Pastor Notes & Sermons
Led by the Spirit vs. Led by the Flesh
Following the Holy Spirit’s lead puts an end to sin issues
Jim Croft
At times, new believers and seasoned saints get overwhelmed as they try to handle lingering sin issues that are generated by the soul. The biblical synonym for soul generated sins is the works of the flesh. Believer’s reaction to fleshly upheaval is often much like a one-armed cook trying to simultaneously prepare multiple dishes. Attention given to 3 items necessitates the neglect of 3 other pressing items. Those neglected burst into turbulent flames that seemingly demand immediate attention. The believer switches focus to put out the flames. While attempting to subdue the 3 enflamed matters, the 3 original sins of focus burst into flames. The Christian is thrown into an endless cycle of keeping pace with fiery sin activation with none ever dealt a final death blow.
Dilemma Solutions
The frustrating process that I’ve described is the portion of too many Christians. There are 2 interrelated steps that will permanently stop and put to death soul generated sins along with all of its agonies. Sinful inclinations that have been dealt the death blow don’t have any capacity to burst into fiery sin issues ever again.
The first step to stopping the merry-go-round of concentration on multiple sins is to identify the source of sin. The source of sin is not within the real you. The real you is your personal spirit. Your spirit is the core of your identity as a new creation in Christ. You were reborn in spirit at salvation through faith in Christ. The new you; the inner-man of your personhood is incapable of producing sin.
The incorruptible seed of God the Father was planted and germinated within your spirit when you were born-again. Without regard to your physical age at salvation, at that moment you received purity of spirit equal to that with which Jesus of Nazareth was born.
By the auspices of the Holy Ghost, Christ’s human spirit was divine and was unable to produce sin from the first moment of his conception in Mary’s womb. Your human spirit received the same divine quality after your physical birth at the moment that you repented and accepted the revelation of Christ as the Son of God. Your spirit and Jesus’ spirit are united as one and the same. Your inner-man has the righteousness of the Godhead. You and Jesus, who sanctifies you, makes you holy are one. The real you, your spirit, cannot sin and it cannot receive the slightest touch from the Devil or from any of his evil pollutants. (1 Jn 3:9, 5:18; 1 Cor 6:17; 1 Pet 1:23; 2 Cor 5:17, 21; Heb 2:11)
The second step needed to permanently stop the cycle of focus on seemingly endless sin flare-ups is to realize that it is the yet unsanctified portions of your soul that generate inclination to sin. The soul is comprised of your intellect, memories, emotions and imagination. Your personal spirit and your soul are not one and the same. Believers have undiluted purity of spirit even though they might have many sinful thoughts and deeds.
The Apostle Paul made some remarkable statements that reinforce the concept that a born-again human spirit is sinless even though sin exists in an individual’s life. He said if I do what I don’t want to do; it is no longer me who is doing it. It is being done by sin that lives in me. I don’t examine myself and I’m not conscious of anything against myself. (Rom 7:20; 1 Cor 4:3-4)
God regards a born-again individual as sinless in spirit even while they are in the midst of committing a sin. It is God’s expectation that the individual’s holiness of spirit will eventually spread throughout their soul. The process is called sanctification. Sanctification has a Conductor. His name is the Holy Spirit.
Carnal-Mindedness
The endless cycle of attending multiple sins is caused by Christians interpreting flare-ups of particular sins as signals that they are obligated to instantly subdue those sins. While it is correct to ask forgiveness for all sins, it is not helpful to simultaneously attempt to give the death blow to all sins. Awareness that inclination for a given sin exist is not a divine mandate that the timing is right to deal with that sin.
