SWEET SPRAY SOCIETY

Most of us have seen the ads on TV for a spray that “washes” your rooms and “washes away odors” by merely spraying from a can or bottle.

In reality, it doesn’t wash anything away….it covers up ugliness and germs with fragrant water.   What happens when the fragrance dissipates? The germs and odors are still there, and rule once again.

This is what our society, and, yes, the Church also, in many cases, is doing.

Many pastors are so busy making their church and their doctrine look good to the community, and sound good to everyone, that they are covering up the sin and ugliness with fragrant side-issues.

We, as individual Believers, in our flesh, will want to cover up our personal sins also. But, that is not what the Word teaches.

Our Lord promised that Believers’ sins will be forgiven when we repent and change our behavior….clean up, not cover up. The word “repent” means to change direction, to turn around. This isn’t just words, this is a lifestyle change, a heart change, a focus of mind change.  This is true of public officials, and church leaders, as well as individuals.

Some churches, on the contrary, teach that once we were forgiven at the moment of our salvation, we are forgiven for all future sins without repentance. Just remember the fragrant can of water every time you sin, and never have to repent again!!!! How seemingly wonderful!!!

But the fact is that we still need to repent of sins committed after salvation. Paul was writing to believers in Rome when he said this: Romans 3:25 “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins THAT ARE PAST, through the forbearance of God;” (emphasis mine)

God cannot and will not forgive sins that might be committed in the future, which we deliberately commit with full knowledge. We need to stay in a state of repentance after salvation, clinging to Our Lord, for forgiveness, protection, wisdom, guidance, strength, and to feel and understand His Great Love for us!!!

Isaiah 1:18  “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Reasoning with God—speaking your heart)

James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (Remember, this was written to believers)

Psalm 32:5 “I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.–David

Proverbs 28:13 “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Luke 13:3 “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. (Remember, also, this was spoken to Jesus’ disciples, not unbelievers.)

In Romans, chapters 7 and 8, we see the picture of sin, the law, and Grace. 8:1 tells us that “There is therefore now no condemnation to them WHICH ARE IN CHRIST JESUS, WHO WALK NOT AFTER THE FLESH, BUT AFTER THE SPIRIT.”(emphasis mine) Many Christians, and many pastors in preaching, will stop the quote after “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus”, or if they quote it in its entirety, they fail to address the latter part—merely, (and falsely) assuming that all that are saved, are walking after the spirit.

How are we “in” Christ Jesus? What constitutes being “in” Him? Is it saying a prayer of repentance once at a revival meeting? Is it attending services and prayer meetings regularly? Is it reading the Word often? It could include these things, but not exclusively. The criteria is to “walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit”.

Walking after the spirit means we don’t want our own desires, we only want the will of God for ourselves and others. This will show up in the other things we do as followers of Christ. In prayer meetings, do we just pray for what the person wants, or do we pray for the will of God to be given the freedom to bring about His Perfect Will in that person’s life without hindrances?

In our own lives, do we make a decision, then pray for God to bless it? Or do we “walk in the spirit” and pray privately BEFORE we make the decision and pray for humility and wisdom, for His will to be done, even if its contrary to ours?

Have we made the decision to agree with Our Lord no matter what? Amos 3:3 Tells us that agreement is necessary in order to “walk” together, and the Word commands us to “Walk in the Spirit”…Amos 3:3 says, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”. So, even if our sinful minds and bodies say differently, we need to decide for God’s will in every detail of our lives and those of our loved ones.

We need to determine to walk in the direction Our Lord leads us, just as Jesus determinedly set his face to go to Jerusalem, and, even though it seemed unwise to his disciples, He wouldn’t waiver, because He knew the time was right for His crucifixion….he had been in contact, privately, with His Father, so He walked on this earth as one with Him. If we don’t feel in agreement with His will, we should be honest and tell Him so, asking Him to help us to be in agreement. We need to put our will under His will, and allow Him to make our minds and feelings follow.

Luke 9:51 “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,”

Walking in the Spirit means that we seek the Mind of Christ that we were given by the Holy Spirit at our Salvation. 1 Corinthians 2:16

“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” We have the All knowing God in our spirits, so we can be guided all the time, as long as we are focusing on Him even as we go about our daily routine.

James speaks of the conditions of receiving Wisdom from God—James 1:5-8 says: ” If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

This doesn’t mean to have faith in receiving the gift, it means to have faith and confidence in God, and desiring His will in everything, so that the wisdom that we are asking for is HIS wisdom, and not waivering in our desire to follow that wisdom no matter what it means that we have to go through. God won’t waste wisdom, or any other virtue on someone who will toss it aside at the first sign of discomfort, or the first encounter of someone saying it sounds foolish.

All of the promises of God are hinged on this one thing: TOTAL OBEDIENT DEVOTION AND TOTAL COMMITMENT TO, AND RELIANCE UPON, OUR LORD AND HIS WILL IN OUR LIVES TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY

We are to be One with Him, as Jesus prayed for us in John chapter 17:

“20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”

Being one with Him, it would follow that our conversation would be with Our Lord all day, conversing with Him, thanking Him, praising Him, in trivial as well as important matters, either spiritual or material in nature. Not only would our conversation be pure, as many verses of the Word expound, but it would be directed to the Lord in casual prayer and conversation.

Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

Psalm 50:23 “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.”

Ephesians 4:22 “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;”

So, the forgiveness of sins after salvation involves much more than “spraying” with partial verses of God’s Word, taken out of the full context of the entire Word of God.

Our Wonderful, All-Wise God has a fantastic plan!!!! Instead of the “spray once”

method, where the cover-up wears off, and we are as dirty and full of germs as we ever were, causing us to lose our connection with Our Lord, and slip into further sin, His plan keeps us clean, so the smell doesn’t have to be covered up!!! In addition, we have the self-esteem that everyone is seeking these days, but seeking in the wrong way. God’s way is a win-win!

In His plan, in that He knows we have a human nature that will cause us to sin even after we’re saved, He continued the offer of forgiveness for the rest of our earthly life. This way, we will need to go directly to Our Lord Jesus Christ to obtain that forgiveness, and become “every whit clean” as He told Peter concerning washing his feet. (John 13:6-12) But, we must go to Him and confess, even though He already knows our sins.

The Word says that after Salvation we don’t live for sin, (Romans 6:10) but that doesn’t mean that we don’t still sin. We are still in the flesh, and we must keep that temple (our bodies) clean.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

The “Me first” society that we live in, teaches us that if we “love ourselves, we can love others”.  That way, we can do things for others, feel good about ourselves, and push those sins farther and farther down, where we, nor anyone else will see them. This is just another smelly water spray manufactured and pressurized by the devil to draw us farther from Our Lord.   If “Me First” were true, then 1 Corinthians chapter 13 (the “love” chapter) would tell us that. It doesn’t. Instead, it shows us that love focuses on others and on the Lord.

We are also told to esteem others as better than ourselves in Philippians 2:3 “ Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”

–This is just the opposite of what society tells us. What does that say about the origin of society’s ideas?

Published by liveinthelightofourlord

View all posts by liveinthelightofourlord