Temptation INSIDE OUT
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Matt. 23:25.
Most of us have tried harder to clean the outside than the inside, and that's our trouble. That was the trouble of the Pharisees in the day of Jesus; He told them that if they would clean first the inside of the cup and platter, the outside would be clean. He didn't tell them to first clean the inside and then go to work on the outside. Being a new creature comes as a result of being in Christ. But most of us have spent years in fruitless effort trying hard to be new creatures, new people--from the outside. And we have spent little or no effort on being in Christ.
1 John 3:6 says, "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not." This is another cause and effect. Should we put forth effort to abide in Him, or should we put forth effort to "sin not"? Most of us spend our time and energy in trying not to sin rather than directing our time and energy toward abiding in Him. Some say that this verse is talking about habitual sin. But when does sin become a habit? Is it a habit if you do it once a year? How about six times a day? How about twice a week? It is difficult to say definitely when sin becomes a habit.
Look at Steps to Christ, page 61: "If we abide in Christ, if the love of God dwells in us, our feelings, our thoughts, our purposes, our actions, will be in harmony with the will of God as expressed in the precepts of His holy law." Please don't miss this point. Our feelings, our thoughts, our purposes--not just actions--will be in harmony with God's will. And it will happen when we abide in Christ, and His love dwells in us.
Have you ever heard someone say, "I haven't taken a drink for twenty years, but I haven't felt like drinking for three days"? But if we abide in Christ, our feelings as well as our actions will be in harmony with God's will. God doesn't give victory by changing simply the outward actions, and doing nothing about the feelings, thoughts, and purposes--the inside. God works from the inside out. And if our feelings, thoughts, and purposes are in harmony with God's will, would we have to try hard to obey, and to overcome temptations? No, it will come spontaneously to the one who abides in Christ.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Matt. 23:25.
Most of us have tried harder to clean the outside than the inside, and that's our trouble. That was the trouble of the Pharisees in the day of Jesus; He told them that if they would clean first the inside of the cup and platter, the outside would be clean. He didn't tell them to first clean the inside and then go to work on the outside. Being a new creature comes as a result of being in Christ. But most of us have spent years in fruitless effort trying hard to be new creatures, new people--from the outside. And we have spent little or no effort on being in Christ.
1 John 3:6 says, "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not." This is another cause and effect. Should we put forth effort to abide in Him, or should we put forth effort to "sin not"? Most of us spend our time and energy in trying not to sin rather than directing our time and energy toward abiding in Him. Some say that this verse is talking about habitual sin. But when does sin become a habit? Is it a habit if you do it once a year? How about six times a day? How about twice a week? It is difficult to say definitely when sin becomes a habit.
Look at Steps to Christ, page 61: "If we abide in Christ, if the love of God dwells in us, our feelings, our thoughts, our purposes, our actions, will be in harmony with the will of God as expressed in the precepts of His holy law." Please don't miss this point. Our feelings, our thoughts, our purposes--not just actions--will be in harmony with God's will. And it will happen when we abide in Christ, and His love dwells in us.
Have you ever heard someone say, "I haven't taken a drink for twenty years, but I haven't felt like drinking for three days"? But if we abide in Christ, our feelings as well as our actions will be in harmony with God's will. God doesn't give victory by changing simply the outward actions, and doing nothing about the feelings, thoughts, and purposes--the inside. God works from the inside out. And if our feelings, thoughts, and purposes are in harmony with God's will, would we have to try hard to obey, and to overcome temptations? No, it will come spontaneously to the one who abides in Christ.
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