THE BELIEVER DEALING WITH SIN

Colossians 3:5-14

Morning Meditation 8/17/2014

"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness."

DEALING WITH THE OLD MAN

Paul says the way we deal with the old man it to Mortify our members which are upon the earth.

1. First, man must make sure of his own standing with the Lord. If we are not born again, we will not see the kingdom of God. An unsaved church member does not have a clue as to what is going on. He has no guidance from the Lord and nothing he does will harmonize for him. He feels he is doing God a service when he opposes a Pastor, the reason being he knows nothing of trust in the Living God. There are many illustrations in the Scripture to confirm what I am saying.

2. Second, we must not give Satan the opportunity. Many Christians give Satan ground and he will be there to take advantage of our weakness. Remember, he can't lure us into hell but he can lure us into a trap where we can make mistakes that will follow us the rest of our lives.

3. Remember, Satan as a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour. 1Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" We need to know we are vulnerable to Satan's attacks. He can do nothing with the Christian who walks with Christ and one cannot walk with Christ without a Bible in hand.

4. The old man must be put off. Colossians 3:8-9, "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;" Every time we want to do one of the things mentioned here, we know that the old man was not saved when we were saved, and we know Satan is near enough for us to feel his breath on our necks!!!

Remember: 1 John 4:4, "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." Next,

PUTTING ON THE NEW MAN

There is not just, "Putting off the old man," but there is the "putting on the new man." Every Christian can relate to what I have just said. I didn't say you practiced this in your life. The new man was created at the point of salvation--but the old man was present but had lost its power to keep us in bondage.. If we are saved, the old man can give us fits, but he cannot make us do wrong.

The new man in Christ is born within us. Therefore, he has the power to trouble us, but he does not have the power to go back and live in Satan's world unopposed. The new man, along with the indwelling Spirit, will make us feel very wrong when we do the wrong. This feeling is nothing short of God's Holy Spirit drawing us back where we belong. And when we get miserable enough, we will come seeking His forgiveness. 1John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

The road back may be rocky, but it is a road traveled by the Holy Spirit at our side, and as we are confronted by Him with our sins, we will be unable to deny them. Here is the place where the Holy Spirit opens the door for us come and "sup with Him, and He with us." At that point you will know you are forgiven just like the prodigal was forgiven by his father. God is rich in mercy and forgiveness.

It is important for us to see that we are forgiven, and what God has forgiven He forgets--so if the sins that had corrupted our walk with God, deny our cooperation they will try to deny our right to resist.

When we begin to deny Satan any right to our lives He will throw a fit but he can't do a thing to prevent our obedience to the Lord, and will have to go. James 4:7, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Note what the Scriptures say, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White