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How
to Live in a Rotten World
by
Mike Stine
According
to Greek myth, there was once a young woman named
Pandora who was both beautiful and deceitful.
She was taken into the household of Epimethus
where stood a large box.
Inside this box stood all of the evils of the
world. Despite
warnings, Epimethus left this woman into his
household. The
woman opened the box and left out all kinds of evils
upon the world. Thus
it was known as Pandora’s Box.
We
know that there are all sorts of evils in the world
today but they weren’t stored away in a box, hidden,
waiting for someone to leave them out.
The world is in its current state because of
rebellion against God.
Adam and Eve first sinned in the garden and the
world hasn’t been the same since.
Obviously.
This isn’t exactly news to anyone.
Sure there are a thousand different ideas as to
why the world is in the state that it’s in, but most
Christians don’t believe it’s getting better.
Some do believe that the world will continue to
get better until bring about the Millennial reign of
Christ, but I for one don’t see this happening.
I
don’t want to sound like a pessimist, but it
doesn’t take too long to come up with a rather long
list of things that are wrong in the world today.
Quite frankly, I don’t enjoy living in such a
world.
I was
talking to a number of people on the Internet last
week and everyone seemed to be having a rough week,
including myself.
The world can really drag you down.
If you think about it too long, it can really
start to become depressing.
What’s
worse, these very things that we see all about the
world, we struggle with doing ourselves.
Perhaps we aren’t killing people or stealing
things, I hope not at least, but if we hate somebody
we do the same thing as kill them.
That’s
not quite the point though. Whatever form it takes, we sin.
One sin is just as bad as any other because
they all separate us from God.
We see the world around us wallowing in sin and
on occasion it looks like they’re having a pretty
good time with it.
The guy next door is cheating on his wife but
they have two nice new cars, a huge house, and
you’re scraping by, hoping you have enough money to
pay the bills at the end of the month.
It
often seems unfair and you wonder if it’s worth it
at all to grit your teeth and bear it when you know
they laugh at you and your religion behind your back.
It’s
no wonder we fall into temptation.
And then there’s the sin nature within us as
well. It’s
as if we do things at times just because we know
they’re wrong.
Then eventually we feel guilty because our
conscience pricks us and we know that we’ve broken
God’s law once again.
It’s
hard to live in such a rotten world.
And it doesn’t help to know that things
aren’t going to become any easier for Christians
before Christ returns either.
So what do we do?
How do we live in a rotten world?
First
of all, we take comfort in knowing that we’re not
alone. You
and I are not the first Christians to struggle with
sin. The
apostle Paul struggled with this as well.
In
Romans 7:7-25 he tells us of his own struggle with
sin. Verses
21-25 I believe we can all identify with.
| So
I find this at work: When I want to do good,
evil is right there with me.
For in my inner being I delight in
God’s law; but I see another law at work in
the members of my body, waging war against the
law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the
law of sin at work within my members.
What a wretched man I am!
Who will rescue me from this body of
death? Thanks
be to God- through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave
to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a
slave to the law of sin. |
Paul
knew what was right, even more so than what we do
probably. He
had studied under Gamaliel, the premier Jewish teacher
of the day, still admired by the Jews to this day.
He knew all of the laws God had given inside
and out and he kept them.
But he still saw himself as struggling with
sin.
Even
when we know what is right, evil- the world, the
flesh, and the Devil - tries to get us to do wrong.
But there is an escape- God has rescued us from
sin. We have
been given a new nature.
This
new nature liberates us from the law which only lead
to death because it pointed out how sinful and
unworthy we were.
With this new nature we were given help.
The Holy Spirit, causes us to see all of the
sin around us and to yearn for a time when things are
made perfect. Romans
8:22-26 describes this.
| We
know that the whole creation has been groaning
as in the pains of childbirth right up to the
present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of
the Spirit, groan inwardly as we await the
redemption of our bodies.
For in this hope we were saved.
But hope that is seen is not hope at
all. Who
hopes for what he already has?
But if we hope for what we do not yet
have, we wait for it patiently.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in
our weakness.
We do not know what we ought to pray
for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us
with groans that words cannot express.
And he who searches our hearts knows
the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit
intercedes for the saints in accordance with
God’s will. |
Not
only do we look forward to a time when things are made
perfect, but all of creation groans for it.
Still, it is not here yet.
But we have hope that it will come and we wait
for it patiently.
In
the story of Pandora’s Box, the world is filled with
all kinds of evil things when the lid is opened.
What I didn’t mention was that inside of the
box still, after all the other bad things had flew
out, lie hope. In
the midst of all kinds of evil, hope is the only thing
that we can cling to.
We
place our hope in the fact that one day Jesus will
return and will make all things perfect.
Until that time, we must simply wait patiently,
enduring all things because we have to.
So
what do we do while we wait? First, we press on toward the goal. We must keep on keeping on as the old saying goes.
