His Workmanship Not Ours

Christ said the desire to sin is enough to send someone to hell, even if they do not actually commit the sin. Its the sinful nature that has to be dealt with, not merely the act of sinning.

James 2:10-20
"10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all."

Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"

Jeremiah 17:9
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"

Galatians 5:17
"For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do."

Galatians 5:19-21
"Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."

If someone never carries out sexual immorality but wishes they could, they have done it in their heart, God counts it as committing the sin.

The only escape from the flesh is through Jesus Christ. He makes the born again believer into a new creation who no longer desires the evil they used to love. If they are tempted they hate it, if they fall they confess to be cleansed.

Romans 6:6
"We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."

1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

1 John 3:8-10 "…8 The one who practices sin is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this, the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.…"

Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

If you work really hard in the flesh to try to stop sinning you will fail. You must trust in Christ so that He will change your nature and your response to sin. It is only through Christ living in us that we can resist sin.

The Christian life is not about impressing others, it's about being changed entirely by Christ and His working in us as He dwells in believers.

Here's the key, the really big deal; We cannot do anything that will make us better people. We cannot do anything to change our character or our nature. The good news is that Christ can and does do this in anyone who wants Him to change them into a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17
"17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

Ephesians 2:10
"10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

Did that sink in? "WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP", HIS!!!!