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THE NEW WAY OF LIVING The Potent Mixture: Faith and the Word By Larry Kreider
BEWARE OF HAVING A SIN CONSCIOUSNESS Now, what about sin consciousness? Well, sin consciousness is when I'm always thinking about my failures or my lack of ability to do what God has called me to do. The Bible says, "And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Corinthians 3:4-6). We have absolutely no chance of obeying God with our own strength. It takes faith in God' strength. As the Bible says, our sufficiency is from God. Every time we look to ourselves to try to "pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps" we begin to live with a sin consciousness. We look at our own failures or victories instead of looking to God. If we see victory in our lives, we have a tendency to be proud. If we see defeat, we have a tendency to feel like a failure. If we look to Jesus, He gives us strength and peace. Some Christians pray over their evening meal like this, "Lord, please forgive us for any sins that we may have committed, or sins that we might be doing that we don't know about." they're constantly looking at their tendency toward sin. I can promise you that if you're a child of God, and if there is an area in your life where you are sinning, the Lord will tell you. You can count on it! He loves you that much. He'll tell you in His Word; He'll bring people into your life to tell you; He will do whatever it takes to make sure that you know the truth. So then, instead of living by a sin consciousness, you will live by a consciousness of the righteousness of God that only comes by faith in Jesus Christ. Instead of looking to yourself and to your lack of ability, you will look to Jesus and know you are "righteous in Him." People who understand righteousness consciousness thank God that they are righteous through faith in Jesus Christ and know He will show them any areas they need to change. People who understand this principle of righteousness consciousness usually do not have to spend their whole lives going to all kinds of counselors. Is it wrong to go to counselors? No. I've gone to counselors myself. Godly counselors are a gift from God. But, when I understood this principle and began to live in the righteousness of God, I began to live a life of victory. The Word of God was working in me and I knew I was righteous by faith in Jesus Christ. And whenever I began to look to myself instead of to Jesus for my righteousness, I began to experience confusion and discouragement. I have, by the grace of god, learned my lesson. I am looking to Jesus by faith for His righteousness. How about you? Questions To Consider: Read 2 Corinthians 3:4-6. What does sin consciousness mean? Why is a negative attitude a sign of weak or no faith? Is "pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps" good or bad? In what ways does God let His children know areas in their lives that are not pelasing to Him? How do you live the "victorious life"? _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________
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