Holiness, Godliness, Usefulness
01/28/2014, by John Kincaid
Lesson 130: God's Provision for Our Holiness, Part 4
Satan has been defeated. But our sin nature continues to fight, like a soldier who doesn’t know the war is over. There is an ongoing conflict between the Spirit and our sin nature.
Gal.5:17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
Also, since we are sinners from birth, we all have deeply etched sinful habits.
When President Lincoln freed the slaves, they tended to continue acting as slaves for a while. They did not transform into free men overnight. They had developed habit patterns.
Even when we experience a dramatic life change, the consequences of our old life remain.
Christians also have a tendency to sin out of habit. Our habits include: looking out for myself, ignoring the needs of others, striking back when we feel offended, and satisfying our appetites.
Our habit is to live for ourselves, not for God. Every believer will spend the rest of their life putting off old sinful habits, and putting on new holy habits.
About This Series
The goal of this series is to become more useful in serving the Lord Jesus Christ, as an instrument in the Redeemer's hand. The theme verses for the series are Ephesians 4:22-24, Philemon 11, 2 Timothy 2:21
- to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
- and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
- Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.
- Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.