Once again, Paul has something to say about
this. In
Philippians 3:12-14 he tells us of his striving toward
the goal.
| Not
that I have already obtained all of this, or
have already been made perfect, but I press on
to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus
took hold of me.
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet
to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining
toward what is ahead, I press on toward the
goal to win the prize for which God has
called. |
And
what is the goal?
Paul describes it in 3:20-4:1
| But
our citizenship is in heaven.
And we eagerly await a Savior from
there, Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power
that enables him to bring everything under his
control, will transform our lowly bodies to
that they will be like his glorious body.
Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love
and long for, my joy and crown, that is how
you should stand firm in the Lord, dear
friends! |
Our
citizenship is in heaven and we ought not forget this.
We still live on this world but we are not part
of it. We
are independent of it but are simply living here until
we are called home.
In the spirit of our nation’s 225th
anniversary of its freedom, I wrote our own
declaration of independence from the world, which
plagues us, so often.
|
When
in the course of human events it becomes
necessary to separate ourselves from humanity
and the sinfulness that pervades it so, a God
given conscience and the Holy Spirit call us
to action.
We
hold these truths to be self evident, that God
in six days created the heavens and the earth
and all that are in them, that all of nature
bears witness to Him so that all are held
accountable, that the fall of man sent the
world into sin, that God sent His son to
redeem his children, through Jesus Christ we
may reestablish the relationship with God that
was originally intended for man in the garden
of Eden.
To
secure these rights we need simply call upon
the name of Jesus and ask forgiveness for our
iniquities and transgressions.
When we find the world bearing down
upon us we are called to battle and to equip
ourselves with the full armor of God.
We are to place upon ourselves the belt
of truth around our waist, the breastplate of
righteousness, our feet fitted with the gospel
of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of
salvation, and carry the sword of the spirit,
which is the word of God. It is right for us, as citizens not of this world, but of a
heavenly kingdom, to do so.
Whenever
the prince of this dark world becomes
destructive, as he has already proven himself
to be so, it is our duty to separate ourselves
from him and declare ourselves an independent
nation, a kingdom of priests, citizens of a
heavenly kingdom.
Satan,
the current ruler of this world, has shown
many grievances against us and we do so list
them that all may know why we leave this world
behind. He
has murdered our brethren in the nations of
this world yearning for the light of the
gospel and killed our missionaries.
He has killed the unborn children,
still in the womb, having not a chance at
life. He
has invaded governments across the world and
kept godly men and women from public office. He has shut the door to prayer in schools and caused
evolution to be taught in place of the truth.
He has invaded our churches, leading
many astray with ideas of a one world religion
and more than one way to heaven.
He has lied to us in all areas of life,
always trying to get us to reject the truth.
He has lead our children away in
rebelliousness, seducing them with drugs and
sex. He has destroyed our families, breaking up marriages pledged
before God as a commitment that would allow no
man to separate.
He has filled our mind with
philosophies that deny the existence of God.
And he has mocked God and attempted to
place himself in a higher position than God
himself.
For
these reasons, we declare ourselves
independent from this world.
We will fight Satan, knowing that he
will not allow us to leave without a fight.
We will call upon God for strength.
We WILL be victorious for we know
already who will win this battle.
Satan’s time is short and his sole
desire is to drag as many of us to hell as he
can. We
will not allow this.
For we are blood bought and sanctified
by the blood of Jesus Christ.
For
these reasons, we claim our independence and
look forward to the coming kingdom of our Lord
Jesus Christ, which he has gone ahead of us to
prepare. |
So we
are not a part of this world.
We have our hope in heaven, which we are still
hoping for. And
we are waiting patiently.
We press onward toward our goal.
How do we do this?
There are many things involved so I’ll just
hit on a few of them.
The
first I just mentioned.
We must put on the full armor of God.
If we are going to be forced to live in this
world, we’re going to do combat against it instead
of siding with it.
Fully prepared for battle, we go out into the
world. Then
we must live holy lives.
Paul
outlines rules for holy living in the book of
Colossians. All
of chapter three has rules to live by but I’ll
concentrate on the first part, verses 1-10.
| Since,
then, you have been raised with Christ, set
your hearts on things above, where Christ is
seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above, not on
earthly things.
For you died, and your life is now
hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life, appears,
then you also will appear with him in glory. |
We
are told to set our hearts on things above.
Our concentration should be on the fact that
this life that we now live is but a blink of the eye
in comparison to eternity.
We live for God while we are here on earth.
We should be living as though we will be called
home to be with God at any time.
But
there are also things we are told to rid ourselves of.
| Put
to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your
earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity,
lust, evil desires and greed, which is
idolatry.
Because of these, the wrath of God is
coming. You
used to walk in these ways, in the life you
once lived.
But now you must rid yourselves of all
such things as these: anger, rage, malice,
slander, and filthy language from your lips.
