The War From Within

This morning, I sat down to write an article for this page. I had the best of intentions, for what I was writing was a message from the Lord. I had studied and prayed for the Spirit's guidance, and I was about half done when I realized that it wasn't right. I was writing a message from me, not the Lord. 

You see, born again Christians have two different natures that abide within us, the new nature that we recieved when we came to Christ, and the old nature that we never got rid of. That old nature will always remain with us, it is our sinful nature, and it will always be in conflict with the new nature of the Spirit. In Romans 7:15, Paul says, "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do."  The Spirit wills to do one thing, and the old nature,... another. Then beginning in verse 18, Paul says, " For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present within me, the one who wills to do good."

Paul learned two lessons during this struggle and these lessons are important for us to learn also. In the 18th verse, Paul learned that there was nothing good about the old nature, that it was sinful and always would be. He learned that he could not please God unless he was following the guidance of the Spirit. All of our good works are done in vain, unless they are done through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He also found that there was no power in the new nature. If our new nature had any power over sin, the christian should be sinless and this is not so. Our power must come from the Holy Spirit and by doing the will of God.  

This morning, I started out writing an article and Satan snuck in. The message that I wanted to write was not the one that God wanted at this time. My good work was just that,..., mine. God had something else in mind. At the Day of Judgement, our works will be tested by fire, we need to be careful that they don't get burned up. Just because we do what we think is good, doesn't mean that it is the will of God. Sometimes it is our will.