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Sin is More Than the Physical

2 Corinthians 7:1

"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

One of the most disturbing things I see among Christians today is their mentality towards their spirituality. It amazes me how many Christians have a higher perception of their spirituality than what they should. When I preach a week of revival meetings, I often see there are some who never go to the altar to get things right with God. This amazes me because God spoke to people all around them about something that they needed to get right, but that one person won't move. In fact, that person hasn't gone to the altar in months, yet they have a very high perception of their Christianity.

The verse above reveals to us that there are more than just sins of the flesh. If you were to talk to those who never go to the altar during the invitation, they would tell you that they are not doing anything wrong. What they mean by this is that they are not physically doing something wrong. They are not drinking alcohol, doing drugs, living the party life, or participating in some "big" sin. The average Christian looks at themselves through the prism of whether they have physically sinned. The average Christian can say that they are not physically doing anything that is wrong.

However, when you look at the verse above you will see that their are more than just sins of the flesh. God commanded these Christians to not only remove the sins of the flesh, but also remove the sins of the spirit. In other words, you can sin with your spirit just as much as you can sin with your flesh. I believe many church-going Christians are guilty of sins of the spirit. Yes, the average church-going Christian could say that on the surface they are not physically doing anything wrong, but if you were to see their spirit you would see that it is filled with sin.

What are the sins of the spirit? Throughout the Scriptures when God talks about the spirit it is often referring to someone's attitude. When God talks about the sins of the spirit, He is referring to your attitude towards Him and man. There are many Christians who are not doing anything physically wrong, but their attitude towards serving God is bad. They have sinned with their spirit by having an indifferent spirit towards the things of God. The church of Laodicea was guilty of committing sins of the spirit by having a lukewarm attitude. Christian, your attitude towards serving God is important. It shouldn't be that you have to serve God, but it should be that you get to serve God. It shouldn't be that you have to go to church, but it should be that you get to go to church. Let me ask you, have you sinned with your spirit towards God? Is your spirit right with God? Is your spirit on fire for the things of God?

Moreover, your attitude towards others can be a sin of the spirit. If there is one person with whom you have bad feelings, not hateful feelings, then you have sinned with the spirit. Christian, your spirit towards another Christian should be right. Let me ask you this, is there a Christian whom you avoid? Is there someone towards whom you are indifferent? Though you may never physically wrong another person, be careful that you don't sin against others with your spirit.

God commanded the church of Corinth to cleanse themselves of the sins of the spirit. It is as important for you to remove the sins of the spirit as it is to remove the sins of the flesh. Your spirit towards others should be such that there is no one whom you would avoid. If you avoid people because of ill feelings, then you are guilty of sins of the spirit.

Natural

A Natural Response to Faith

Acts 9:11

"And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,"

Faith is not always easy to obey. The request of faith is quite often hard to follow. In fact, the request of faith quite often is difficult to understand; however, the results of obeying the request of faith always brings blessing and miracles.

In the verse above, God asked Ananias to go find Saul and help disciple him. This command of God took a great amount of faith to obey. However, you find that Ananias' response to faith was a natural response. His first response was to doubt the request and then to fear obeying the request. You must place yourself in his shoes to understand how you would have responded. Saul was known for his persecution of Christians. It was not uncommon for Saul to not only persecute Christians, but to have them killed. When God told Ananias to go and help disciple Saul, this took a great amount of faith. However, though it was difficult to obey the request of faith, Ananias obeyed, and his obedience resulted in Saul becoming one of the greatest apostles whom God used. Ananias' obedience to faith allowed him to have a part in the life of one of the greatest apostles of Christ.

When God asks you to step out by faith, it is natural for doubt to step in and try to get you to disobey faith's command. You must realize that you are not a bad Christian just because you have some doubt about whether you should step out by faith. When Jesus asked Peter to step out of the boat and come to Him, you know that he battled with doubt about whether he should obey the command of faith. When God called Gideon, doubt showed up and tried to get him not to obey God's command of faith. Doubt is a natural response to faith's command, but you must not allow doubt to stop you from obeying God's command of faith.

Furthermore, fear also steps in with doubt when faith has commanded you to do something. Again, it is natural to fear whether you should obey faith's command because fear is the companion of doubt. Whenever doubt is present, you will always find fear. However, we must realize that fear is the substance that tries to drive faith away. That is why several times in the Scriptures God had to tell His children to "fear not." Fear is the enemy of faith.

