Not So Famous…

I touched upon what I would like to talk about in the New Members class this last weekend, but I said something that struck a chord with me, and I’d like to tap it out a little bit.  See where I go.

We were discussing the Natural Man vs. the Regenerate Man.  For those who don’t know, the Natural Man is man without the Holy Spirit, or the non-Christian…Regenerate Man is man who has been born again…Christian Man.  Now, of course, I must interject that while I am using the masculine pronoun of “man”, I do, in fact, mean mankind.

Pastor had asked how two people could look at the same passage in Scripture and come up with multiple interpretations.  There are a couple possibilities here:

1. God and His Word is Flawed - God wants man to be confused. He really never intended to give us much in the way of answers with His Word.  He only wanted us to be asking more questions. - I don’t believe this possibility for a second.  We can see aspects of His nature from nature, and from nature, I can see that the God of the Bible is an orderly, logical God.  He does not thrive on chaos.  So I reject the possibility that He gave us the Scriptures merely to confuse us.
2. Man and his interpretation of the Word of God is flawed - Man fights against a sin nature. We war with the flesh.  The things of the flesh are diametrically opposed to the things of God, and the flesh wants us to ignore the Word entirely.  If it can’t get that, it wants us to wrest the Scriptures to our own destruction. - I am more inclined to agree with this view, as man is fallible…God is not.  It’s a simple choice between the two, really.

So, the discussion was talking about this war of the members, as Paul describes it. I had said something about natural man and how the natural man wants to twist and warp the Word of God so it can either mean what he wants it to mean, or else mean something so completely different from what God wanted it to mean that it’s not even resembling the original passage.

However, Pastor brought up a good point.  He noticed my use of the words “natural man”, and asked me if the regenerate man still had this desire to twist the Word of God.  I mentioned that Paul discusses this in Romans 7:14-24.

“For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

So, yes. Regenerate Man also has this desire, though it is a war with the Christian.  For the non-Christian, there may be a small war with their conscience…or tradition…or a fear of getting caught, but it’s nothing like what it is for the Christian.  While we are justified, and we are more and more sanctified each day, we still must fight against our natural inclinations.

This has really been brought to my mind the past few days, for some reason. I’ve been analyzing the thoughts that come to my mind of late, and I am ashamed.  For all that Christ has done for me, for all that I have a regenerate spirit, for all that I am a new creation, much of what my mind seems to want to dwell on is much akin to what I thought about when I was an unrepentant sinner.  Sure, I don’t DO all the things I’m thinking of, but what difference is it? Christ talked about the war being lost in the mind.  If someone thinks about murdering their brother, they might as well have done so for all the good that their physical abstaining from the act did them.  They are still guilty of the sin, unless they have been forgiven their sins.

With regards to those who, like me, have been forgiven their sins, doesn’t Christ deserve better than the filthiness that consumes your thoughts?  Doesn’t He deserve better than to have His children acting as through they were not indwelt by the Holy Spirit?  Shouldn’t we have the desire to do that which is good?  I find my desire to do that which is not good to be a far stronger pull than the desire to be at church.  Pastor talked much about how Sunday is a day of rest.  We should meditate on His Word…that should be our focus for the day.  What is your focus on Sundays? Do you spend the day trying to gratify your own pleasures?  Do you read the Word and pray together with your family? Maybe you do, and if so, that is awesome.  If you feel like it, post a comment on this blog that tells how your family spends the day on Sundays.  Let us know how you spend the day searching out what the Lord has told you through His Word.

I can say one thing: I need to do better.  Pray for me, won’t you? :)