Pastor Rex: When we seek and receive our salvation, there is a fundamental change in our spiritual natures. Although we are all spiritual creatures, we need to recognize that His spirit is truly the one that we should desire. We are born with a sinful nature, that which seeks the worldly path; His is the way of eternal life. Our journey to Heaven and to His eternal life begins with our request for forgiveness and acceptance of His gift of that salvation. It continues throughout the remainder of our lives with our ongoing realization of those things that we need to change, to let go of and to cling to. As He reveals His will we are transformed and begin to mature in His way.
We still are tempted. We still fall. The difference is that we are motivated by His love to seek to improve and walk closer in His steps. We turn from the things that lead us away from Him, and seek more strongly those things that bring us closer to Him.
1st Corinthians 5:12: What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
Pastor Rex: We are not to judge those who are not yet saved, who haven’t yet become His believers. We can’t hold them accountable for behavior or actions for which they have no acceptance . We are simply to love them and show them what we are. We should constantly be seeking His truth as His spirit gives us that ability.. We have both the old capacity to sin and the new ability to resist the fall. If they choose Him, then they will also start to be shown His way.
Romans 6:6: For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—
Romans 6:18: You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Pastor Rex: Instead of being held by our former nature, we can grab and hold His righteousness and be free. We are sanctified—convicted but not condemned. We seek to always do better. He will show us what we need, as He develops our new nature continually. It is a process, a journey. Our acceptance of our sinning and our redemption may be an act in time, but the changing of our nature into His will take time. God meets us where we are; He doesn’t wait for us to ‘clean up our act’ before He accepts us. His conversion of our hearts will diminish our worldly desires as we continue to turn our eyes to Him. Paul expresses his sadness that he needed saving, and how far gone he may have been.
Romans 7:24: What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?
His reassurance comes quickly.
1st Corinthians 10:13: No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Romans 8:13: For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
Colossians 3:8-10: But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Pastor Rex: Our new nature will need ongoing renewal. This journey will, through His refinement, reveal the reflection of who lives in us. His salvation gift to us, paid for on the cross, equal victor over the power of sin. It gives us an open door from that worldly trap to our home in Heaven. We become new creations by His love and through His actions (not our own). He is the author and finisher of our faith.