Notes for "Our Personal Best Will Ruin Us"

Introduction:

The subject of this week’s chapter is perhaps the most difficult for us to understand of any concept presented in Grace Land. Where do our personal talents and abilities fit in the Kingdom of God? In the Christian community, there are many ideas offered to describe "how we are to live the Christian life," and the proponents of each idea are sure that only their beliefs are correct and supported by the Bible.

The spectrum runs from one extreme to the opposite…is Kingdom of God our responsibility or is it God’s responsibility? Or is it partly our responsibility and partly God’s responsibility? Christians are notorious for taking "either/or" positions on almost every issue…it’s either "this way," or it’s "that way." They get very uncomfortable with any idea that it might be "this way" in one situation and "that way" in another. Christians love absolutes! And any concept that is not "absolute" is not from God, they are convinced!

This week’s subject is a wonderful opportunity for us to depend on the Holy Spirit to "lead us into all the truth."

Define these terms:

Sin Nature: The "self" you were born with…your identity at birth.

Flesh:

bulletStrategies we have developed for handling our lives when we aren’t depending on Christ.
bulletThe bodies in which our spirit lives on this earth.

Indwelling Sin: The "force" in our imperfect bodies that is always ready to pull us into living independently of God.

What is the difference between the flesh and the sin nature?

The flesh is either our bodies or our behaviors which are independent of God and has nothing to do with our identity, the sin nature is who we were before Christ came into our lives…it was our identity.

What resources do people commonly depend upon in their efforts to live a victorious life in the modern church?

Resources commonly used to live for Christ:

bulletpersonality
bulletintellect
bulletpersonal energy
bulletinfluence
bulletmoney
bullettime
bulletacquired abilities

What are the essential resources needed to live victoriously as a Christian?

Jesus Christ is the only possible and required resource to live victoriously as a Christian!

Is passivity a biblical option for the Christian?

Passivity is not a biblical option for the Christian…Jesus will be no less active in our bodies than He was in His. Passivity only comes when we try to fulfill our desire to please God with our own resources and always fail, re-dedicate ourselves to "try harder," fail again and again until we give up…that’s when we become very passive!

According to Colossians 1:29, what is the method by which a believer is to serve God?

For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me. (NASB)

To do this, I work and struggle, using Christ’s great strength that works so powerfully in me. (NCV)

When Paul talked about striving and laboring, he explained his Energy Source, God working mightily within him. We would do well to follow Paul’s example.

How does indwelling sin influence the Christian to sin?

Before we were saved, indwelling sin attracted our "old self" and found no resistance, it dominated our lives. Paul says we were slaves to sin. After accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, indwelling sin is still attractive to our flesh, but because our "new self" is empowered by Christ and draws its energy from Him, it resists. But our mind, which is now in the process of being renewed, doesn’t always make the best choice and sometimes yields to the flesh instead of the Spirit.

What is the cure for the adverse effects of indwelling sin in our lives?

The cure for experiencing the adverse effects of indwelling sin is to agree with God that what we are doing is sin, confess it as sin, change our mind by repenting and stay focused on Jesus…depending on Him alone to be our Life Source.

Let’s read Joshua 7:25: Joshua said, "I don’t know why you caused so much trouble for us, but now the Lord will bring trouble to you." Then all the people threw stones at Achan and his family until they died. Then the people burned them.

What does this Old Testament passage illustrate about the power of indwelling sin in a New Testament believer’s life?

It describes the sin of Achan and the method used to eliminate him and his family from the camp of Israel. McVey sees the relationship between Achan and Israel as an example of the relationship between indwelling sin and the believer, and draws a parallel between the ruthless approach used to eliminate Achan and the same ruthlessness that needs to be used in the Christian’s life to eliminate indwelling sin.

How is that done? By confession, repentance and fiercely trusting Jesus to put the cancer of indwelling sin into remission so that we can live in complete spiritual health and enjoy the abundant life He promised.

 

Next week we will see that God Has Finished Giving…we have everything He’s going to give us in Jesus.

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