Six
hundred years before the apostles, the prophets foresaw a future time when the Spirit of God would be poured out on mankind (Joel 2:28), enabling a person to overcome sin and live in complete obedience to the
commandments.
“I will put My Spirit
within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful
to observe My ordinances” (Ezek
36:27), and “I will give them one
heart, and put a new spirit within them…that they may walk in My statues and
keep My ordinances and do them,” (Ezek
19:19-20).
Divine assistance is required to overcome the superhuman inclination toward sin, as affirmed by the words of the LORD spoken to Zerubbabel, “Not
by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts,” (Zech 4:6). Divine assistance
is only available from God and must be sought by each person. The Hebrew Sages saw both the need and the promise of God’s assistance to withstand the evil inclination.
“One
who comes to purify himself (ba l’taheir)
receives siyata d’Shmaya – Divine
assistance, and without Divine assistance it is impossible to withstand the
evil inclination. As the Talmud states,
‘In the way that a person wants to go, he will be led.’”[1]
The Genesis Rabbah, commentary of the rabbis,
employs a Hebrew idiom familiar to believers to encourage us that God will
mightily reward even our small efforts toward righteousness.
“The
Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, ‘My sons, if you will give me an
opening of repentance no bigger than the size of the eye of a needle, I will
widen it into openings through which wagons and carriages can pass.’” (Genesis
Rabbah 5:3)
A person does not outgrow sin, nor can a person intellectually reason his way into a sinless life, nor can a person become master over his sinful nature through the sheer determination of his own will,
“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” 22 (which
all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the
commandments and teachings of men? 23 These are matters which have,
to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement
and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly
indulgence.” (Col 2:21-23)
Sin
cannot
be overcome by the advancement
of science, nor the increase of the human intellect; popular solutions
proposed by our society. A modern societal rejection of traditional "sin" arguments is to say, “We are beyond that way of thinking”, implying that reasoning and
science are the solution to all the world’s problems. Science will never find an antidote for sin and the unshakable confidence in our own intellect will hasten the ultimate downfall of mankind, (1Cor 10:12). Despite the popular notion that the Dark Ages
were overcome by science and knowledge, it was actually the restoration of God’s
word to the individual believer that brought about the Reformation and the rebirth
of Western civilization. The Dark Ages
were such because man was removed from the light of God’s word, “the brightness of your rising,” (Isa 60:3).
The
underlying power behind sin is simply too strong to be resisted by our present corruptible bodies. Sin must be attacked beginning at its source, in the “heavenly places”, where Divine Assistance
be found. It is interesting to observe in the
Book of Revelation that, “the restoration of Israel…can only happen after the
cosmological cleansing has taken place” [2]. This cleansing begins when Michael and his angels expel Satan and his followers from the heavenly places, (Rev 12:7-13). The elimination of the corrupting forces from heaven becomes a pattern for the life of each believer who must look to heaven for the Helper, "the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father," (John 15:26).
When
the Union Army marched through the South near the end of the Civil War in 1864,
they spared Savannah, but utterly destroyed Charleston (location of Fort
Sumter). Union
soldiers understood that Charleston was the birthplace of the rebellion, making Charleston's destruction an act to usher in the end of the rebellion. The Civil War was over three months
later. Since rebellion against God began
in the heavenly realms, believers must obtain victory in the heavenly realms to overcome sin in our earthly lives. Always remember that the heavenly realms can be accessed through
daily prayer that elevates us to the heavenly places in Christ.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” (Eph
1:3)
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