If I had to pick one word to describe what I've been learning recently, it would be "natural." I'm learning what my natural role as a Christian looks like. And it certainly is not as glamorous or enticing as I imagined.
I specify my natural role as a Christian because my natural state as a human is much different. I was born in sin, my flesh so craves what is evil. My mantra over the past months has been "everything good in me is God and everything bad in me is...me." My flesh is who I am without Christ. Luke MacDonald "under the sun" is not a likable person. I'm angry, driven by emotions, self-centered, and stubborn. That's Luke, and that's the person that needs to be driven away by the Spirit.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come
My natural state has changed in the Spirit. The person I am now is not my flesh, but the new creation that has been brought about by the Spirit. Every good desire I have, every bit of growth I've ever experienced, the very capacity to praise God, all of it comes from the Spirit. He gives me faith, steadiness, and conviction.
My natural state is now free of sin. It is not only in my ability to choose against sin, it is in my nature as a saint to do so. My natural state is also constant procedural sanctification. Moment by moment, day by day, the Spirit is growing me to look more like Christ. And oftentimes, that is not as dramatic or flashy as I have made it out to be. Sanctification can happen in the highs and lows of life, but just as often it's in the in-betweens. The steady, repetitive faithfulness. Sanctification happens on Tuesday as well as Sunday.
By the Spirit, today I am as Christlike as I've ever been. And by the Spirit, today is the least Christlike I'll ever be. And yes, there are valleys. Yet in those days, I share Paul's confidence.
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ
So, if you are in a season that feels less glamorous, I encourage you to grow in Christ daily. It is your natural state as a believer and it's one of the great privileges of salvation.
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Kill the flesh, not in your own power, but by the Spirit. You are no longer your flesh, you are a saint, set aside by the Spirit for sanctification. Live in the knowledge daily!
