These are lyrics from Tedashii (ft. Flame) Make War. I am blown away with how easily I retreat and succumb to gratifications of the flesh and mind. Life is viewed as a bike ride through the mountain trails. Once you get going downhill you pick up speed, and it becomes impossible to slow down until you hit the bottom. Then comes the climb back up, and it is hard but its worth it because the beauty in the summit is ample motivation to keep going. We allow ourselves to get tossed around by the winds of Apathy, Self-Destruction, Pleasure, Pride, and Greed; and they all work together to derail us.
Why do we not fight?
Life is war. The essence of Christianity is the antithesis of our human nature. We absolutely cannot afford to think of life in any other way. Choosing ignorance by passively trusting in God to fight for you will only solidify the Enemies victory. God will give us victory but only if we actively seek the victory His name. Romans 6-8 is the perfect example of how we should live.
Romans 6: We are saved from condemnation by the grace of God and by The Miracle on the Cross. But this does not give us free reign to sin knowing we are forgiven and sanctified; to him condemnation is deserved (Romans 3:8b). We are created subsidiary beings; we will always long and desire something greater than ourselves. Before The Miracle, our slave-driver was sin. Now it is righteousness in Christ through the eradication of the law (or our bounds to eternal punishment for breaking the law) and the entrance of Grace. So our ties were broken to slavery in sin and now we are slaves to righteousness through the Spirit being our intercessor.
Romans 7: Since we are saved from the law, does that mean we don't have to obey the law anymore? Absolutely not. The law is intended for good; for we were not excused from adherence to the law but were saved from the damnation as a result of breaking the law. The law's purpose was to awaken our consciousness of sin, for without the law we were dark-minded to sin. Sin came alive because of the law, but the law is still good. "In order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful" (vs.13). With this knowledge of sin comes the the beginning of the war against it. The dichotomy of pleasure vs. preservation is fierce and violent, thrashing and tearing even the slightest resistance. "But I see another law at work in the members of my body, WAGING WAR against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin" (vs.23). So why, since we are sanctified and saved through The Miracle do we still have to wage war against sin? Because sin is resilient. "So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to the God's law, but in the sinful nature to the law of sin" (vs.25).
Romans 8: The acceptance of the 'get out of jail free' card from God does not eradicate sin's power over our lives. We don't automatically change and cease to struggle. God saving us from the damning grasp of sin did not outlaw sin in our lives and in our worlds. But because He has sanctified our minds and our spirits, He is able to condemn the sin in our lives without condemning our spirits. He allows us the opportunity for righteousness to reign in our lives by offering us the most satisfying and fulfilling solution: Himself. Outside of Him, we are controlled by sin, and whoever is controlled by sin is incapable of pleasing Him (vs.8). We are without excuse when we fall to sin because we have a guaranteed victory through the Holy Spirit inside of us, being our intercessor and being our front man on the battle field.
So why, then, do I feel overwhelmed and constantly hopeless against the power of sin? BECAUSE I DO NOT WAGE WAR!! How dare I treat this issue with anything other than the most heightened sense of alarm. How dare I not take up arms and defend for my life. How dare I choose to view this with even the slightest inkling of passivity. Sin is strong, my friends. So know this:
- You have the ability (because of The Miracle) to be dead to sin
- If you are not dead to sin, you will be unable to please Christ
- If you do not wage war against sin, you will never be dead to sin
- The war will never end, so don't you dare give up
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