Christians still living as slaves of sin and not living as freed sons of God:
John 8:34-35 Jesus…whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house (in Christ) forever, but a son abides forever.
Sons of God who have been made free from slavery to sin:
Gal 4:6-7 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Rom 6: 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine (word) to which you were delivered.
Many Christians understand this sharp distinction between slavery to sin versus freedom from sin. And to a degree have allowed God to free them from some sins. However they continue to primarily think of and speak about themselves as still slaves. This is a thought stronghold that must be pulled down; the thought life must be renewed to the word of God.
Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind, (that is, the mind of your heart)
Col 3:10 …Put on the new man (your will yielded to your spirit) who is renewed in knowledge (God’s word) according to the image of Him who created him,
Do we think of ourselves as God’s overcomers, or sadly as those who are still overcome?
2 Peter 2:19-20 …By whom (or whatever) a person is overcome, by him (or that) also he is brought into bondage. (yet we could think of ourselves as overcomers)
1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God (His word in me) overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith (in that word).
1 John 2:14 …Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.
1 Pet 2:11 …Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul…receive with KJV meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls. Jam 1:21
Rom 8:13 …if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Rev 2:11 (Jesus) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.
Is overcoming based on feelings or how things look, or is it strictly by belief in God’s word?
Should we wait until we feel like we consistently have the victory over sin and can see that we do, before we can think and speak about ourselves as overcomers? Well with that approach we never will be an overcomer, will we? The road to victory with God is always a faith road, we must take God at his word and think and speak accordingly. Faith can only operate where the will of God is known, from His word, believed and then acted on. If I’ve listened to conflicting opinions on what His will is, I’m going to have to settle that or stay in doubt! For faith is the certainty of things hoped for. If I still allow serious doubts in my thought life, based on feelings or sight, or the unwise opinions of brothers or sisters (even if they may still notice inconsistencies in me) then there will never be that certainty. Where there is no certainty there cannot be faith, and without faith I will remain a slave.
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
What does “never having known freedom from sin in the past” have to do with anything?
When we were youngsters in the natural there were thousands of things that we couldn’t yet do. But the argument was not even considered that just because we had never done these basic things of life before, it somehow exempted us from having to learn them. No everyone understood that learning to do things never done before was simply part of the normal growing up process. And yet when it comes to growing up spiritually the thought that I’ve never done this before and therefore can’t, paralyzes many Christians. Amazingly it’s also widely acceptable to Christians around me who should be helping me to grow up.
Phil 4:13 I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.
2 Cor 3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,
To say I can’t, or I don’t want to be a hypocrite, when God says I can, is just false humility
When we are born again we are spiritual babies who know nothing about the things of the kingdom of God except that Jesus loves us and died for us and we’re forgiven. Is this any different to how we were when we were natural babies. For a time all we could do was crawl about and utter baby babble. But everyone around us was walking and speaking words, and encouraging us to learn how to. And we wanted to learn and eventually did. The issue of can’t never arose, nor was it thought hypocritical for children to talk as if they could do things that they hadn’t yet mastered. Yet when it comes to spiritual growth many are paralyzed by an “I can’t” or “it would be hypocritical for me to say I can” thought; even though both effectively call God a liar. This is a false humility. It’s made worse by other Christians validating these excuses out of human sympathy, putting everyone in danger.
Gal 6:1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness (a heart that currently hears God), considering yourself lest you also be tempted (by offering them false comforts)
1 Jo 5:16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not lead to death (the extinguishing of life), he will pray and God will give him life; Yes, He will grant life to all those whose sin is not one leading to death... AMP
