Galatians 6:7-8
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
Introduction:
Spiritual warfare is a fact of Christian life. Unfortunately, many Christians are unaware of the insidious nature of their enemy’s attacks. Only 50% or ordained Christian clergy believe that the devil is a real spiritual being. Evangelicals are unanimous about believing that the devil is a real spiritual being, but only 26% of non-evangelical born-again Christians and 15% of notional Christians believe the devil is a real spiritual being. More people believe in angels than demons.
Most people attribute much of the evil the devil is covertly orchestrating through human agents (pawns), to bad luck, to karma, to bad breaks. And when bad things happen they often call them “Acts of God” (hurricanes, tornados, floods, and earthquakes) supposing that God made them happen for some reason. When things go wrong in many peoples’ lives they blame others, rather than recognizing that what got them in trouble was actually their spiritual blindness, sinful attitudes, anger, addictions, reactions or similar human failings.
Theologians call this the “Human Condition.”Bluntly, it’s our sin nature.
As Paul tells us candidly in Romans 7:14-20, “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”
What does this passage say to you?
What trips you up most often?
How are you dealing with it?
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