The Cross Kills!
Rom. 6:7
For when we died with Christ, we were set free from the power of sin.
Talk about positional and progressive sanctification. Romans 6:7 speaks about positional sanctification being free from sin and made right with God. And progressive sanctification talks about striving to live a holy life.
I have a book in my library that I have been reading by F.J. Huegel called “Bone of His Bone”. He states the following…” The Cross Kills. The man who exposes himself to Calvary soon discovers that a hidden fire burns within his bones. The old “self-life,” so resentful, so fussy, so greedy, and so touchy, so haughty and so vain, so blind to all save its own particular lust, so ready to sacrifice the good of the many if only its own glory may be secured — the old “self-life” can no longer resist the impact of Calvary”.
As you know several years ago, I went through a very difficult surgery to correct a blockage of a much-enlarged prostate. I did not know that the poison I had running through my body was killing me little by little and my body was shutting down. I was asking the Lord why this is taking place at this time in my life when I have so much to do. I feel that He stated the following. I was not taking care of myself in regard to my annual medical check-ups so I was not aware of the problem until it was too late. Reflecting upon this I think that this is how sin works in our life when we don’t stay close to the Lord. We overlook many things that can ultimately be deadly to us. We allow those favorite sins to creep into our lives little by little until it has a strangled hold on us and can’t get away.
What are those things in your life that we find it hard to surrender to the Cross? It is lying, cheating, gambling, stealing, and taking advantage of others, lust, speaking badly about others, or criticizing? To us they may look somewhat innocent but in the long run they are our death. Sin has power. When we let it in little by little it is killing us, and we aren’t even aware of its strangled hold on us. But the GOOD NEWS is that Christ has broken the power of sin over us if we let Him. But we must be sick of our sin and turn our back on it understand that God has set us free!
What is killing you little by little?