https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/05/grace-and-change
As Christians, we are familiar with Paul’s writing to the church in Rome – that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, to be received by faith (Romans 3:23-26). It speaks of the original sin by Adam that has plaqued humankind since the beginning of time and was only overcome by the death and resurrection of Christ in Calvary. The original sin also led to mankind having the nature of sin.
In Ecclesiastes, Solomon declared that the LORD has put eternity in our hearts, and as we can see from Genesis, when God created man, He created us in His image. Thus, we are, in essence, spiritual beings, although in the natural, we are physical beings. Our physical bodies may die and return to earth, but our spirits live on and return to God until the day of Christ when all will be judged.
Due to the nature of sin in us, we have a natural inclination to sin or or to go against or rebel against God. However, once we are born again, having accepted Jesus in our lives, our spirit has awakened, and as Paul puts it, we have a new self, we are a new creation in Christ. With God living in us and with our new self, we will now be able to overcome our human self who was born with the tendency to sin or go against God.
There is no doubt that the Lord will accept us no matter how wretched we have been, as illustrated by the story of Moses in today’s ODB. And even if we had known Christ and had turned away from God, but if we repent and return to Him, He will accept us with open hearts as illustrated by the parable of the Prodigal Son. The God we know is a God of second and third and fourth chances.
However, I do not think that as believers, we can continue to sin and yet remain in the faith. This is because essentially sinning is going against God, and thus, how can we continue to be rebellious against God if Christ is our Lord and lives in us? Moreover, with the power of the Holy Spirit available to us, we will surely be overcomers! Our old and carnal nature has passed away. We are a new creation in Christ! As we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, we will surely be transformed into the image of Christ that Christ wants us to be! Be that person whom God had prepared and planned for us even before the foundations of the earth!
Ronnie's Thoughts 