Walk With the Living God

Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus,

Ephesians 4:17-24,

17 This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,

18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

20 But you did not learn Christ in this way,

21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,

22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,

23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

The above Scriptures say we are to lay aside our old self, which is being corrupted with the lusts of deceit, and we are to put on our new self, which has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. How can we put on our new self that has been created, not by us, but by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and continue to sin?

Most Christians believe we will sin until we die. In saying this, they are minimizing both the sacrifice of Jesus and the power of God. Jesus came to take away sins, not to excuse them. Double-minded people use 1 John 1:8-10 to prove their point, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

Compare 1 John 1:8-10 (above) with 1 John 4:4-10,

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.

Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

Of course we have sin; sin dwells in us. When we are told to do what is right, the sin within us tugs at us, trying to get us to do what is wrong. This is the plight of all mankind descended from Adam. Sin dwells in us and does its best to lure us to follow a road of sinfulness. Our old self was bound by the law of sin and of death, and could not overcome the temptations to sin. See Romans 7:15-17.

Then came Jesus, without sin, who gave Himself up for us, that we might be given a new self created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Our old sinful self was buried with Him in baptism, and our new righteous self was raised up with him into newness of life. As a result, we are no longer captives to sin, but are now captives to righteousness. We were bound by the law of sin and of death, but have now been set free from it by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 13:5 says,

5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?

We must continually test and examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. We must remember that Jesus Christ is in us—unless we fail the test. If we fail the test, Jesus is not in us.

The walk of the Christian life can only be done through the denial of our old self, and our obedience to God in our new self. And obedience is learned from suffering. So the next time you’re tempted to sin, say no to it, and take the way of escape God provides for you. It will not be easy; it is at times excruciating, but it will be worth the pain and suffering, for you will be on your way to a walk with the living God.

Jon David Banks, God’s most unworthy servant

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Published by Jon David Banks