Welcome back to Part 4 in the Identity Series. This post in on the subject of how we as Christians are to be different from the world, and stand out from the crowd. We’ll talk about how this can help us follow God’s direction.
The Bible says that we are not to ”copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2 Let’s break that down a little.
First, in the context of our conversation of Identity and purpose, what might it mean to not copy the behaviors of the world? Since we are talking about the specific scenario of following God’s plan for our life, I will focus on that area of the world. The world plans their own lives, they make plans for their future. They organize their own steps with no care for what God might have to say about it. They go along with the flow of everyone else. Society says alcohol, sex outside of marriage, lying and cheating, wild parties, and changing your identity are all good things but the Bible says:
“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21
You might be thinking, well now wait a second, what does that have to do with following God’s plan for our life? Well, when we follow the customs of the world, we are telling God that we are not interested in His desire for us but rather more interested in our selfish desires. We are turning away from His picture for our lives and imitating the ways of the flesh. That is what it means to copy the behaviors of the world.
Next the passage says “let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” In this context we might conclude that letting God transform you by changing the way you think can mean, rather than doing as the world does with planning their own steps, you allow God to influence your steps and you rely on him for your plans. After all the scriptures do say,
“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” Proverbs 16:9
and
‘“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord . “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. ‘ Isaiah 55:8-9
So naturally we can conclude that God has a better idea for our life than we do, so why on earth would we try to fight His plan? Besides, there are many blessings that come from following God’s plan over ours, when you set aside the desires of the flesh and look towards things of the Spirit to manifest in your life.
What are things of the Spirit? We just read a few grim looking verses in Galatians 5, but let’s look at the next few verses in that chapter;
“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”Galatians 5:22-23
So when we allow God to direct our steps and lead our lives, the fruits of the Spirit become the outcome of our steps. We overflow with the fruits of the Spirit. They are simply a by-product of allowing God to have control of our life.
Third, the passage in Romans says that once you have allowed God to transform you into a new person and change the way you think, “Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” So unlike the world, we now have direction and meaning in our life. We have a purpose for being here and living. Our lives are no longer a meaningless happenstance in the void of time. So then, it is our responsibility to own the fact that we are loved and called according to God’s purpose. Galatians 5 concludes with a summary of the outcome of a Spirit led life:
“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”Galatians 5:24-26
We have nailed the passions and desires of our sinful flesh to the cross and crucified them, we are following the leading of the Spirit in EVERY part of our lives. We are not to allow that sinful flesh a stronghold in our lives because as soon as we do, doubt creeps in and causes us to second guess our identity in Christ. What does the bible say about his concept?
“throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” Ephesians 4:22-24
Repentance does not mean saying “I’m sorry” and continuing to sin. Paul touches on this a lot but let’s read a couple other passages that talk about this idea.
“But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching. Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” Revelation 2:14-16
“People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.” Proverbs 28:13
Because confessing your sins but not turning away from them is completely pointless. In these passages are just two out of several scriptures that say you will not have eternal life if you continue to sin. Therefore claiming to be a Christian and continuing in sin is by definition not a Christian. Likewise being a Christian and justifying someone else’s sin and accepting it as good and right, is absolutely wrong.
Once upon a time there was a teacher and her student of about 10 years old. One day the teacher caught the boy cheating on his homework. She called him out and he said he was sorry so she forgave him. Yet he continued to cheat, repeatedly, every time he cheated, he would come to her and confess that he cheated again and she would forgive him. Would you consider this boy to be truly repentant of his wrongdoing, or just taking advantage of the grace of the teacher? At what point would it be acceptable for the teacher to inflict punishment? Is there any point to punishment, because the student repented every time, clearly he knew it was wrong. Should the teacher continue to forgive him? Most of us would say that the teacher should not tolerate this type of behavior because clearly the boy is not sorry otherwise he would change his ways, right?
Let’s see what Paul has to say about this type of behavior:
“Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” Romans 6:1-4
So there you have it, we are to live a life that is free from the power of sin. That means we can’t continue to willfully live in sin while claiming to be a Christian. Because claiming to be a Christian means you are striving to live a blameless life. Does that mean we will never make a mistake, no, it means we are repentant when we mess up and we “strive” to do what is right. We are not perfect because we are human. But we are called to stand out from the crowd and be truly different, so that God can reveal His plan for you in your life.
Deep Thoughts With Nakia 