We Have New Desires!
Some people think that being a Christian means to constantly restrain oneself from his true desires. This is untrue.
As a new creation in Christ, we have been born-again with a new spirit that has new desires—instead of craving sin, it thirsts for righteousness.
So our spirit’s desires are to do good works and spend time in the presence of God who loves us so much—and we are free to do exactly that.
Then you may ask, “Hey but I still feel tempted to sin. I don’t feel like I have new desires. How come?”
“For I delight in God’s law after the inward man, but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death?” (Romans 7:22-24 WEB)
Those sinful desires are actually not from you, but from the body of sinful flesh you’re still living in.
You have to learn to make a distinction between you (the spirit) and your temporary house (the mortal body).
When the Rapture happens, you’ll receive a brand-new glorified body that reflects the new righteous spirit you are.
At that time, you’ll never feel tempted to sin anymore.
“For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:14 WEB)
Under Grace, if you want to know your true desires, you have to keep hearing the Gospel and learning about who you are in Christ and what benefits/inheritances you have.
You still feel the same as when you were in Adam because it takes time for the Holy Spirit to transform you as you receive and believe the Gospel.
The more you consistently receive the word, the more you will be empowered to make a distinction between the true you (spirit) and the flesh (body).
You’ll receive the power to bring your flesh to submission to the true desires of your spirit.
Yes, as believers we are free to do anything we want without the threat of eternal condemnation, it’s true.
Everything is permissible, but not everything builds up.
Even though we can do anything without fearing God’s judicial punishment, our spirit’s desire is to walk in love.
““For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days,” says the Lord; “I will put my laws into their mind, I will also write them on their heart. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Hebrews 8:10 WEB)
The Holy Spirit has written God’s royal law of love and freedom in our spirit’s mind and heart:
1) Believe in Jesus whom the Father has sent.
2) Love one another as Christ has loved you.
These are our true new desires. If you will listen past the noise of the flesh, you will hear the still-small voice of the spirit yearning to express the love it has already received from God through Jesus’ finished work at the cross.
The Gospel is a revelation of how much God loves us. To be able to express love, we need to ‘fill up our tank’ with the consciousness of how much we’re loved.
Out of that fresh revelation, we are able to act on our true desires: to have faith in Jesus at all times and to love one another just as Jesus loved us at the cross.
Brethren, keep feeding on His love and you’ll even be able to love your enemies the way Jesus blessed those who cursed Him.
Sin has no dominion over you child of God (the spirit) because you’re not under the Law—you’re under Grace.
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