The two dimensions of sin (5)

1Th 4 “³For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication”

Whoever has read the previous four parts of this theme already knows perfectly that sin has two definitions:

-  One definition in the spiritual dimension: disbelief, stubbornness, rejecting the counsel of God (Jn 16:9), this is the first dimension of sin, and the sin which invariably leads to death because it has neither cure nor sacrifice.

-  Another definition in the material dimension: lusts/works of the flesh (Galatians 5:16-21): this is the second dimension of sin, and it is the sin that does not lead to death, if the sinner confesses and repents.

Let us state the clearest way that all unbelievers and stubborn against the Truth are automatically murderers, adulterers, idolaters, fornicators, prostitutes , greedy, etc., even if they do not manifest these works: Whoever rejects God is already guilty of the transgression of all the law and is already delivered to the stubbornness of his evil heart. By cons, a child of God who fears God with all his heart, i.e. who hates evil, may succumb to the pressure of the flesh unwittingly, and still remain a child of God, because they are spiritually discerned (1Cor 2:14) and God does not look at appearances but heart (1Ki 16:7). The child of God is the one born of the blood of the Lamb of God. The faithful and loving God who knows our limitations and weaknesses has done for us a perpetual sacrifice to atone for all our sins whenever we succumb to the lusts of the flesh and we return to Him sincerely and with all our heart.

When the enemy is preaching, he confuses the mind saying “stop, stop sinning, get rid of evil and come to the Lord!” Nothing is more confusing! If everyone were able to get rid of sin, then each person could save himself! With the flesh man is slave to the law of sin (Romans 7:25). The Bible says, true it is, in Isiah 1:16 ^“cease to do evil» (also in Ps 34:14; 37:27). But, by yourself? – no, as he says: Jn 15 “⁵I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”  If God wanted me to get rid of my sin and go to him afterwards, something that I cannot manage, that would make me more wretched and miserable, and on the other hand, it would make my salvation impossible.

But here's what we read: Am 5 « ¹⁵Hate the evil, and love the good », Ro 12 “⁹Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.” He who hates evil and loves the good, same is the one that has the fear of the Lord (Ps 8:13), or has in him the desire to turn away from evil. Ro 7 “¹⁸For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. ¹⁹For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.”  So he aspires to the rescue of the Lamb of God that never fails, as He says: Mt 11 “²⁸Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Thus the Lord does not ask us to rid ourselves of our sins and come to him afterwards, but to come to Him with our sins that He may remove them and, as a result, we may stop sinning. Whoever declines this offer is the one who takes pleasure in wickedness and does not want to be rid of it. The Spirit expressly says: He 10 “²⁶For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, ²⁷But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.”  Those who sin willfully are rebels who will be devoured by the fire. For us, God wants us to abide in His counsel without turning left or right and He shall make us experience victory over sin.

And according to this advice, he wants our sanctification, that we should abstain from fornication. Col 3 “⁵Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Ro 8 “⁷Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. ⁸So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”  None can say it better. Priority should be given to satisfy the spirit, then members of the flesh will be crucified in us. Remarkable thing, wherever the lusts/works of the flesh are mentioned, the list always opens by fornication or any other carnal uncleanness through sex:  Ep 5 « ³But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; ⁴Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. ⁵For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”

Fornication is the eldest of the lusts of the flesh in mankind both on the hierarchical and historical plan. Humans might have understood through this revelation that prostitution is the oldest profession of the world. So, fornication was the first desire of the flesh, and opened the door to the following procession: rivalry, jealousy, outburst of wrath, murder, excess of all kinds, etc. For this reason, the Spirit gives us this urge: 1Co 6 « ¹⁸Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. ¹⁹What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? ²⁰For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Now, who does not understand the meaning of ‘flee’? In the Epistle of James the Spirit says: Jm 4 “⁷Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  We can resist the devil by the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Eph 6:17) as the Lord in the wilderness resisted him and he departed. In other words, rejecting all false doctrines, we resist the devil and he will flee from us, because he cannot withstand the Truth, and this victory is in the first dimension, i.e. the spiritual dimension. But when fornication assails us, the counsel of God does not ask us to resist, but to flee. Indeed, as we have so long argued, we cannot withstand sin in our flesh, as in the carnal realm sin is more powerful than us.

‘Flee’ means "move away from, avoid in running, retreat." We must move away from any environment that is conducive to the desires of the flesh: evil parties or acquaintance. If a person finds himself in a environment conductive to the desires of the flesh, and that person, by shunning to hurt his Savior, starts praying and admonishing instead of running away; does he/she not flout the  counsel of God which rather urges him/her to flee such an environment? And if such a person succumbs to the pressure of his flesh, will he/she not she be responsible for his indiscretion?

Eve our mother withstood this adversarial environment against the Word of God , she admired the beauty of the tree of knowledge, she saw that it was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable to make one wise (Gen. 3:6 ), and she was not able to overcome the desires of her flesh. In connection with sin, there are two areas of struggle: the spiritual realm and the material realm. Those who walk in the ways of God by following His counsel in Truth - in the spiritual realm - the devil cannot reach them, as long as they abide under the shadow of the Almighty and do not move from Truth to a single gauge. In this area, it is man who resists the devil and the devil takes flight. But in the realm of the flesh, it is the devil that is more powerful, and the one to flee is man, if he is wise and prudent enough to follow the counsel of God. Since therefore that God wants our sanctification, and that we should abstain from fleshly lusts, fornication in the lead, let us flee the flesh and its desires and walk in the Spirit pondering the law of the Lord unceasingly.

If the love of God is in us, the world can have no more power over us. 1Jn 2 “¹⁵Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”  Let us abandon ourselves completely to the Lord, fighting against the stubbornness of our evil hearts and focusing on the counsel of God with all our heart. Let us flee the world and the desires of the flesh, granting to the Lord the authority to conduct our lives through His Word and see if He will not crush our enemies in our sight.

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