The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Three Domains of Divine Judgment, continued

For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, (Romans 8:13—NIV)

Are you ready to suffer in your body in order to have the sin removed from your personality? All sin? All self-will?

We have made a distinction between the removal of the compulsion to sin and the removal of the presence of sin.

The compulsion to sin is like a fire within us. We have been commanded to put to death the compulsion to sin.

To put a sin to death you first must confess it clearly to the Lord. Name the sinful behavior. "I have lied. I have stolen. I have spoken spitefully. There is someone I have not forgiven. My language is filthy."

Be very forceful. Ask God to send the sin to the Lake of Fire where it belongs. Ask God for the strength to resist the sin in the future.

You will get nowhere if you are double-minded. Pray until you are able to renounce the sin. Pray! Pray! Pray! We are in a battle. Stand in the blood of the cross and judge the behavior as sin. Go after it.

You do not have to search your personality to see if there is sin in it. The Holy Spirit will guide you. Romans 8:13 commands us to put sin to death through the Spirit. This means we must follow the Spirit, cooperating with Him as He leads us into battle.

The Day of Vengeance is here and it has begun with the Church. God is ready to drive Satan from us.

The Holy Spirit does the work but we have to cooperate. Notice below:

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (II Corinthians 7:1—KJV)

We are to cleanse ourselves. This we can do as we look constantly to the Spirit of God.

We have been speaking about putting to death the fires of sin. It is our understanding that the actual removal of the presence of sin will take place when the Lord Jesus comes. The total removal of the presence of sin and clothing us with a body that is without sin will be one of the greatest of the rewards given to those who have followed the Lord with their whole heart.

Let not the believer who has been careless in the things of salvation suppose the presence of sin will be removed from him or that he will receive a sin-free body. Rather he is facing Divine fire. He will reap corruption in the Day of the Lord. Deliverance from sin and self-will is a reward for choosing to serve the Lord diligently. It will not be the portion of the lukewarm.

The removal of self-will occurs as the Lord puts us in the prisons of frustration and denial. If we abide patiently, serving the Lord even though our fervent desires are denied us, we will receive the crown of life. The crown of life is the power to govern—the power of incorruptible resurrection life.

No believer will rule with Christ until suffering has burned the self-love and self-will from his or her personality.

To be continued.