The only way to drive doubt and fear away is to obey God. That is why God says in Proverbs 3:5, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." God knows that the only way you will obey faith's commands is to trust Him, even when you don't understand why faith is commanding you to do something.

Imagine what would have happened had Ananias not obeyed faith's command. If he would not have obeyed faith's command we would not have an Apostle Paul. Likewise, when you don't obey faith's command, you are hurting future generations and robbing yourself of God's blessings. Christian, you may not always understand why God wants you to step out by faith, but you must silence the voices of doubt and fear and simply obey the voice of God. Yes, it takes trust to obey God, but when you trust God and step out by faith, you will find that doubt and fear will run away, and that God's blessings will be present in your life. You will only see the miracles of God in your life when you obey faith's command.

Focus

The Proper Focus of the Christian

Acts 1:8

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

Keeping a proper focus in any pursuit of life is important to your success in that area. When your focus is wrong, your results will be wrong. However, when your focus is right, you will get the desired and proper results.

Up to the time of Christ's ascension into Heaven, the disciples seemed to have a wrong focus. The disciples were more interested in staying focused on the future kingdom. They were focused upon trying to know the "...times or the seasons,..." However, in the verse above, Jesus told the disciples where He wanted them to stay focused. Jesus wanted them to be focused upon being filled with the Holy Ghost and fulfilling the Great Commission. This is where they were to keep their focus, for in this focus they would accomplish the purpose of why Christ came to Earth.

Christian, it is very important that you stay focused upon being filled with the Holy Ghost. You will never fully accomplish the works of Christ without being filled with the Holy Ghost. In our present day, it seems as if we are more interested in learning methods and systems. It seems as if we think these methods and systems can replace the power of the Holy Ghost upon the life of a Christian. However, nothing can replace God's power upon a Christian's life. There is nothing wrong with learning methods and systems on how to do the work of Christ in a better way, but don't ever let them replace the power of God upon your life. You should daily yield yourself to the power of the Holy Ghost and ask Him to empower you to do these great works of God. The influence of your Christian life will only be to the same degree that you are filled with the Holy Ghost.

Furthermore, the purpose of being filled with the Holy Ghost is so that you can accomplish the Great Commission. Not only do you need to keep your focus upon being filled with God's power, but you need to stay focused upon leading people to Christ, getting them baptized, and discipling them so that you can send them out to do the same. Notice that the Great Commission is not just leading people to Christ. This is one part of the Great Commission. You need to work on getting every person that you lead to Christ into church so they can get baptized and start receiving the training so that they can go out and do the same.

I truly believe that one of the reasons Christianity seems to be floundering in our present day is because we have lost our proper focus. We have become more focused upon building mega churches than we have in fulfilling the Great Commission. We have become more focused on building entertainment ministries than we have on fulfilling the Great Commission. We have become more focused upon building our legacies than we have on fulfilling the Great Commission. The proper focus of the Christian is to be filled with the Holy Ghost so that we can fulfill the Great Commission.

Is there anything wrong with knowing the times and the seasons like the disciples wanted to know? Not at all. However, knowing the times and the seasons will not keep one person out of Hell. It will not baptize one convert. It will not disciple one Christian. It will not send out one soul winner. It will not start one church. Be careful to stay focused on that which Christ commands to be our focus. If we keep a proper focus, then we too can turn our world upside down for Christ as these disciples did when their focus was right.

The Purpose

The Purpose of God's Word

John 16:33

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

Several times in the Book of John God makes the statement, "these things." He makes this statement so that He can teach us six lessons about the purpose of the Word of God. God's Word is the answer for every need in your life. When you understand the purpose of God's Word, then you will have a better understanding of It's words.

First, God gave us the Scriptures so that people can get saved. Nobody can get saved without the Word of God. It is God's Word that shows us that we are sinners. In Galatians 3:24, God calls His Word "...our schoolmaster to us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." Without the Word of God we would never know that we have sinned because His Word is a law to show us what is sin. Moreover, God's Word also shows us God's plan for salvation. The primary purpose of God giving us His Word is so that we can get saved.

