Saved and sinning?

In the beginning of time, there was Adam and Eve (I'm pretty sure most of you heard of this story). God spoke to Adam and told Him as the garden keeper, to eat free any tree except for the tree of life. So, Adam did as He was told....However, the story doesn't that perfectly. Adam had a wife named Eve and she was tempted to eat the fruit by a serpent (the most cunning beast of the field) said to her, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'? " Eve replied to him saying, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the Garden, and you must not touch it or you will die.' " So as being the cunning beast he is, the snake unsurprisingly says, "You will not certainly die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." eventually Eve fell for his schemes and ate the fruit, when she realized that the fruit was good for food and pleasing to the eye. See when studying this excerpt from the bible (Genesis 3), we realize why the the serpent, (also known as Satan or the devil) is considered cunning. Since the beginning of time he has robbed Gods children of holiness . He presented falsehood and deceived them stating, "you will not certainly die." The death God referred to was not a physical one it was a spiritual one. The serpent knew that if he could only get Gods people to be disobedient then they would die spiritually, which leads to never receiving eternal life with God. The enemy has "Do what thou wilt" mentality and that exactly is how he is deceiving many children of God today. influencing them think that doing whatever they wanted would not lead to a spiritual death and eternal damnation. He does this music, social media, television, books, rising sub cultures, etc.

So,  when was the last time you have been disobedient to the Lords Word because of something that was "pleasing to the eye". Well, i'm here to tell you that it is not by mistake.  It has been a deceitful trick of the enemy for a very long time; placing Gods people in a state of paralysis, disabling them from growing in the body of Christ. This is why the church has become weak and watered down today, because many are falling for the trick of disobedience and not being fully surrendered to God, whether it be intentionally or unintentionally. Whatever the enemy can do to throw you of course, that's exactly what he's going to do.  1 John 2; 15-16 tells us, "Do not love the world or the things in the world, if anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world is - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - which is not of the father but of the world." The Greek dictionary defines lust as a strong desire, it doesn't necessarily always have to be in a sexual context.

Lust of the flesh refers to the temptation of physical pleasure from some sinful activity. To do something to make the flesh feel satisfied. It can include many types of sinful activity that will bring pleasure to the body. (ex. Sex, Drug, Alcohol, Violence, etc) 

Lust of the eye is the temptation to cast our eyes upon something with desire or pleasure, even though God has told us not to look upon those things (Eve in the Garden). The sin of coveting is a good example of this, which basically means to yearn to posses. ( ex. Pornography, lusting for others, status, material possessions, appearance,etc.) When we covet we are succumbing to the lust of the eyes, which opens the door to sin. We should never desire things more than we want God. 

Pride of life is a sinful temptation for a surplus of greatness or power that one may feel tempted to attain. (ex. wanting glory, desiring power over people, feeling valued more than others,etc)

It's important for us as followers of Christ and those with a desire, to understand the significance of those three sins. As children of God we have been bullied by the enemy into situations that lead us down the path of temptation and into the door of sinning against God. One excuse I always hear is, "well nobodies perfect", "we're all human", "Jesus died for my sins, so i'm always saved".  See the thing that Christians, followers of Christ, need to understand is that Jesus did not die for you to continue in sin. He died so that you may have ever lasting life, through the death of your sins. Which means that, His blood not only washes away our sins after repentance but He has given us the KEY for strength to fight against temptation and to gain deliverance. That key is the Holy Spirit. The bible tells us that there is no temptation uncommon to man, when you are tempted, God is faithful and will provide an escape (paraphrased 1 Corinthians 10:13). See, for so long we have been settling for the excuses of "just being human" or "never being perfect" but that excuse is not valid because God has proven Himself to humanity many times and even by the creation of Life. He has set in stone His commandments and expectations. There is no reason we should continuously living in disobedience.

 Sin, simply means to miss the mark. So, its one thing to commit a sin and miss the mark. However, it's a completely different story when there is a continuation of missing the mark and living a lifestyle in sin. This then is when people begin to deny the power of God by thinking, "I'm only human". Instead of believing that we can be changed, healed, delivered, and set free.  We are shown on multiple accounts throughout the bible, stories of the Lord saving and transforming individuals from past sin. It is not possible, in my opinion, to be a Christian and live a life full of sin. Why? Well because to be a Christian simply means to be a follower of Christ, and when we follow Him, the Fruits of the Spirit should follow that. The fruits of the spirit is, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Now one may not posses all of these qualities but it should be the main objective to work towards them daily (Luke 9:23). We should not dismiss the Holy Spirit by thinking that we can be saved and sinning, it just doesn't make sense. If we are living a life of sin, what are we saved from?? Nothing. To be saved is to be set free of our sinful ways = salvation. The Lord Jesus told us that if any one wants to receive eternal life with Him, let one deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Him. For whoever desires to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for His sake will find it.  It's important to know this key factor, that we are to deny our flesh and walk by the spirit of the Lord daily. In order to do that, we must be baptized with the Holy Spirit, so transformed by a renewing in our minds. We must also trust the power of God to deliver us and help us escape sin and temptations. 

Therefore,  the act of kindness Jesus showed by dying on the cross  is not extending the invitation to continue in your mess but to lead you to repentance. "Just because grace may abound shall we continue in sin? Surely not" ( Romans 6:1). See the thing is God loves us so very much, that He was willing to become flesh and bear OUR sins on the cross for us.  That we may look to Him in the time of need and be delivered. Unfortunately today, many churches have fallen short of keeping His commandments because they don't teach people to walk in the spirit anymore. They are not exemplifying the power of Christ through the laying of hands for deliverance and healing. They are more focused on entertainment and numbers. Some barely even teach repentance and this is a huge issue in the body of Christ. The enemy has infiltrated, again, the body of Christ by manipulating church into believing that they can be saved and sinning. Or that going to church is all you need for salvation. Well, no, it's a lifestyle that continues after Sunday. In order to be successors in Christ we MUST follow His ways because the Word says not everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved but only the one that does the will of the Father. God is looking for people that are willing to step out of their lives of iniquity and walk into a life full of spiritual riches and glories with Him. Jesus intercedes at the right hand of the Father for us, hoping and praying that none of us will perish from sin. 

If your reading this and it truly speaks to you, then God is calling you to draw near to Him. To take a hold of His garment with faith and be healed. To walk with power and dominion over your flesh. He is calling you to rise up amongst your peers and be the one unafraid to change, the one who is willing to live for Him. Then you will become His hands and feet on Earth to Help others to do the same. 

Once you truly taste and see that the Lord is good, you will always desire that plate. Once you surrender to Him and experience His presence, you will no longer desire the things of the world. The Holy Spirit will begin to change your mind and attitude on things, you will become different. You just have to submit to His way, and I promise it is the best way! 

I hope this blog post has given you more insight on what the Lord expects from you. Not that you may live a life of boredom, but freedom, from sin. The Lord is calling you into repentance, will you answer?

I love you all, God bless.

(greek word) Metanoia: result of repentance, a change of mind, change in the inner man.

Galatians 5:13-26
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.  For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions  and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited,provoking and envying each other.

Revelation 3:21 

"To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne."