The Truth About Lies (Temptation)Sýnishorn

Of Duty and Delight

You have heard, I’m sure, of the fruit tree metaphor to describe the difference between Gospel Christianity and religiosity. A person trying to “make themselves good” (religiosity) is like someone gluing apples to a dead tree. It’s only a superficial surface level change. Now, this does not mean that we shouldn’t preach against sin, for this is how we come under conviction. But the only solution for our sins and the only power to fight them in daily life comes from Jesus Himself. There is no death to sin without the death of Christ. He makes the tree good and produces fruit through us. There is new life, new power, new desires, new ability!

You are not on your own. And though we need to hear warnings, we are not to live in fear. The responsibility to kill sin doesn’t mean that we are not secure in our salvation, it’s actually the reverse. The responsibility to kill is the fruit of our salvation. This is what we need to take to heart as we face daily temptation.

On the one hand, killing sin is a necessity, not an option. It’s the evidence that we truly are born again and changed by Jesus. But on the other hand we must clearly state that killing sin is the result of our justification, not the cause of it. Jesus never tells us to get our act together on our own, then come to him when we have done so. That is not the message of the gospel. Rather, through faith in Him we are made right before God and receive new power for a new life on our way to glory. That which condemned me, that which drug me to death, that which drug me into condemnation, I will be a part of no more. And, by the Spirit, they will be removed. This means that facing temptation and killing sin can actually be done with Joy.

Isn’t that masochism? No, it’s the kind of joy you have when you are tending a garden, removing the weeds that kill in order for fruit to thrive. Our life is like a garden, and the divine gardener has come in to our lives to bring forth incredible fruit, and this means killing off that which kills. Each time we put sin to death, we do so in pursuit of life. Overcoming temptation is not the ultimate goal, but a necessary part of the journey on our way to the goal; becoming more like Christ.

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