect of their lives. A group of brothers I know, two sophomores and a senior, decided last year that they'd live in a Quad in a freshman dorm so that they'd be able to live amongst the freshmen that they'd be working with, hoping to eventually draw them into our community. I've also seen a fellow sister pursue a seeker, having her efforts met by other sisters who, without missing a beat, followed up with their own attempts to be an inviting and welcoming body of Christ. I think that things are really changing in this city and on this campus. God is moving.

A Sacred Flame

"Well then, I will tell you. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him. . . . I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man; none else is like Him: Jesus Christ was more than a man. . . . I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me . . . but to do this it was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lightened up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts. . . . Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others difficult to satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may often seek in vain at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse, or a man of his brother.

He asks for the human heart; He will have it entirely to Himself.

He demands it unconditionally; and forthwith His demand is granted. Wonderful! In defiance of time and space,the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This phenomenon is unaccountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man's creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often thought of it. This it is which proves to me quite convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ."

-Napoleon Bonaparte