“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25-26, New International Version)
I’m only human …
I suppose that is the universal excuse, the failure loop-hole, the accompaniment to an empty apology, and the the imaginary weight that Christ-followers labor beneath.
Hold it! Imaginary? No, you didn’t read that wrong. Our “humanity” is not an impediment to following Christ. The problem in that phrase is the word “only.”
The logical conclusion of that kind of thinking: God made me flawed and I am therefore destined to belly-crawl through life offering one apology after another until God fixes me when I die.
Read those words of Paul again this way:
Those who belong to Christ HAVE CRUCIFIED (not “are working really hard to crucify”) the sinful nature with its passions and desires. SINCE WE LIVE (because we have been made alive) by the Spirit, LET US (we can choose to) keep in step with the Spirit.
We can also choose to keep digging up that which has been crucified and buried, but we are not destined for that.
Nothing about how God made you should be described with the word “only.”
Question: What other concepts besides “only” can be a hindrance to our keeping in step with God?
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