Thursday, November 13, 2014

Giving up

It seems that after 38 years Moses had come to terms with Amalek [Thomas’s term for the old nature]. But this is axiomatic, for it is the living, risen Lord who must take the place of that old Adamic nature; but it you know Him only as the smitten Rod, a crucified Redeemer, no matter how grateful you may be to Him, and no matter how strong the urge to follow in His ways, you will, like the foolish Galatians, “…having begun in the Spirit,” try to be “made perfect by the flesh.” You will have to come to terms with Amalek, and call him your brother, for you will know nothing that can take his place.— The Saving Life of Christ, pages 122-123

<idle musing>
Again, I have problems with his exegesis, but the point is still valid. We become complacent with sin, thinking that it will always rule in our lives. But scripture says the opposite! The Holy Spirit is more powerful than sin—but I doubt that any of us really believes that!

And, secret confession, we all love our own personal sin too much to really want to give it up. So, rather than be honest with ourselves, we change our theology to justify hanging on to it...

Only the Holy Spirit can make us come to see sin as the debilitating disease that it really is. Only the Holy Spirit can open our eyes and give us the desire to jettison what is really hurtful to us.
</idle musing>

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