What Do You Crave?

Philippians 3:17-21 ESV

“Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

Imitating the Life of Paul

Now, according to what I hear many proclaim today, the apostle Paul was someone who was “struggling” in sin, and was someone who regularly gave into sin, for they misinterpret his words in Romans 7 because they don’t read them in the context of Romans 6 and Romans 8. For there he said that if sin is what we practice or what we obey, and if we walk according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit, that we will die in our sins. And he said that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.

So, why do they misinterpret Paul’s words, in truth? Many do so because they are being led to do so by their leaders and because they are still walking in sin, and so it gives them an excuse to keep walking in sin without guilt. But if Paul was truly someone “struggling” with sin, i.e. who was regularly giving in to sin, how in the world could he possibly with a good conscience teach what he taught to others? And how could he in good conscience tell us to join in imitating him? He would have to be the biggest hypocrite of all. But he wasn’t! 

Paul, in Romans 7, did give us a picture of what his life was like before he was transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, but then he immediately followed that by telling us that Jesus Christ delivered him from that body of death. And in chapter 8 he said, “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

So, if you are going to imitate the life of Paul, read Acts through Philemon. Some people believe Paul also wrote Hebrews. And read all of what Paul wrote and all of what he said about his own life, and you will see that he was not a man of the flesh who gave in to the flesh on a regular basis, but he was a man of God whose life was fully surrendered to God and who did the will of God regardless of what it cost him, and it cost him plenty! For he endured all sorts of beatings and imprisonments and false accusations against his character for the sake of Jesus and for the gospel of Christ.

See: https://runwithit.blog/2023/05/13/was-paul-a-hypocrite-ii/

Enemies of Christ

And who are those who walk as enemies of the cross of Christ? They are those who are still walking according to the flesh and in sin, for whom sin is still their practice, their habit, and for whom righteousness and godly living is not their habit, their practice. So they can fully be many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ and who believe all their sins are forgiven and that heaven is their eternal destiny. And they can easily be pastors and elders of church congregations (or of what is falsely being called “church”).

So, how do you know if you are someone who practices sin? For one, you desire sin above God and above obedience to the Lord, and so you choose your sin over God on an addictive basis. For your mind is set on earthly things, not on things above (see Romans 8). And to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. So, you lust after the desires of the flesh, and you don’t thirst for righteousness and holy living. For your heart is still evil and so it produces evil, for your heart has not truly been transformed of the Holy Spirit of God.

And even though you know right from wrong, you continue to deliberately and habitually do wrong and not right. You continue to deliberately, habitually, and even premeditatedly not only sin against God but against other humans, even those closest to you, for sin is what you crave. It has a hold on your life. And you repeat the same sins over and over, and on and on, and you make excuses for your sin, and you lie to cover up your sin, and so you also sin in your lies. And you try to justify the wrong that you do even to those who you habitually sin against, so without compassion at all.

But does this mean we will never sin? No! We might still sin on occasion, but sin should not be what we crave, what we hunger after, what we long for above God and even over our relationships with other humans, even over our spouses. It shouldn’t be what we dream about. We should not be those who plot out sin on our beds and who devise evil. We should not be those who regularly give in to committing adultery, who are sexually immoral, who are liars, thieves, gossipers, and those who envy and hate others, etc. But we should be those who practice righteousness and obedience to our Lord.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

My Sheep  

An Original Work / June 24, 2012  

Based off John 10:1-18 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full… 

They know my voice, so they follow me.

https://vimeo.com/114938263