We all showed up needing Love

Colossians 3:5-10

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these, you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

Put to death what is flesh in you, and I believe the list above is on the spot, but I’ve met several people who will agree those are fleshly, but those are not part of their makeup.  What they are saying is that’s not my version of the flesh, but their version may be having to look good at all times, so you will want to invite them to your next party.  All of us show up on planet earth with flesh, and we wrestle with living independently from the authority of Christ.  I often refer to Bill Gillham, and this was a key concept he often used: “God has no plan to make something beautiful of your life (in Adam).  The plan is to kill it and start over again.”

Buell H. Kazee who wrote, “Faith is the Victory” helped shape my understanding of walking in the Spirit and or in the flesh.  On page 71 in his book, Buell states, “But, as we have said, a deeper life with God makes us more painfully conscious of sin and drives one constantly to Christ in confession, whereupon he constantly receives forgiveness and cleansing.” 

Now there is no magic in becoming a seeker of God, it begins with an honest evaluation of your need for love, and an understanding that God is love.  In that God understands your need for love, He left a love letter we call the Bible to guide us while on planet earth.  I’ve found it helpful to begin as a newcomer to faith in Christ in the book of John.  I’ve also found it is useful not to try to read chapter and verse but to stop and ponder on what is said and ask questions.

Neither you nor I have ever lived the Christian life in our own ability.  Only one person has ever done that, and that is Christ.  So we need Christ to do it all for us, and as we grow in Christ, that is called sanctification.  It is a process that will take the rest of this life, so listen to this quote from page 71-72 of “Faith is the Victory.”  “Sanctification, therefore, must be a process of growth in Christ-likeness, which has the effect of making us more conscious of our own sin, more conscious of His righteousness and of the fact that our hope lies in His judgment on the Cross for us.  This exalts Christ and humbles us; the other position exalts us and blinds us to our sin.  After all, did not the Holy Spirit come to convict of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment?

The unregenerate man, without any provocation on the part of the Holy Spirit of the gospel, is, in a sense, unconscious of his sins.  True, in a moral sense he is conscious of his misdeeds and is mentally aware of his course, but as to their larger moral and spiritual involvement, his is unconscious of his sins.  If you challenge his life, he will immediately begin to make out a case for himself and build up for himself quite a good character.”

Let me close with a word many will not receive, but that does not change its truth: all of us show up on planet earth with a dead spirit, in that we came from Adam.  We all showed up needing love, and we developed patterns to get our needs met, we call that flesh.  God made a provision in Christ to kill the old you and begin a fresh with a new spirit of Christ.  So there are only two kinds of people walking on planet earth, regenerated in Christ or unregenerate with a need that is only found in Christ.

If you are in Christ, quit acting as if you're perfect, you’re much closer to a mess, but you know the hope and the peace you have in your relationship with Christ Jesus.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice