Another
in a series of tracts
for the edification of
born-again believers.
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To the born-again believer who has been
saved by repentance toward God and faith in
Jesus Christ, a great promise is given:
"But as
many as received him, to them gave he power
to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name:"
John 1:12.
With this promise the Christian has the
potential to be conformed to the image of
Christ (Romans 8:29), but sometimes his old
sin nature gets the best of him and hinders
his spiritual growth. At times like this it
is good to have some golden nuggets from God's
Word and someone willing to point them out -
as illustrated in the following dialogue.
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How can I help you?
I keep wrestling with sin and I can't seem to grow
spiritually the way I should.
Have you had any victories over sin?
Well, that's just it. The victories are few and
even those don't seem to last as long as they should.
I end up sliding right back into my old sinful ways.
Have you ever doubted your salvation?
No, besides would I be so overly concerned with
spiritual growth if I wasn't saved?
Most likely not, but tell me, how have you gone about
obtaining your spiritual growth?
Well, I always try to obey God when He says to
stop sinning.
Give me an example. Show me from God's Word a sin
that you have been trying to stop doing.
The man turned to Ephesians 4:29.
See, it says "Let
no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth"
so I try not to snap at my wife or talk down to her.
Please finish reading Ephesians 4:29.
Okay, it says "but
that which is good to the use of edifying."
What do you think God is trying to tell us in the
second part of Ephesians 4:29?
I guess He's reenforcing the command not to speak
corrupt communication.
Actually, Ephesians 4:29 has two separate commands.
What do you mean?
Look at Ephesians 4:17-24. Paul is telling us to put
off the old man and put on the new man.
The old man is our old way of behaving. It is our old
sinful habits. The new man behaves in a Godly fashion
with Godly habits.
You mean we tend to sin by habit?
Yes, habit forming abilities are God given. They can
be a blessing or a curse. We are all sinners and a
lot of the sinning we do is by habit. It has become
second nature.
You mean like snapping at my wife under certain
conditions.
Right! God says put off those sinful habits
and replace them with Godly habits.
Did you say replace?
Yes, that's why you keep sliding back into your
old sinful ways. all you are doing is putting off,
but not putting on something in its place. You are
not trading habits.
You mean like when I stopped the habit of chewing
my nails by developing a new habit of chewing gum?
Exactly! Look through the Scriptures and you
will find that when God says to stop sinning He
normally says to start acting Godly in its place.
But how do I develop Godly habits?
The same way you developed sinful ones - by practicing.
In fact, Paul tells us:
"But refuse
profane and old wives fables and exercise
thyself rather unto godliness."
I Timothy 4:7
This explains a lot! I've always expected my
spiritual growth to occur somewhat by itself and when
it didn't occur I would get frustrated.
The Bible teaches that as born again believers we are
a new creature in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17), we
are given the power to become the sons of God (John 1:12)
and to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-32),
but we still have a free will and a sin nature (Romans
6:16). We must partake of God's power and grace and
put off the old man and put on the new man through a dehabituation
and rehabituation process.
A what process?
That's what some Christian counselors call the
process of replacing sinful habits with Godly habits
until the Christian is reprogrammed to act Godly.
Godliness can actually become second nature.
Praise God! That's what I want. How do I
get there?
First, ask God to help you catch yourself sinning. As
you do, confess it and ask forgiveness in repentance.
As time goes on you should be catching yourself
sooner and sooner. Eventually you will catch it at
the source, when the sinful act first occurs to you.
This is called dehabituation - the putting off of the
old man.
I believe with God's Spirit and grace I can do
that.
Good, but that's only HALF of it. You must also at
the same time practice acting in a Godly manner.
For example, Ephesians 4:29 says don't cut down
people but build them up instead. So practice
complimenting people.
But that doesn't come up often enough.
Then go out of your way to do it. You don't have to
lie. If you look hard enough you will always find
something positive to tell someone.
I guess you are right. It's just that by habit I
tend to took at the negative and bring those aspects
to light.
Right! but change that habit. Tearing down is selfish.
We are called to love others. that means building
them up. Since it is not our nature to do that, we
must practice until it becomes second nature.
That gives me hope. I've always come down on
myself for not being what God wants me to be, but now
I see that the God given potential was there when I
got saved. It was just a matter of putting it into
practice.
That's right, just don't quit. Habits take awhile to
break and develop. Pray to God everyday that He gives
you the strength and persistence to keep at it. Don't
even let feelings get in the way. Act Godly even if
you don't feel like it. Obedience without feelings
does not make you a hypocrite. Everyday we do things
we don't feel like doing because we have to. God
commands us to be Godly. So start exercising Godly
behavior and practice, practice, practice!!! The
following verses contain more commands to put off
and put on in its place.
Ephesians 4:25 says to . . . Break (put off) the
old sinful habit of lying and instead through daily
practice develop (put on) a new Godly habit of truth
telling.
Ephesians 4:31-32 says to . . . Break (put off)
the old sinful habits of acting bitter, angry,
disagreeable, nasty and malicious and instead through
daily practice develop (put on) the new Godly habits
of kindness, tenderheartedness and forgiveness.
Practice, practice, practice!!! until Godliness
becomes second nature and you get closer to
acting like the new creature in Christ that you
became at salvation. The potential to develop Godly
habits is in you (John 1:12). Through God's Holy
Spirit you just have to partake of it.
REMEMBER! If you put off without putting
on a new habit in its place you will slide right
back in to the old sinful habit.
Likewise . . .
If you put on without putting off you will
act hypocritical.
True Biblical change requires both a
putting off and a putting on. For example: A liar
does not stop being a liar because he stops lying. He
stops being a liar when he is transformed into
a truth teller.
Always strive toward true Biblical change, which
is the result of a renewing process (Colossians 3:9-10;
Romans 12:1-2).
(The reader should look up the following verses on
their own for more examples of what to put off and
what to put on - Ephesians 4:28; I Peter 3:9; Hebrews
10:25; Matthew 16:24.)
I'm going to start exercising Godliness as soon
as I get home.
Great! Remember, next time you go to snap at
your wife, stop and compliment her instead.
Reprogram yourself to be an edifier and not a
degrader.
Practice, practice, practice!!!
LET'S SUM IT UP:
1. God made us creatures of habit. This
enables us to perform things by second
nature, such as driving a car or tying
our shoe laces.
2. Habits can be sinful or they can be
Godly.
3. Breaking a sinful habit is not enough.
God wants us to develop Godly habits
in place of sinful ones.
4. If we do this long enough, Godliness
can become second nature.
REMEMBER: You don't grow spiritually as you
stop sinning, you grow as you become Godly.