To interpret the presence of sin as a signal to go after that sin in efforts to subdue it is carnal-mindedness. The Scriptures convey that those who are led by the actions and inclinations of the flesh are carnally minded. Those who are led by the flesh cannot please God. In other words, if your Q for trying to subdue a sin is the awareness of that sin; you are carnally-minded because you are being led by your carnal flesh. The end result is inevitably frustration and a sense of spiritual deadness in regard to conquering sin. (Rom 8:5-8, 13)
Holy Spirit Solution
Your life assignment is to continually follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is up to him to guide you about when you are to deal with a given matter of sin. Until he says the timing is right to deal with a particular issue, you are not under condemnation for that sin or any other sin that the Holy Spirit has not yet highlighted. The presence of condemnation is self-generated. It does not come from God. (Rom 8:1)
You must become willing to realize that no matter how many grievous sins are activated in your thoughts and deeds, God perceives you as pure and sinless. He does not make any charges against you because you are his elect. For him to do so would be an act of indicting Jesus the Son with whom you are one. Furthermore, God does not accept anyone else’s accusations against you including your own self indictments. (Rom 8:31-39)
My Experience
The secret to conquering any sin with finality is to comply with the Holy Spirit’s guidance as to the timing of tackling a given sin. I have found something very exciting as I’ve quit fretting about my many sins of thought and deed. As I have followed the Holy Spirit’s lead in addressing sins one by one; I have discovered that the process of conquering one sin dislodges others that I did not have in mind.
When I first came to the Lord I was a smoker, a glutton, was foulmouthed and was terribly impatient with my family and was given to the study of occult material. For me the biggies were smoking and cursing impatience with my family. I followed my flesh’s lead and tried to quit smoking. The cycle was to buy a pack; repent of smoking a few from that pack; and throwing that pack away only to repeat the cycle again and again. I was utterly frustrated and disappointed about my inability to give up smoking.
Then one day I was telling a wise fellow believer about my interest in the occult. He told me that both the Old and New Testaments forbid that type of exploration. He mentioned how the believers at Ephesus burned their occult books shortly after coming to the Lord. I sensed the Holy Spirit’s anointing on what the brother was telling me. I burnt my books on the mysterious arts and formally renounced all occult attachments.
Within several weeks I noticed that I had no cravings to smoke. In addition, I was no longer a two-fisted glutton. I dropped over 40lbs in 2 months with no concentrated effort. Following the Holy Spirit’s lead had not only put my occult interest to death, but also rendered my addiction to cigarettes and to food dead to rise no more.
Conclusion
Don’t be scandalized by sins generated from your soul. The presence of sin issues does not indicate impurity of spirit or a lack of devotion to God. Let the Holy Spirit guide you about the timing of dealing with a given sin of thought and deed. Keep requests for forgiveness about all other sin issues updated and under the blood of Jesus. Commit the timing as to when to address any remaining habitual sins to the Lord. Sin issues committed to the Lord become his business and you are not responsible to try to do anything about them until the Holy Spirit gives the go ahead. Have confidence that the Holy Spirit will bring each one to the forefront at exactly the right time.
You will discover that committal to God’s timing about when to deal with a given sin empowers you to live free of condemnation about yet unresolved sins. All the while the Lord considers you justified, just as if you had no sins. In his eyes you are a sanctified, totally holy unto him. The Holy Spirit will facilitate the spread of the divine perfection of your spirit into every facet of your soul. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, God the Father overlooks the problems that you have committed to him against that day. (2 Tim 1:12) God’s patience with the elect is awesome to experience.
About Jim Croft
A veteran pastor & international Bible teacher. Happily married to Prudence for 48 years with 4 married daughters and loads of grandkids. I have authored 9 books. Invisible Enemies: How to recognize and defeat demons will be released in May of 2011 by Chosen Publishers. It's a great read for those who have ongoing unresolved issues and those who have inlaws whom they suspect might be hosting uninvited passengers. I also ghostwrite books and articles for various ministries. My emphasis of life is to be naturally supernatural. God enjoys us a much when we're engaged in non-spiritual activities as He does when we are engaged in overtly spiritual pursuits.
Books by Jim Croft
Invisible Enemies: How to Recognize and Defeat Demons
In the last 40 years, there has been a resurgence of New Testament deliverance ministry. On the forefront of this movement is Jim Croft, pastor, teacher, and deliverance minister. In Invisible Enemies, Croft takes readers on a journey into the heart of deliverance ministry, including topics such as
• the reality of the demonic realm
• the different types of evil spirits
• how demons enter and display their presence
• why it's not unusual for Christians to need ministry
• how to minister deliverance
Full of personal testimonies from Croft, his family, and others who have been delivered, Invisible Enemies also exposes and counters some of the more aberrant methodologies that have become the norm. Even better, Croft shows believers how to free themselves and others from demonic powers and how they can maintain that freedom.
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