Part 2: About "plaiting of hair, and of putting around of things of gold, or of putting on of garments,"

Someone read Part 1 of the above-titled piece (where we see that your lack of earrings and not doing hair in order to prove that you are a child of God is pointless) and made this comment: "Though what we wear doesn't make us righteous but could become a mistaken identity as in the case of Ahab and Jehojaphet and Moses when he was called an Egyptian. If you don't want to be called another then be the 9th of who you are."

Many people are worried about the issue of sins and living a life of moral excellence. This concern presents an opportunity for us to understand the beauty of being in Christ. The Holy Spirit transforms us from within so much that what is on the outside cannot but align with what is inside.

Understand what makes a person a sinner; we see this in Romans 5:19—

“By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.”

Committing acts of sin is not what makes a person a sinner. People are made sinners by Adam's disobedience. Likewise, we are made righteous by Christ's obedience and not our puny efforts at obeying the law. The one with the sinful nature does not believe that he has been made righteous by Christ's obedience. He is not a new creation in Christ. He has the sin (old) nature. He is trying to stop sinning/obey the law by his own power in order to be godly (be like God.)

This sinful nature inherited from Adam, when activated by the law that many are trying so hard to obey in a bid to be godly, is what causes sin to flourish. See Romans 7:5–

“When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.”

The law that many try to keep (obeying the Ten Commandments, not wearing earrings an jewellery, etc) in a bid to be godly causes them to sin more. Christ died to rid us of this sinful nature that was inherited from Adam. See Colossians 2:13-

"When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision--the cutting away of your sinful nature."

This is what happens when the sinner rests in God's gift of righteousness to us in Christ and is no longer trying to obey the law in order to be godly:

“So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the One who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.”

Imagine a maggot-infested pot (the sinner without God's gift of righteousness through Christ) with a dead rat in it (sinful nature inherited from Adam), with maggots breeding inside and crawling all over the outside of the pot (sin manifested), attracting flies and all sorts (lack, sickness, disease, etc.)

What our Saviour Jesus did for all who believe is get rid of the dead rat- cut away the sinful nature according to Colossians 2 above and gave us His gift of righteousness. He continuously washes and fills us to overflowing with the water of the Word (of faith, not the law), all through no effort of ours but through His Spirit that dwells in us.

In place of the dead rat aka sin nature that can only produce maggots of acts of sin that attract flies of lack, sickness and death, we have His gift of Righteousness and constant supply of the Spirit that produces right-living according to God's will and attracts not flies but health, prosperity and abundant life.

Once the heart is believing right, your actions and behaviour will line up with the Spirit within. The maggots outside the pot (sin manifested) will vanish in His time, with none crawling out to replace them because the inside is pure and alive, not stagnant!

All these things shall be ADDED unto you. Not only will you Live Right by "accident" and not continue in sin with Christ as your righteousness, you will do exploits and be a blessing to others too. Your salvation will be evident for all to see, "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." - Philippians 2:13.

ALL OF THESE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH OUR PUNY EFFORTS AT TRYING TO LIVE RIGHT. CHRIST DOES IT ALL SO WE ARE UNABLE TO BOAST ABOUT OUR ABILITY TO STOP SINNING OR DEMAND THAT OTHERS DO SO BY THEIR OWN MIGHT AND POWER. Our lives become a picture of Ephesians 2:8-9- 

Many sinners want to stop sinning but what to do when you get tempted beyond what you can bear? No matter how much you tempt me to eat watermelon, I will not, unless you threaten me with harm:) But some people love watermelon. We all have different areas of weakness. Christ saves from all.

We look at some people and think they just want to wallow in fornication and adultery. Their weakness is not our weakness so we don't understand or know how hard they are struggling inside, trying hard to be obedient but failing. The reason they are failing is in Romans 6:14- "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace." They are being told to try harder to obey the law that gives sin dominion, "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace." But this is taught in reverse in many places of worship.

We look at some people and think they should at least be able to abstain from doing certain "simple" things like watching pornography, just because we can do these things. Their weakness is not our weakness. We see a man in a wheelchair and understand why he cannot run a marathon but we wonder why a person that has legs is not running and chide him for his inability to run because of our inability to see that he is crippled inside.

The truth is the reason we are not committing particular sins is because we have not been tempted beyond what we can bear in those areas. Peter is a fine example of trying to not sin by human effort after experiencing Jesus. He KNEW 100% that he would never deny Jesus when he boasted in his own strength, just as many of us boast that some sins are beneath us, until a test that we cannot handle comes up. If a big enough trial came our way and it was up to us to save ourselves, even the best of us will fail woefully.

No matter how much a weightlifter trains, if you give him more than he can carry, he will fail if he depends on himself. And we are not all of the same size. What is light to one may be heavy for another. The potential to commit heinous crimes is in everybody. The flesh in a pastor is the same flesh in a paedophile. The arm of flesh (human effort) will fail. God sees this potential and how favourable circumstances can make some people, even believers, think that they are above committing particular sins. But see 1 Corinthians 10:13-

"We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously."

Someone needs to bring you out of your trials and temptations. That Someone is Jesus Christ. Trying to stop sinning or prove that you are a child of God by doing certain things by your own power when we can do nothing without Christ won't help you. Without Christ, all will fail if they encounter a weight that they cannot carry. Good works are EVIDENCES of salvation, not CONDITIONS.

Those who can save themselves by their own power, even from the tiniest sin, are saying they don't need Jesus to wash them clean. These ones can save themselves from their sins. But this is what Christ came to do:

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21.