Do not lie to each other, since you
have taken off your old self with its
practices and have put on the new self, which
is being renewed in knowledge in the image of
its Creator. |
These
are all things of our old nature which we must rid
ourselves of. To
do so isn’t easy and there is no easy step by step
process to do it. We must put on the new self.
God is constantly renewing our new self in
knowledge. This
means that we are striving to learn more about God
through Bible study and prayer.
Romans 12:2 speaks of being transformed by the
renewing of our minds.
This is the same process here.
As we
learn more about God and draw closer to him, we find
that we don’t want to have to do with things of our
old nature. There
isn’t a day when you suddenly realize that, “Oh,
I’ve decided to stop angry because the Bible says
not to.” This
is simply something that happens gradually over a
period of time.
There
are also things that we should do if we desire to live
apart from the rotten world we are in.
We must live by the spirit.
Galatians, (yes, another book by Paul) 5:16-25
tells us how to live life by the Spirit of God.
| So
I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not
gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
For the sinful nature desires what is
contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is
contrary to the sinful nature.
They are in conflict with each other,
so that you do not do what you want.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you
are not under the law. |
This
is more of the same of what we have looked at.
We are no longer under the law but have been
set free from it because we are led by the Holy
Spirit. The
sinful nature and the Spirit are in conflict with one
another. We
must surrender ourselves to one or the other.
We struggle with this so much because we like
to have control of ourselves.
The truth of the matter is that we either are
controlled by the sinful nature or we’re controlled
by the Spirit. When
we’re controlled by our sinful desires, we’re
deceived into thinking that we are truly in control of
ourselves. In
reality, we’re slaves to sin or we’re slaves to
righteousness.
| The
acts of the sinful nature 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. |
This
list is similar to the list in Colossians that we
looked at. There
are some new additions here but the strategy to defeat
them is the same. We must renew our minds and draw closer to God.
The closer to go to God, the further we are
from these things.
Here’s
what we need to do though. We must be full of the Spirit.
| But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control.
Against such things there is no law.
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. |
This
is the way that we will draw closer to God.
Once again, it’s a process that takes time.
When we are filled with the fruits of the
spirit, there is no room for the acts of the sinful
nature. We
can only go in one direction at once.
Since the Spirit does what is contrary to what
the sinful nature does, if we live by the Spirit, we
won’t follow the sinful nature.
This list of nine points is how to live by the
Spirit.
So
does Paul hold to this his entire life?
We looked at how he struggled with sin earlier
on. Since
everything we’ve looked at has been by Paul, let’s
see how all of this worked in his life.
In 2
Timothy, Paul is at the end of his life.
He is sitting in a Roman prison after being
released once before.
He knows that his time is short and that the
Lord is soon going to call him home.
His writes to his young student Timothy.
The beginning of chapter three describes
godlessness in the last days; a description that
sounds very much like that of today.
Then in verses 11-15 he charges Timothy and
tells him how to live a godly life.
| In
fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life
in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil
men and impostors will go from bad to worse,
deceiving and being deceived.
But as for you, continue in what you
have learned and have become convinced of,
because you know those from whom you learned
it, and how from infancy you have known the
holy Scriptures, which are able to make you
wise for salvation through faith in Christ
Jesus. |
Paul’s
charge to Timothy is to hold to the scriptures, which
he knows is truth.
When we are grounded in the truth we won’t be
able to be deceived by the lies the Devil throws at
us. When
he finds that we are new creatures, he will attack the
truth that has set us free.
When he finds that this doesn’t work either,
ultimately there will be persecution.
But we should actually rejoice in the
persecution because it can be proof that we are living
godly lives, just as Paul says that everyone who wants
to live godly lives will be persecuted.
So
how does Paul fare in his own battle with sin?
He tells us in his own words.
2
Timothy 4:7-8: “I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Now there is in store for the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will award to me on that day- and not only to me, but
also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
Paul,
like we, lived in a rotten world.
There are new ways to sin today, but the
problems are really the same.
In the end, Paul lost his life to a rotten
world that didn’t want to hear his message.
We
have the same hope that Paul had.
We are citizens of a heavenly kingdom and not
of an earthly habitat.
We have left this world and are simply aliens
among its inhabitants.
The old, sinful nature will try to hold us back
as it is at war with our new nature.
We must put to death the things of the old
nature though. This
can be done through the renewing of our minds and
drawing close to God.
As
the Spirit and the sinful nature are at war, if we
fill ourselves with the fruit of the Spirit, there is
no room for things of the sinful nature.
When Satan finds that finds that we are new
creatures he will attack the truth that made us new.
We must be grounded in scripture to defend
these attacks. And
ultimately, when all else fails, Satan will persecute
us. But
we need not worry.
This rotten world is not our home.
We are citizens of a heavenly kingdom.
One day we will be with Him in it.
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