Andrew Sisson
So many verses in 1 John point to a simple fact, “hereby we do know
that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. “(2:3) Yet so many
Christians live like they are doing their devotions in Romans 7. Doing
exactly what their body wants is normal to most–and what is worst is
that they don’t very often feel badly for it. Now I am not suggesting
that every Christian is going to appear perfect in every action and
attitude. But if we see things from God’s perspective (who knows our
hearts), are we daily doing things that we know are wrong? And if so,
who do we really believe in? I am speaking to the modern Christian.
Those who fit the statistic of 80-90% of Christian men use pornography
monthly. I know that in more conservative circles there is more
commitment to God as seen by how we are trying to raise our families.
But do we obey God? After all, all of us are the “Bride” of Christ,
and as such we should have marriages that are full of joy and good
fruit! We should be the hardest working people around. We should have
joy in our hearts that our children want to be part of.
How many commandments are there in the New Testament post resurrection?
Did you realize that most of them are simple commands like, “don’t
let sin rule over you” –which sound nothing like the 10
commandments! They imply that there is something in the believer that
causes them to obey. Similar to a young bride who wants to please her
husband, we Christians should willingly follow our God! It shouldn’t
be difficult for us to obey the commands of our God, and with joy! Here
is the interesting fact. God is a jealous God and doesn’t appreciate
it when we try to take his plan–His Word–and substitute for something
inferior. (This is the subject in Colossians 2). God has made it so
that it is difficult for us to obey Him unless we “walk after the
Spirit” (Romans 8:1). How so? Galatians 5. The works of the flesh
and the fruit of the Spirit. Verse 23 ends with “against such there is
no law”. That means there is no other law or way that can produce
these fruits. It is impossible for efforts in the flesh to yield any
fruits similar to that of a Christian who just loves God and follows
Him!