Old clothes, new skin
Romans 8:5, 9, 10-12
Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires….You…are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you….But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.
1 Peter 1:14
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.
Titus 3:3-7
At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
Ephesians 2:3-10
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
2 Corinth 5:17
…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Galatians 5:16
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
So my friend asks, “How can someone who has become a Christian not show fruit? Not be changed? How can they not see and be madly passionate about Christ? How can they go on living life as if nothing happened? How can they choose to be non-participants, apathetic, or even to go on doing what they used to do?”
I don’t get it either.
And I was reading Mark this morning and didn’t get something else (that’s nothing new…part of my time with God whether in prayer or in study is always showered with “I don’t get it”s). Jesus says, "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. (Mark 2:21) He’s responding to a question about fasting, but it just seemed out of place to me. Until I realized what he’s talking about is people not changing once he’s come into their presence. It’s as if they’ve got this new life but instead of putting down the old and picking up this totally new life (garment), they try to add this new thing to their old life. When you do that, and the new starts to struggle with the old (when the patch of fabric gets washed - let’s call that a new life through rebirth and renewal…baptism in Christ Jesus) the new will pull away from the old that’s fighting against it…and eventually, the tear will be worse - the condition of the hurt, the pain, the habits, the apathy, the anger, the sinful nature will be worse that before. Because now it’s not just a struggle wanting to be free and renewed, but you’re a free and renewed person held in self captivity because of the lies and things you don’t want to let go of - the things that you wanted to keep the same and not let be replaced or renewed in this washing and rebirth.
If you try to put this new Christ indwelling into your old life style, the pain gets worse.
(Oh, and I get that. Have you read anyone’s myspaces or xanga’s lately? I read stuff written by people who hate their lives, who are depressed, who hate other people, who live one life and at the same time claim Christ is their King…but you can tell by their words that their heart doesn’t have peace, joy, or passion. You can tell they’re wrestling with two worlds - trying to fit the Christ patch on their world. And they get upset that people think they’re hypocrites. Worse than that, they get upset at themselves because they feel like hypocrites.
Side note: A hypocrite, in the way Christ talked about it, was a him. There was an actor in a theater named Hypocrite. When Jesus called people hypocrites, he was accusing them of acting - posers is what we call them today.)
And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins." (Mark 2:22) That’s why we’re called new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17) filled with the Holy Spirit. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you-guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. 2 Timothy 1:14
I don’t get it either.
Or maybe I do.
Maybe you do to.
Maybe you’ve been wrestling with it and wondering “why do other people get it and I don’t?,” “Why do they feel it and I don’t?”
Maybe the difference is embracing one thing and letting go of another.
Christ says if you try to keep both, and you don’t just take the new, that the result is “ruin” and “pulling away” and “making the tear worse.”
Matthew 12:43-45 illustrates it like this:
"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”
I’m not saying unfruitful Christians were or are demon possessed. I’m sayin’ I think when a person finally bows and surrenders saying “Christ, I can’t do this on my own. I’ve messed up, I’m tired of trying, I hurt, and I’m lost…I don’t know what to do or where to go and I want to be new, I want to full, I want to be alive,…I want to be clean and start over to be who I was meant to be” that his house is swept clean and put in order. He becomes a new creation and the Holy Spirit does come to live inside him…but if none of the old residents move out…if there’s no life change, then I believe the enemy says “Whoo hooo!!! PARTY in ‘da house!! Everyone come!!” and he tempts, and he lies, and he entices, and he seduces, and he compliments the haughty, and he rewards the greedy, and he fuels the angry, and he oppresses the hurt even more.
I think, I don’t know, I believe, when a person becomes a Christian and doesn’t show fruit, it’s because they’re believing and living a lie.
And I believe it’s just that, a lie.
And I believe if they recognize it, call it what it is, tell it the truth that they’ve been told about who they are and that they were created as workmanship of God designed for specific missions arranged before time even began, then life starts…and fruit flows.
