The Battle Between Good and Evil

By: Agatha Villa on creativemyk.com

What is it about human nature that causes us to do things that upon reflection we wonder why in the world do we do them?  We all have this problem, do we not?  In fact, when many of us make resolutions for a new year (as the one we have coming up,) would it be accurate to say that many of us break those resolutions within days, if not hours, of making them?

What about politicians?  Aren’t they always promising us the moon and then once they’re elected they do an about face and do something else?  Parents certainly can relate too.  Don’t parents always tell their children to do as they say and not as they do?  I’m sure there are parents that will say that’s different.  They’re adults; children aren’t old enough to understand.  While this may be true in some cases, the root of this surely has to be because even parents can’t live by the standards that they set.

Now how are we in our relationship with God?  Often we make promises and vows to change our ways, but do we really?  When things are bad, like losing a job, don’t we pray that if God helps us find a new job that we’ll be a better mom, dad, husband, wife, friend, etc.?  What about when God convicts us of sin, such as losing our temper?  Do we acknowledge our sin, confess it, and pray that God forgives us?  What then?  Do we end up in traffic and have someone cut us off and end up losing it?

How are you at honoring those commitments?  I do think that many of us are sincere when we pray to God.  But are we committed?  Sometimes commitments take sacrifice.  It requires us to sacrifice ourselves to honor those promises we’ve made.

So why is it that we have this problem?  Paul touches on this subject in Romans 7.  Look at this passage:

Romans 7:7-13

7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

 13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

In discussing the law, Paul was confronted with the question regarding its purpose.  Prior to this, Paul was explaining how those who are in Christ are no longer bound by the law.  In celebrating this fact, it would be easy for Christians to conclude then that the law is evil.  I mean, if Christ died on the cross on our behalf so we can be free from the law (as only one of the reasons for His sacrifice,) it must be something that we desperately need to get away from; so it’s bad.  But the first thing Paul emphasizes is that the law is not sinful!  In fact, Paul tells us that the law has the purpose of showing us how sinful we are.  That’s an important point.  Sin needs to be shown as “utterly sinful” to help us understand what the end result of its influence is:  death!  And that’s what the law does.

Paul goes on to say that, in fact, the law is good.  Look at the next section in the passage:

Romans 7:14-25

 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

 21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

   So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Paul goes on to explain that the law is spiritual.  In fact, in a previous post, C.S. Spurgeon was quoted as writing, “The law is holy, and just, and good; it is like the God who made it, it is a perfect law.”  The problem we have is that we are unspiritual.  Paul goes into the point that being unspiritual, we have the result of doing things that we don’t want to do even though we know we shouldn’t.  The amazing thing, though, is that because of what Christ did (remember, as believers we’re free from the law) is that sin doesn’t have the power over us anymore that it did before we came to Christ.  There are opposing forces at work at this point.  There’s this law “waging war” (as Paul puts it) against us, but then there’s this other law, the law that God writes on our hearts.  That is what C.S. Spurgeon was writing when he said:

[The believer] has the law of his God written upon his heart, so that, almost as soon as he looks at a thing, he begins to perceive whether there is evil in it or whether it is good. There is a sort of sensitiveness in his soul which makes him discern between good and evil. When God the Holy Spirit is dealing with him, there is a true, enlightened conscience within him, so that he no longer puts bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, or darkness for light and light for darkness; but something within him tells him, "This is right," or, "That is wrong." It is a most blessed thing when this is the case, and it is always the work of the Spirit of God.

So, as in the case with Paul, let’s rejoice in God…Who through Jesus Christ has rescued us from the sin that is raging within us (in our old mortal selves.)  Is that it, though?  Certainly, when it comes to salvation, it’s all God.  He gives us faith, He delivers us, and He gives us this new life free from the law to live in the power of Jesus Christ.  So why do so many Christians struggle with doing the right thing?  Paul shows us, of course, that there are two forces at work within us, opposing each other.  But the key to help the good force, the one that wants to do good, is directly proportional to the time that we spend with God.  We shouldn’t expect God to fill us with His power and His Spirit if we spend no time with Him during the week.

There’s an analogy that seems to fit (though not taken from an exact Biblical perspective,) quoted from the blog at wizdompath:

One evening an old Cherokee Indian told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, ‘My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.’