Second, in John 15:11 we see that God gave us the Scriptures so that we can have joy. You will never have true joy in life without following the Word of God. I often say that God's Word is the instruction manual for people, therefore, you will never find joy in life until you follow the manual of God's Word. When God's Word is heeded, then It gives a person joy.

Third, in John 15:17 we see that God gave us the Scriptures to teach us how to love one another. One of the biggest reasons Christians do not get along is because they don't read and obey the Word of God. You will only be successful at getting along with people by following God's Word. God's Word is filled with advice on how to improve your people skills. You will never be successful at getting along with all the different personalities without daily reading and obey the Scriptures.

Fourth, in John 16:1 we see that God gave us the Scriptures to keep us from scandalous actions. God's Word helps you to have a good reputation and testimony. Every time a person hurts their reputation or testimony it is when they disobey the Word of God. If you are concerned with what others think of you, and you should be, then you need to be sure to follow God's Word.

Fifth, in the verse above we see that God gave us the Scriptures to give us peace in life. Peace is not a possession, but it is a result of proper actions. God's Word shows us how to properly live so that we can find the peace in life that we desperately want. If you find your heart is in constant turmoil, then it is only because you are not following the Scriptures. Does that mean trials won't come? Not at all! However, God's Word will give you peace of mind and heart as you go through your trials.

Sixth, in the verse above we see that God gave us the Scriptures to show us how to overcome the world. You will never overcome the power of the world without using God's Word. God's Word is the weapon of choice that God gave the Christian to fight the world and it's influences. Your only chance of being victorious over the world is by using God's Word.

Christian, these six reasons of why God gave us His Word are to help you be victorious in life. Don't let God's Word simply be a decoration in your home. Let It be the very tool you daily use to help you acquire these six things.

Loving

Loving Unto the End

John 13:1

"Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end."

The song writer was correct when he wrote in the song, The Love of God, "Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made, were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade; to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry; nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky." You could never exhaust writing of God's love, for whatever has been written still does not properly describe His love for you and me.

God made the statement about Christ's love for His disciples by saying that "...he loved them unto the end." This is an amazing statement when you consider all that the disciples had done. Jesus loved his disciples before they were born, but He also loved them "...unto the end." He loved them when He first met them, but He also "...loved them unto the end." He loved them when they were doing right, but He also "...loved them unto the end."

Jesus' love was not conditioned upon how good His disciples were, but His love was conditioned by His choice to love them "...unto the end."Jesus loved Peter in spite of his ways of speaking before thinking. Jesus loved Judas Iscariot in spite of knowing that he would betray Him. Jesus loved Thomas in spite of his doubting mind. Jesus loved Peter in spite of his betrayal. Jesus loved His disciples in spite of their faithless life. Jesus loved His disciples in spite of all their weaknesses. Yes, Jesus "...loved them unto the end." His love for them was unconditional.

Let me also remind you that Jesus loves you "...unto the end." It does not matter how bad you are, Jesus loves you. It does not matter how much you may have caused Him grief, for He loves you "...unto the end." He loved you before you were born, and He will love you "...unto the end." Sure, you may have done some things that would cause others to stop loving you, but there is nothing you can do that would ever cause Jesus to stop loving you. Jesus says that He will love you all the way to Heaven. What a comforting thought that no matter what you may do, Jesus will always love you.

However, if Jesus is willing to love you "...unto the end" then don't you think you ought to love people to the end as well? It is sad that no matter what we do Jesus will love us, but when others do something to us we tend to stop loving them. True Christianity will love people in spite of what they have done. True Christianity doesn't just love people when they are good, but it loves them at their worst. The greatness of someone's love is not how much they love someone when everything is going well, but how much do they love someone when they are at their worst. If there is ever a need for a revival, it is in the area of loving people at their worst. Christianity needs a revival of loving people "...unto the end."

Are you at all like Christ in the area of His love for people? Do you love people "...unto the end." Don't allow your love for people to be a conditional love, but let your love for people be a true love that loves them even at their worst. Who is it that comes to your mind that you have pushed aside? Who have you pushed aside because they didn't treat you the way you thought they should. It is time that you love people all the way to the end, not because they do things for you, but because you choose to have a love like Christ. You need to work at being that rare Christian who loves everyone, in spite of what they have done in life or against you, "...unto the end."