Sweater: CAbi Leggings: Tulle Boots: Gifted
Yesterday there was a speaker in chapel, Mattie Montogomery (apparently he's this famous musician, I had never heard of him) and he said something that I hadn't exactly heard before, and I wonder if you had heard of it either.
See, when he first started I was slightly skeptical, he proposed the idea of a sinless life style. Yes, a sinless lifestyle.
But human nature is to sin, yes? Well, yes.
Then..a sinless lifestyle?
Well see, if you're a Christian you are to be dead to sin, alive in Christ (Romans 6:11).
You're a new creation- the old is all gone (1 Corinth. 5:17).
Jesus actually lives inside of you (Galatians 2:20).
And yet we try to relate to others by saying, "I'm broken too, I'm a sinner too. I understand because I'm just like you. I sin everyday but God loves me anyways."
But that's not it.
Yes, Christ came to Earth, He was crucified and took on our sins so that God's wrath could be taken out on him and not on us. And Yes, that was all because of how much he loves us, that's awesome, but he came to put an end to sin. An end to sin in our lives means we don't have to give into the sinful nature. It's all new, see? With the Holy Spirit we can actually live sinless lives where a mess up isn't the standard but an unfortunate moment that we can recover from.
If you're stuck in sin, where's the liberation? Salvation becomes this ticket to heaven, not a lifestyle or a radical change, just a trick in your back pocket to make you feel better when you mess up.
That's not what it is.
Jesus said to count the cost before you follow him, and that's because he knew. Following Jesus means a lifestyle of righteousness, of sinlessness. Not because you never mess up, not because you never fall down, but because you believe in him and in the truth that he has taken over your life. Jesus isn't broken, Jesus isn't struggling with sin. Therefore believers are no longer broken, believers no longer have to struggle with sin, they are new. You are new!
Mattie said a lot more, and he said it all more eloquently than I can, but here's one thing he said that I think my brain really needed to chew on;
Christians tend to do this thing, "Oh yeah, I'm broken too!" "Oh yeah, I sin too!" As if we want to fit in. Why would we say that? Of course no sinner wants to try church, it's full of people just as broken as they are. If Jesus has taken you over, then he's made you whole, you're not broken, you're radiating Jesus. God looks at you and sees righteousness. You have the fix for this whole..living thing. Why would you try to downplay that?
Well see, if you're a Christian you are to be dead to sin, alive in Christ (Romans 6:11).
You're a new creation- the old is all gone (1 Corinth. 5:17).
Jesus actually lives inside of you (Galatians 2:20).
And yet we try to relate to others by saying, "I'm broken too, I'm a sinner too. I understand because I'm just like you. I sin everyday but God loves me anyways."
But that's not it.
Yes, Christ came to Earth, He was crucified and took on our sins so that God's wrath could be taken out on him and not on us. And Yes, that was all because of how much he loves us, that's awesome, but he came to put an end to sin. An end to sin in our lives means we don't have to give into the sinful nature. It's all new, see? With the Holy Spirit we can actually live sinless lives where a mess up isn't the standard but an unfortunate moment that we can recover from.
If you're stuck in sin, where's the liberation? Salvation becomes this ticket to heaven, not a lifestyle or a radical change, just a trick in your back pocket to make you feel better when you mess up.
That's not what it is.
Jesus said to count the cost before you follow him, and that's because he knew. Following Jesus means a lifestyle of righteousness, of sinlessness. Not because you never mess up, not because you never fall down, but because you believe in him and in the truth that he has taken over your life. Jesus isn't broken, Jesus isn't struggling with sin. Therefore believers are no longer broken, believers no longer have to struggle with sin, they are new. You are new!
Mattie said a lot more, and he said it all more eloquently than I can, but here's one thing he said that I think my brain really needed to chew on;
Christians tend to do this thing, "Oh yeah, I'm broken too!" "Oh yeah, I sin too!" As if we want to fit in. Why would we say that? Of course no sinner wants to try church, it's full of people just as broken as they are. If Jesus has taken you over, then he's made you whole, you're not broken, you're radiating Jesus. God looks at you and sees righteousness. You have the fix for this whole..living thing. Why would you try to downplay that?
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
-Romans 6:18
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