We should be serving one another, loving one another through the Spirit of grace. Carnal religiousness with its dos and don'ts always results in biting, devouring, consuming, provoking and envying. Rules increase sinful activity; the strength of sin is the law. The old nature gets stirred up when you tell it to do or not do something. When you say No!, the old sinful nature says, "Oh yes I will!" When you say, Don't! the carnal man says, "You can't tell me what to do. I want what I want when I want it!"
Sin is revived and stirred up by the law. Sin repudiates, denies, dishonors and defies the righteous and moral standard of God's law. Your sins are offensive and hateful towards God Himself. Sin is hostility and open rebellion against God. Sin is when you willingly go the opposite direction that God has commanded. Sin is not a mistake or accident. Sin is ignoring God's will and way. Sin demonstrates allegiance to the devil. The world tries to shun sin and to redefine it, so they won't have to admit they need the Savior. Sin depreciates the perfect atoning Sacrifice of God Incarnate. Jesus came to earth to deal with our sins, and to pay for them with His own blood. Jesus lifted up and bore away our sins at Calvary. Grace divine provided a matchless Savior.
The need of the Savior and the forgiveness of sins is denied by today's self-improved generation. The glorious solution to your sin problem is the Lamb of God Himself. Christ died for the ungodly. God must either punish you or Christ Jesus for your sins. Who will it be? Mankind's greatest need was Salvation, so God is sent us the Savior. The Bible doesn't teach repeated regeneration; you are only saved one time. Go directly to God through the Mediator, the man Christ Jesus.
Conviction-ites compare each other with each other, they criticize those who are not part of their church. Religionists are always fighting over who is the most spiritual. They say, "We're more spiritual than anyone else; we're right with God, but they're not." They have a critical, artificial, religious piety that the Pharisees had. Failing to be all that you want to be is not hypocrisy; but pretending that you have arrived, that is Hypocrisy. Hypocrites put on an religious act in an attempt to appear more spiritual than they really are. Now understand - Religious legalism leads to splits, backbiting, fights and confusion. Religion substitutes regulations for a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace is the only way to peace and growth. The Holy Spirit changes the heart inwardly. The Law only stirs up and reveals sin; it cannot renew your inner man. The Holy Spirit helps us to fulfill God's Law, enables us to overcome our sinful human nature, and helps us to produce Christian character and behavior. The Holy Spirit gives us the urge not to sin. The new nature wants to avoid sin, because sin is bad. Become a disciple of Christ, when you looked in the mirror first thing this morning, after you see the disarray, you disciplined your face. When you look into the mirror of the Scriptures and become aware of your flaws, discipline your soul.
The Law is always external; The Holy Spirit and grace is internal. Passing rules won't work. Grace gives us freedom to become more and more like Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God plus the word of God results in the liberty of God. Stand fast in the liberty where Christ has made us free. The liberty of maturity is needed. An immature child with liberty will end up injured or in bondage. Sin leads to injury and bondage. Human nature says, "I can't wait until I can leave like I please." The worst bondage in the world is to live like you please; spiritual liberty according to Grace is to live as God is pleased. Do you sin in your life and sorrow over it, or do you live and long to sin? A Christian can sin, and a lost man can do good things, but the born again believer's sin is not charged to him, but his sin has been charged to Christ's account.
Everything that is of God, the devil tries to counterfeit and ruin. Dirty appetites will lead you to live the way you please. Grace doesn't give you license to sin, Grace gives you liberty to please God and serve one another. There are privileges and responsibilities of grace. A man's maturity is always determined by what he does with privileges; that's shows what he is. When you have extra money, what do you do with it? The reason I don't sin is because I don't want to hurt God or those around me. Love is the fulfillment of the law. Sin exploits your neighbor; Grace leads you to love your neighbor.
When we were lost all we had is our sinful nature within, but when we receive Jesus into our heart, God gave us the Holy Ghost along with a new divine nature. The Holy Spirit enters into your human personality and desires to change you. There is now a conflict going on within every born again believer. Our sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit desires what is right and pure. When you are lost you did bad things, but when you are born again, you have an inward conflict with your different sins of selfishness, lust, envy, pride, and the like.
You cannot give a flower plant-life by reading to the plant out of a gardening book and dictate to the plant on how it should be growing, and neither can you give a soul spiritual-life by dictating to it dos and don'ts. Only life and give life. The Spirit of God is life. The flower is given life by putting it into the light and by nurturing and feeding its soil and roots with life-giving nutrients. You can't make someone spiritual by beating them over the head with religious rules. Love, encouragement, nurturing, and prayer gives life. Only the Holy Spirit can kill the evil desires and urges of human nature. If you love that which is dirty or worldly, you will go after it. Whatever you love in your heart, you will do, or you will strive to get. You need a need clean appetite within; more internal life is needed from the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit produces fruit which is Christian character and behavior. Your car works but it is not alive; a computer may work but it cannot have life. You can do good works, and still not have spiritual life within. The Holy Spirit produces spiritual fruit. Fruit comes from life; it must be cultivated. Walk in the light of the words of God, be led of the Spirit, yield to God's way. When you have the fruit of the Spirit, people will come to you and enjoy the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance) from you that they need. Growth in spiritual character is needful, that is, living for and loving one another, respecting one another, and encouraging one another. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God. If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