I believe the old is gone and the new has come.
Do you?
Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires….You…are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you….But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.
1 Peter 1:14
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.
Titus 3:3-7
At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
Ephesians 2:3-10
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
2 Corinth 5:17
…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Galatians 5:16
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
So my friend asks, “How can someone who has become a Christian not show fruit? Not be changed? How can they not see and be madly passionate about Christ? How can they go on living life as if nothing happened? How can they choose to be non-participants, apathetic, or even to go on doing what they used to do?”
I don’t get it either.
And I was reading Mark this morning and didn’t get something else (that’s nothing new…part of my time with God whether in prayer or in study is always showered with “I don’t get it”s). Jesus says, "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. (Mark 2:21) He’s responding to a question about fasting, but it just seemed out of place to me. Until I realized what he’s talking about is people not changing once he’s come into their presence. It’s as if they’ve got this new life but instead of putting down the old and picking up this totally new life (garment), they try to add this new thing to their old life. When you do that, and the new starts to struggle with the old (when the patch of fabric gets washed - let’s call that a new life through rebirth and renewal…baptism in Christ Jesus) the new will pull away from the old that’s fighting against it…and eventually, the tear will be worse - the condition of the hurt, the pain, the habits, the apathy, the anger, the sinful nature will be worse that before. Because now it’s not just a struggle wanting to be free and renewed, but you’re a free and renewed person held in self captivity because of the lies and things you don’t want to let go of - the things that you wanted to keep the same and not let be replaced or renewed in this washing and rebirth.
If you try to put this new Christ indwelling into your old life style, the pain gets worse.
(Oh, and I get that. Have you read anyone’s myspaces or xanga’s lately? I read stuff written by people who hate their lives, who are depressed, who hate other people, who live one life and at the same time claim Christ is their King…but you can tell by their words that their heart doesn’t have peace, joy, or passion. You can tell they’re wrestling with two worlds - trying to fit the Christ patch on their world. And they get upset that people think they’re hypocrites. Worse than that, they get upset at themselves because they feel like hypocrites.
Side note: A hypocrite, in the way Christ talked about it, was a him. There was an actor in a theater named Hypocrite. When Jesus called people hypocrites, he was accusing them of acting - posers is what we call them today.)
And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins." (Mark 2:22) That’s why we’re called new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17) filled with the Holy Spirit. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you-guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. 2 Timothy 1:14
I don’t get it either.
Or maybe I do.
Maybe you do to.
Maybe you’ve been wrestling with it and wondering “why do other people get it and I don’t?,” “Why do they feel it and I don’t?”
Maybe the difference is embracing one thing and letting go of another.
Christ says if you try to keep both, and you don’t just take the new, that the result is “ruin” and “pulling away” and “making the tear worse.”
Matthew 12:43-45 illustrates it like this:
"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”
I’m not saying unfruitful Christians were or are demon possessed. I’m sayin’ I think when a person finally bows and surrenders saying “Christ, I can’t do this on my own. I’ve messed up, I’m tired of trying, I hurt, and I’m lost…I don’t know what to do or where to go and I want to be new, I want to full, I want to be alive,…I want to be clean and start over to be who I was meant to be” that his house is swept clean and put in order. He becomes a new creation and the Holy Spirit does come to live inside him…but if none of the old residents move out…if there’s no life change, then I believe the enemy says “Whoo hooo!!! PARTY in ‘da house!! Everyone come!!” and he tempts, and he lies, and he entices, and he seduces, and he compliments the haughty, and he rewards the greedy, and he fuels the angry, and he oppresses the hurt even more.
I think, I don’t know, I believe, when a person becomes a Christian and doesn’t show fruit, it’s because they’re believing and living a lie.
And I believe it’s just that, a lie.
And I believe if they recognize it, call it what it is, tell it the truth that they’ve been told about who they are and that they were created as workmanship of God designed for specific missions arranged before time even began, then life starts…and fruit flows.
I believe the old is gone and the new has come.
Do you?