Daily Devotional
Word of the Day
Independence Unto Death
Pastor Scott
Friday, April 30, 2004
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"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."
(Romans 8:7)
Are we walking in the liberty that sets us free from the power of the world system and the sin in our members? How do we live in that daily? All of our lives are up and down to different degrees. There's not a person whose life has been on a constant incline of spiritual growth. We all need help; we all need our hands lifted up; we all need to be built up. To live in the Spirit, you have to realize you live in a community of people who love you, will strengthen you, and will bring to you reproof and instruction. You're never liberated to live as an independent being. The Scripture says that no man lives to himself and no man dies to himself (Rom. 14:7). To not be a part of the Body of Christ is to be the branch that was cut off and cast away into damnation.
Realize the solace and the help for us is to run together and be strengthened as we lift up one another's hands, as we pray for one another, as we love one another, as we become vulnerable enough to confess our sins one to another that we might be healed. We all need help, but no one can help us if we know it all or we want to be independent. The spirit of independence is the epitome of the carnal mind, and it is death. You make a lousy god.
One thing the Lord constantly points us back to is the original sin, because in Adam all die. By one man, Adam, sin entered into the world and affected all of humanity. We are just like our father, Adam. What took place in Adam was the choice to live independent from God. Sin originated in the woman, but Adam made a different choice than Eve did. The original sin was broken order. Eve chose Eve, Adam chose Eve; but Adam chose Eve because he was choosing Adam.
What if Adam had chosen God? God would have made him another woman, because God said, "It's not good for man to be alone" (Gen. 2:18). That word can't be broken. God's promises are yea and amen. Why do we keep trying to help God with His promises? We can't trust Him to care and provide for us, so we have to take care of ourselves--independent spirits! Every one of us are seduced on a continual basis to live independent, take care of ourselves, thinking, "God is trying to keep us down." To be separate from God is death; to live independent is death; to live for self is death.
The carnal mind is enmity with God. We can get off on social economic causes, injustices, drugs, mass murderers, X-rated movies, but none of those are the problem. The carnal mind is independence! "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom. 8:7). All of that activity is the fruit of lawlessness and independence. James says when you become guilty of one, you are guilty of all. The moment you choose to live independent, you are guilty of every one of them. Carnal mindedness is not just lasciviousness or an expression of the flesh; it is a choice to live separate from the law of God. So many of us seem to think the law just holds us down. The law sets us free, praise God. The law is what reminds you that you're Adam's son. The law is what sets the boundaries so that you don't get this false image of yourself; it is this mirror that you hold up so you don't forget what manner of man you are. What is walking in the spirit? It's obeying the law.