Moses 2.0

I received several great responses to my previous post about Moses, leprosy and the condition of our hearts. First are theirs, and then mine.

“I'm still reading about, hearing about (from Christians); so many comments, confessions, teachings, sermons and such how evil their wicked 'heart' is. I'd like to know from where or from whom this evil heart originates. My Bible teaches me that when I was saved, truly received Christ as Lord and Savior, I received a new heart from His work in my behalf. The old 'heart' ceases to exist and I am 'Born Again'! I have become a new creature and the 'Old Man' is dead! The wicked heart that once controlled my Soul and Body has been instantly replaced by "A new Creation"....Inhabited by The Holy Spirit Who is now free to complete all the will of God in me provided I co-operate with Him. Yes, I know the Old Testament verse; "The heart of 'man' is.....desperately wicked......" We are no longer that 'man'! We are a new creation in Christ with a new heart! My confession must change to agree with God's Word. He tells me who I am now. I am His Son cleansed completely by the Precious Blood of Christ! I must continue in Him by my obedience of course. We cannot be desperately wicked and saved at the same time!”

And

“Isn't it true that formerly my heart was sick and twisted .....but now I've been given a new heart; I was a sinner but now am a saint?”

Thank you ____, for your gracious response. I love the absolute nature of your thoughts, and agree wholeheartedly. I AM a New Creation in Christ; the old has passed away, and the New has come! Amen!

There is one sentence, however, that I must disagree with, and it is the last one: “We cannot be desperately wicked and saved at the same time!” I would like to comment on that.

For anyone who experiences salvation, at some point it becomes painfully obvious that being Born Again does not mean that I am instantly free from the memories, effects and failures of my past life. Free, yes, in terms of eternal guilt and judgment, but not free in terms of present consciousness. Father God does not wipe my mother board clean and off I go, now living only in the Absolute Truths that are mine because I am now “in Christ”. My heart is New, and Clean, and Pure, but over time I realize that there is still darkness, and the ability to choose it, operating in me as well. What is THAT all about?!

Paul the Apostle, who lived and wrote Pure Theology said, “Brothers, since we have all these wonderful Promises, let’s purify ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord.” (2 Cor 7:1) There is still pollution present and available in us.

Hebrews exhorts us: “Be careful, brothers. Don’t let a wicked, unbelieving heart take hold of you. It will try to turn you away from the living God. Instead, encourage each other every day, as long as the days keep coming, so that not one of you will become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become companions of Christ, IF by all means we hold everything we believed in the beginning firm until the end.” (Heb 3;12ff) It is possible for my New heart to once again become wicked and unbelieving. How is this possible?

I am speaking of process.

Someone has aptly said, “When we are saved, we no longer have a sin nature, but we do have a sin habit.” Being set free from Egypt totally freed the Israelites from slavery. However, it did not free them from thinking like slaves. They were Children of God, incredibly rich and powerful in Him. However, they still saw themselves as poor and weak. The habits of the dominated were still ruling over their hearts. And so, in the same way, we are not transformed only when our spirit is Born Again, but when our mind is renewed. This is a process.

What my post is about is this: it is helpful for us, as we are going through this process, to have reminders of who we still are, apart from Christ. The memory of the hideous leprosy that was somehow still in him helped Moses to stay humble while he was bringing water out of rocks and stopping the sun in the sky. Paul, speaking in the present tense said, “I am the chief of sinners!” (1 Tim 1:15) while he was sending his handkerchiefs off to heal people, and writing Scripture. We are all still capable of great good and horrible evil, and this should be a source of great humility and warning to us. Even after being an apostle for so many years, Paul had to go through an experience of “having the sentence of death within ourselves, so that we might not continue to trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.” (2 Cor 1:9) The danger is that if we do not “work out our own salvation” with Revelational thinking, we, like the Israelites, can be totally freed from the world and our slavery to it, and yet die like slaves in the desert, just a river’s breadth faith walk away from the Richness of our Inheritance in Christ.

I love the Absolute Nature of God! And I am awed that I who have been “sold unto sin” could get free from all of that, and come into a Perfect and Eternal Union with Him. Purity and Strength are ours in Him. Outside of Him? Well, nothing has changed. Are we forever free from it? Yes! But we must work out that freedom until all pollution is eradicated, all false thinking and deceitful lies, so that we may live and manifest perfect holiness to a dark and fallen world.

So, let us “Abide in Him!” And as we do, the pollution that remains in us, and the ability to choose, or even desire it, will grow weaker and weaker, and our calling and election in Christ will be made eternal and secure. (2 Pet 1:10)

“For we have become partakers – companions, partners – of Christ, IF we hold fast the beginning of our assurance, firm until the end.” (Heb 3:14)