‘So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. ‘
Galatians 5:16-18 NLT
The largest problem in Christian living will always be that of Freedom in Christ. The freedom that we have been given in Christ to choose the path we wish to take, necessarily, opens the door for sin. In this way, it is not unlike the choice laid before a perfect Adam in Eden. Whereas in Eden, God communed with Adam physically, after Christ, God communes with his followers in their hearts. One of the prime purposes of this is to supersede the need to physically wait upon God for input. Instead, God replaced that need with an “always on” source of inspired word in the Holy Spirit. Believers can never claim that they “didn’t know” that something was wrong. They can never claim that they were innocent internally because the blessing and promise of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the ever-present voice of God speaking to us in every possible choice. The difficulty of Christian living isn’t having too little input from God on nuanced issues. It’s in not wanting to listen to it. Too many Christians believe that they have no other option but to sin. They believe that they didn’t know better than they do. A mature Christian must drop this pretense and do as the disciples taught. They must practice a daily engagement with their own sins, including confession and repentance. Only then can they move forward in their freedom to make good choices, by the direction of the Spirit.
JOSH McGARY. COM 