Saturday, July 21, 2012

It's Firefight.

"In every believer's heart there is a constant struggle between the old nature and the new. The old nature is very active, and loses no opportunity of plying all the weapons of its deadly armoury against newborn grace; while on the other hand, the new nature is ever on the watch to resist and destroy its enemy. Grace within us will employ prayer, and faith, and hope, and love, to cast out the evil; it takes unto it the "whole armour of God," and wrestles earnestly. These two opposing natures will never cease to struggle so long as we are in this world."

The nature of grace as purposed to us is very alike to a  set of ill-fitting vice grips, while their use can still be served, the execution of such task is often arduous and awkward. For in order to allow grace into our employ we must not simply understand the concept, rather we must know ourselves and be accepting and mindful of out present condition. Besieged as our souls must often be, the resonance of the conflict between old and new nature must manifest in our sounds and minds. For what we find in the old nature is very active, it rarely ceases in the activity of separation and dissuasion from the enclave of truth. It is indeed deadly to those not armed with the truth, as little resistance can be found from those who can not adequately defend. Our new nature, though, is like the sniper from  a crow's nest, always watchful, cautious and ready. Our new nature resists the slings and arrows that foment destruction, rather, is realized though the slings of peace and hope. And in the constant conflict between the light and dark of our natures, we realize the wholeness and victory through Christ. Those who claim the name of Christ kneel on the bow of his throne, carried through the devastation of the world with a keen eye and patient souls.

And so it is with our two natures. Spurgeon speaks of wrestling earnestly with our old nature, the self-evident subjection that the conflict with out nature is unavoidable, however, the earnestness of our conflict is both actuated and observable. Our consistency in walking in the Word and talking with God is a bane to our old nature. It supersedes the presence of what is broken and replaces that with what is new.

"What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!" (1 Corinthians 15:50, 51)

And so it is with what inhabits our souls. We were bought from the wrests of the earth, but though that purchase we must be transformed Into what is new and complete.

 

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