Before we lived according to the flesh but after salvation we live according to the Spirit of Christ Who lives in us.
1 Corinthians 6:11 "Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."
Since our Spirit are trapped in this sinful flesh we battle the flesh all the time. As Christ deals with us more sin falls off as we confess it. We grow in holiness according to how often we confess.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
When we do sin we have an advocate with the Father, that is Jesus Christ. And, the Father disciplines us to bring us back to obedience.
1 John 2:1 "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;"
Hebrews 12:6 "For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He punishes every son whom He accepts.”"
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. 9Anyone 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."
Those who fight against God by justifying their sinful attitudes have never been born again. Those who love God are convicted by the Holy Spirit and cannot rest until they have confessed their sin which leads to a change in actions. The heart must want to be cleansed for the actions to change.
1 John 5:18
"We know that anyone born of God does not keep on sinning; the One who was born of God protects him, and the evil one cannot touch him."
A pretender cannot keep up their pretense forever. As they grow older and weary of trying they slip back into the real them. This is why we see so many churchgoers regress as they grow older. Instead of growing in holiness they slide back into the real them that has been there all along. They spend a lot of time recounting to others past things in their life because there is nothing new happening in the present. Those who were pretenders had no spiritual and emotionally stable growth going on their entire lives.
God said in Matthew 7:21-23 "21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"
Proverbs 10:18: "Whoever hides hate is a liar. Whoever tells lies is a fool".
Proverbs 13:5: "The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace"
It is important that we are humble enough to say clearly and without hesitation when we have failed, confessing it is what brings the cleansing from it. No confessing, no cleansing!
The reason we see so little spiritual and emotional maturity in our day is that people have been trained that sin is forgiven even if it is never confessed, a sort of entitlement mentality, that everything is owed to them even if they never admit to their flaws.
Those who are unsaved, the lost, will go to hell if they do not confess and repent. Those who are born again will not progress in holiness and emotional maturity if they do not confess.
1 Corinthians 3:15 "If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only so as through fire."
Lost rewards and shame is in store for those who will not confess their sin to be cleansed.
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