Nothing Lost, Nothing Gained

The sinfulness of man is not a physical inheritance...in other words the newborn baby is not already built with sin in him.  But sin all about makes him inherit a nature plagued by sin.  We are not launched into this world sin ruined but we are brought into it sin surrounded.  As soon as we begin making our way about morally we give temptation its way and then we are cooked.  Sin has us internally and externally.   Only Jesus resisted sin fully from the moment he first began to act morally.  At no point did He let temptation hold sway over a decision of His.  The average person gives so little thought to sin, let alone temptation that he hardly notices the evil he lets wreck him.  The cross of Christ is more than just a cleanser of sin, it is a redeemer of the sinner.  By faith in the Cross of Christ, we gain the nature of God living throughout us.  We no longer are the slave of sin but the destroyer of both temptation and sin.  We are not weak little children just trying to get by spiritually, we are wunderkind, powerful conquerors who have the capacity to live pure and holy lives.  The question is not will we but when will we let the might of Christ have full sway in the parts of our day.  We don't have to be a slave of lust or anger or greed or deceit or pride; we are because God dwells in us the overcomer in each place we find ourselves.  We cannot choose the temptation but we can submit ourselves to the might of Christ  and be done with that sin at that moment.  Nothing good comes of relying upon yourself...it always turns bitter for you...but when you turn to God to take back your moral place and live again in holiness, the joy of your redeemer will swell within you and you will feel the very goodness of Christ sweeping over you.    The heart has been raped and scourged and pummeled by sin but in Christ you can determine "not this time" because the Holy Spirit will as you turn to Him protect you from that tormenting temptation.  We laugh at sin and make light of it at the bar or at the club or in the gym or as our employer begins to manhandle us but it is even disguised, the beast that takes you apart.  Confess your sins rather than  belittle their magnitude.  God will forgive them immediately and scrub you clean of their poisons.  Just don't pretend they aren't there or don't matter.

"Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."  Luke 22:46 NIV