Christ Our Deliverer - From the Presence of Sin

CHRIST OUR DELIVERER - From the Presence of Sin

 

Point to Christ as the Coming One for Whom we wait. 

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There are some things which we would like to get rid of, but cannot. I have heard of boys who have curly hair, and who do not like it at all. They try in every way to make it lie down straight, but it always curls up again, even if they wish to be rid of it. But things do not leave us just for wishing.

 

There is something which every Christian has, which he would like to get rid of, but cannot. It is called the "old nature.” Every one of us has a life which is bad. It does not like to do right, but always tries to get us to do the things which please Satan and displease our Lord Jesus Christ. These who have not believed in our Lord Jesus have only this life, but those who are saved have a new life besides. The new life is given to us when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, and is the very life of God and can never leave us. It is in us, right alongside of the old sinful life. The two never agree. That is why you and I have so many battles to fight in trying to do right. The new nature wants to do right; the old nature wants to do wrong.

 

There is no way for us to get rid of this old bad life. We may try as hard as we can, but we can never get it to leave us. The Lord Jesus has the power to keep it crucified, dead, as we were saying last week, so that it cannot sin, but even so, it is still there and we must keep yielding ourselves to God all the time, so that it will not pop up and start doing the wrong things all of a sudden. It is like a chained lion. If he were let loose he would do a great deal of harm.

 

This is not a very pleasant thought, is it? But there is one very happy thing to look forward to. Of course no sin can ever get into Heaven. God has said, "And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie” (Revelation 21:27).

 

And so, of course, this old nature can never go to Heaven. God tells us that when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back to take us to Himself, the old nature will leave us, and we shall take only the new nature to Heaven. That will last forever, and then we shall have nothing more to do with sin forever and ever. Nothing will ever tempt us then, for there will be no old nature in us to tempt. We shall be like the Lord Jesus Christ—Hebrews 9:28; Philippians 3:20-21; 2 Corinthians 5:4-5; John 17:22; Romans 8:18:19.

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