Today we continue our series entitled, “Grace and Truth” by continuing to look at by continuing to look at The Law given under Moses vs. the Grace provided by Jesus. Our main scriptures are John 1:14 & 17. Let’s look at them again.
(John 1:14 New International Version)
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:17 New International Version)
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
In this series we studied Galatians 3, 4, and 5. In our last message we stopped at verse 17 of chapter 5. Let’s take a look at that same verse again today. I will share it in two translations.
(Galatians 5:17 The Passion Translation)
For your self – life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit and hinder him from living free within you! And the Holy Spirit’s intense cravings hinder your old self – life from dominating you! So then, the two incompatible and conflicting forces within you are your self – life of the flesh and the new creation life of the Spirit.
(Galatians 5:17 New Living Translation)
The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. You need God’s grace to win the war within.
The Apostle Paul teaches us that after being Born-Again, our old mindset will war against the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will lead us to do things that are clearly against our old mindset. Paul calls these two (the Holy Spirit and our old mindset) “incompatible and conflicting forces within us” (Gal 5:17). These forces create a war within. If we don’t win the war — dying to self, submitting to the Holy Spirit, and placing God’s will above our own selfish desires — we run the risk of missing out on God’s best. We run the risk of NEVER fulfilling our destiny. We run the risk of getting to heaven, only to realize that we spent our lives becoming someone God DID NOT call us to be. I don’t know about you, but I am determined to become the best version of myself. Which means I am determined to become the man God called me to be from the foundations of the world. God’s version of me is the best version of me, and in order to become that person, I must die to sin, self and selfish desires. I must place God’s will above my own. I must die to me on a daily basis. I must win the war within! I pray you think the same way. I trust you are with me on this journey.
By the way, this has everything to do with God’s grace. Without the grace of God, you can never become the person you are destined to be. Without the grace of God, you can never win the war within. Without the grace of God, you won’t have the power to live free from sin. Those who think God’s grace is a license to sin are missing the point altogether. God’s grace empowers you to live free from sin, so we can become the persons He destined us to be, and we you can leave a mark in this world that will impact generations to come.
2. It takes discipline and determination to get to the point where you will choose ‘Spirit over sin’.
The Apostle Paul said, “The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.” (Gal 5:17). When you first come to God, you accept His Son Jesus as Lord, and you are Born-Again, everything is new. The Holy Spirit is new to you, so He begins to lead you to do things you never had the urge to do before. You find yourself with desires you never felt and impulses to do things you would not normally do. A situation happens, someone confronts you, and your previous natural tendency would have been to fight back. But all of a sudden, you sense something inside of you telling you to “let it go” and to pass on the opportunity to retaliate. You find this weird. That’s the Holy Spirit. Or you go to do something you have been doing for years, something you did not give much thought to, and all of a sudden, the pleasure you used to get from that thing is no longer there. God is speaking to you and leading you to stop doing it, because it is not good for you. You know the voice in your heart is right, but you have been doing this thing for so long, that you keep doing it anyway. That is the Holy Spirit speaking, and your old nature overriding His voice. This goes on and on. You continually have urges to do things that are pleasing in God’s sight, only to have those urges contradicted by thoughts against them; especially in areas where you had built up bad habits. This is the war within. This is what the Apostle Paul was talking about.
In order to win this war you are going to have to spend time with the Holy Spirit in prayer and you must spend quality time in the Word of God. The Word of God contains the character, attributes and nature of God Himself. The more you meditate and medicate on the Word of God, the better you get to know the God of the Word, and the more apt you will be to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Listen, your mental transformation will not happen overnight. But if you have the discipline and determination required to study God’s Word and spend time with His Spirit, you will become the man/woman you are called and destined to be!
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to die in my place. Jesus took on my sin. I now take on His righteousness. I am made new in Christ Jesus. I must now learn how to live in the newness of the life He provided. I must win the war within my own mind; the war between the leading of Your Spirit and the pulling of my old ways. I declare that I win! Your grace is on me to become the best version of myself. To do so I meditate and medicate on Your Word day and night. I spend time with the Holy Spirit in prayer. Because of Your Word and by Your Spirit, I am changed to the point where I can reflect heaven on earth. When people come in contact with me, they will come in contact with You. Because You live IN me and I am determined to LET YOU OUT! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