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: ‘Which wolf wins?’

The old Cherokee simply replied, ‘The one you feed.’

This is such a lovely story: so simple and yet so true. I think each and every one of us has these two wolves running around inside us. The Evil wolf or the Good Wolf is fed daily by the choices we make with our thoughts. What you think about and dwell upon will in a sense appear in your life and influence your behavior.

We have a choice, feed the Good Wolf and it will show up in our character, habits and behavior positively. Or feed the Evil Wolf and our whole world will turn negative: like poison, this will slowly eat away at our soul.

The crucial question is “Which are you feeding today”?

From a Biblical standpoint, are you being fed through the Word of God?  Are you spending time with God and allowing His Spirit to fill you and help you to live a life of victory?  That’s the key, you know.  Let’s all make a resolution this new year to make our relationship with God a priority.  Then let’s see which nature wins out.  I’m betting that the wretched man will lose and the Spirit-filled man wins!  Let’s all be winners in 2011!

HAPPY NEW YEAR…and may God bless each and every one of us in 2011.

Divorced Biblically

In our culture, the word divorce no longer has quite the stigma attached to it the way it used to.  In the early history of the United States, for example, the New England colonies viewed marriage as sacred.  Divorce wasn’t typically viewed as an option.  But even though divorce wasn’t common practice, that’s not to say that divorce was nonexistent either.

Statistically speaking, divorce was barely a blip on the radar of the national consciousness even as recent as the mid-1800’s.  Unfortunately, however, divorce has become so rampant in the U.S. that today it leads the world in the divorce rate by country.  There’s no doubt there are as many reasons for this occurrence as there is sand on the seashore.  The main reason, though, would undoubtedly come from one main source:  SIN.

Sin is a very serious problem.  If that weren’t true, what would be the need for Jesus Christ to take on the form of flesh and die in our place as the penalty for our sin?  It’s the rebellious nature of man that brought us in direct enmity with God and it’s the nature of man that brought about the unfortunate result of divorce that rips apart marriages and families.  Jesus even said, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning."

What if you were told you that you were married to the law?  What would that mean to you?  Now consider that the law has authority over you, much in the same way a married woman is bound to her husband (Biblically speaking of course.)  Would you feel trapped?  Consider what the law does.  At Bible.org, it is explained that knowing the law brings guilt, that the law condemns, it brings about God’s wrath, it increases sin by arousing sinful passions, and ultimately the law kills the sinner.

Now what if you were told that you could divorce the law?  That would sound like an attractive offer at this point, wouldn’t it?  I mean, who would want to remain bound by a law that sounds as bad as that?  In a sense, Jesus made that possible for us as well.  Technically, it would be wrong to say that Jesus divorced us from the law.  A more accurate statement would be that Jesus made it possible for us to die to the law.  What is meant by that?  Let’s look at the following passage:

Romans 7:1-6

1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man. 

4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

According to this passage, Paul is saying that for believers, they are dead to the law through the body of Christ.  Because of this, the law no longer has authority over believers nor is it able to arouse sinful passions in them at will the way it used to.  Interestingly, just as in a death in a marriage where the living spouse is free to remarry, the believer is free at this point to belong to another.  Of course, this freedom has the implication that you will belong to another, not maybe.  The reason being is that you either are bound to the law or you are bound to Jesus Christ and righteousness.  Which would be your choice?

Jesus paved the way for us to be released from the law through death, as the passage suggests.  But Jesus has also paved the way for us to be raised again to new life to bear fruit for God.  Though this is different from the technical definition of divorce, isn’t it great that we can Biblically divorce the law and be free?  This is a divorce we all can live with.

Examiner

I have just been accepted as an examiner for Examiner.com.  What this means for me right now is a chance to put my writing into practice in a format that is relevant for my town, Des Moines, Iowa.  Also, I'm hoping it gives me extra exposure to be able to share the gospel.  As a writer for Examiner.com, I need to stay brief and localized to my area.  But hopefully, it gives me an extra avenue to share what's really important to me, Jesus Christ.

So, if anyone is interested in checking it out, the link is provided as follows:

http://www.examiner.com/christian-in-des-moines/dean-spencer

I will still continue to write in my blog, but it will not be as frequent obviously.  So stay tuned, hopefully this will open doors along the way.  Have a great day!  God bless!