THE MEMOIR OF A WARROIR

“I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” ROMANS 7:21-23

“If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto theeshall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” GENESIS 4:7

 

Over six millennia of war raging and still counting, the battle between good and evil, the flesh and the spirit, until all His enemies are made His footstool. Creation pants, and groan in pain together until now, looking forward to the manifestation of the sons of God. Till the physical delivery from bondage unto the glorious liberty of the sons of God, till corruption puts on incorruption, till death is swallowed up in victory, it’s on, the raging continues! Sin lies at your door, God said, his desire is have you, but you must master it. Teach my soul how to war, be the Captain of my soul, should be our prayer. From victory unto victory, The Captain of our souls will lead us until every foe is vanquished. He teaches my hands how to war, said the Psalmist, that a bow of steel is broken by my arm (PSALM 18:34). And of Joseph he said, The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob (GENESIS 49:23-24). In this battle between good and evil, sometimes the arrows of sin and its poison takes a hit, sometimes we are sorely grieved and wounded, but the arms of our hands are strengthened by the hands of The Almighty God. The bows of the sons of God will always abide in strength, sin shall not have dominion over us.

Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth! A little leaven leavens the whole lump. There is this fire in our members, this leaven in our flesh, which wars against the laws of our mind. It wars against the wholesome truth, the engrafted Word which is able to save our souls, and brings us to captivity. The writer cried and said, O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? But then God left us not without a witness, the nemesis is always crouching, he is always present at the door, but we must master him. Walk in The Spirit, He said, and you shall not fulfill the desires of the flesh (GALATIANS 5:16). This is the witness of God, God teaching our hands to war. The desires of the flesh, the will of the sinful nature lies at the doors of our hearts. Every now and then its motions work within us to bring us to captivity, yet left He us not without a witness. Lest the enemy takes advantage over us, we are not ignorant of his devices (” CORINTHIANS 2:11). His desire is to steal, kill, and destroy, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ our Lord. He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.

We have not received the spirit of bondage, but The Spirit of adoption. If we live in The Spirit, so must we walk in Him. The mind of The Spirit is the mind of a victorious warrior, that of the fleshy carnal mind is an enmity. It is not subject to things of God, neither indeed can be (ROMANS 8:7). Strive to enter in at the strait gate, He said (LUKE 13:24). In that He said strive, he meant to contend as in a war. The battle line is already drawn. In any contest or battle, you sometimes get hit, but he who endures to the end shall be saved (MATTHEW 10:22). It’s almost like sometimes we go out of town living the doors wide open, yet crouches the nemesis at the door, yet know we that as a serpent, he lies by the way, as an adder he lies in the path. He bites the horses heel, so that its rider fall backwards. He who endures to the end… Tough times don’t last but tough people do. Thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph through Christ Jesus. May He help us yield to His Spirit, and not to the will of the flesh. May He lead us from victory to victory, and from glory to glory. We shall live and not die, win and not loose. Till all His enemies are made His footstool, till corruption puts on incorruption, till death is swallowed up in victory, lean on that everlasting Arm. May The Arm of God be your strength, sin shall not have dominion over you. In The Name that is above all names, Jesus Christ, Son of The Living God. Amen and Amen!

SIN AND THE CARNAL MIND

“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” ROMANS 8:6-8

“If so be that ye have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” EPHESIANS 4:21-24

 

We need to understand as children of God that our whole disposition which in fact is our obligation, is to please God and walk worthy of Him. Paul the Apostle in his letter to the Colossians urged and prayed for them that they may walk worthy of The Lord unto all pleasing (COLOSSIANS 1:10) When God called Abraham and made a covenant with him, He told him to walk before Him and be perfect (GENESIS 17:1). This is not like an imposition to enslave you, and not to make you have your own free will. Matter of fact, as a moral agent you have your own free will. You have the right to choose which ever way you want to go and decide what ever life you like to live. The mind of God concerning us from the beginning, His thoughts of us is to bring us to a good and expected end. When God tells us to stay away from sin, it is for our own good. When He lay down His law for us to live by, it is for our good and not because He is some tyrant or killjoy, ” And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it” DEUTERONOMY 32:46-47. The nature of sin is to destroy. Sin has only one destination, death. When one is set on the road of sin, barring any divine intervention and God graciously saving, one is bound to go the way of death. The desire of sin has always been to bind and enslave us and later sting us with death. Our obligation which is a necessity for the preservation of our lives is to do that which is right, the provisions made by God in His Word, and sin shall have no dominion over us. Reason been that we are not subject to sin so as to obey, but subject to righteousness through obedience to God and His Word. Let’s see what God’s prescription was to Cain when he sinned and later killed his brother, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” GENESIS 4:7. Sin Lies at your door, God said. It is always present, desiring to have you and rule over you, but we are urged by God to rule rather over sin. We are always servants to whom we yield ourselves servants to obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness (ROMANS 6:16). Man was made subject to corruption through sin from the beginning. Man willingly yielded to the deceptions of sin and sold our right to rule to sin and became slaves to sin. Being therefore slaves, we were no longer free to do what we will, but the will of our master which is sin, because slaves even though they have their own will, yet are they not free to do what they will. Wherefore the writer said, for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. Then he said again, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (ROMANS 7:18,24). But, for this purpose was The Son of God made manifest. That He might destroy him that have the power of sin and death (1 JOHN 3:8). He was made manifest, and destroyed sin in the flesh, that we being delivered from wherein we were held,in corruption and slavery of sin, we might live a newness of life in freedom to serve God unto righteousness and life.

The scripture therefore said, O death, where is your sting, O grave, is your victory? There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. It is The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus which makes us free from sin and death (ROMANS 8:1-2). The old man which was sold under sin is destroyed by the death and resurrection of Christ. There is a new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. We put on this new man, and walk in the newness and liberty, and sin has no dominion over us. We use the liberty we now have to renew our mind daily in the newness of The Spirit which tends to life. Every now and then, the old carnal mind will try to fight, but by enforcing Christ’s victory over sin, we overcome in victory. The old carnal mind is and will not be subject to the things of God which brings life, matter of fact, it can’t. Its path is that of death. When it takes hold of a man, it leaves him not until it has destroyed him. Ever known a man who is a slave to alcohol, who has destroyed his liver and kidney through drinking? He is well aware of what the alcohol has done to him but has no power whatsoever to stop drinking. His will is to stop drinking having seen all the destruction it’s wrought and still doing but can’t stop. Why? Because he is a slave sold to alcohol. He is bound to do the will of his master even unto death. So is the old carnal mind, it is never subject to God, it just can’t, even though that will give him life in the end. We are renewing our minds today through God’s word and prayer. We are subjecting the old man to defeat and walking in the newness of life through Christ’s victory over sin. Our lives will never be the same again. In The Name that is above all names, Jesus Christ, Son of The Living God. Amen and Amen!