|
The Opposition of the Natural 12//09/06 |
||
| Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires —Galatians 5:24 | ||
| The natural
life itself is not sinful. But we must abandon sin, having nothing to do
with it in any way whatsoever. Sin belongs to hell and to the devil. I, as a
child of God, belong to heaven and to God. It is not a question of giving up
sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence, and my
self-will. This is where the battle has to be fought. The things that are
right, noble, and good from the natural standpoint are the very things that
keep us from being God’s best. Once we come to understand that natural moral
excellence opposes or counteracts surrender to God, we bring our soul into
the center of its greatest battle. Very few of us would debate over what is
filthy, evil, and wrong, but we do debate over what is good. It is the good
that opposes the best. The higher up the scale of moral excellence a person
goes, the more intense the opposition to Jesus Christ. "Those who are
Christ’s have crucified the flesh . . . ." The cost to your natural life is
not just one or two things, but everything. Jesus said, "If anyone desires
to come after Me, let him deny himself. . ." ( Matthew 16:24 ). That is, he
must deny his right to himself, and he must realize who Jesus Christ is
before he will bring himself to do it. Beware of refusing to go to the
funeral of your own independence. The natural life is not spiritual, and it can be made spiritual only through sacrifice. If we do not purposely sacrifice the natural, the supernatural can never become natural to us. There is no high or easy road. Each of us has the means to accomplish it entirely in his own hands. It is not a question of praying, but of sacrificing, and thereby performing His will. |