The root cause of all your sinning is your own unbelief.

sermonindex Jun 25, 2012

The Good News is what God in Christ has already accomplished for us and in us through the Cross. Christ crucified you when He died and you were buried with Him. Your old self died and you received Christ's very Life. You were made one with Him. He made you a NEW CREATION. As a result of this union with God, you are now, fully justified, made righteous, holy and perfect as Christ Himself is. You are one with Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Christ. You are no longer a sinner; you now have a new pure heart and God's very Divine Nature.

This is NOT a positional truth but a REAL LIVING reality that you can experience daily.

It is VERY important to recognize that is was ONLYY by God's doing that you are in Christ

1 Corinthians 1:30
New International Version (©1984)
"It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption."

New Living Translation (©2007)
"God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; He made us pure and holy, and He freed us from sin."

English Standard Version (©2001)
"And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,"

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,"

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
"But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:"

International Standard Version (©2008)
"It is because of God that you are in union with the Messiah Jesus, who for us has become wisdom from God, as well as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption."

Now why do so many people who confess Christ never really experience the reality of this exciting truth?

You are the recipient of God's great love, grace, mercy, blessings and protection, yet you may never truly enjoy His Life within you. You can miss the life of victory, power and rest that He intends for you. Now there is only one thing preventing you from experiencing His Life for yourself and that is unbelief!

It is true that Christ crucified you when He died and you were buried with Him. Your old self died and you received Christ's very Life. You were made one with Him. He made you a NEW CREATION. As a result of this union with God, you are now, fully justified, made righteous, holy and perfect as Christ Himself is but you just do not believe it.

You may confess Christ and be saved, forgiven and blessed, but you are not going anywhere! You are wasting your life, because you have been shut out from God's best. You are doomed to a "wilderness life", a life full of dryness, troubles, and restlessness. You are empty and miserable because you do not just rest in His word.

Now God Himself has set you totally free from life of bondage to sin. Christ's blood has been shed for you! You are New Creation!

There is only one reason why you have not yet fully participated in all that God has already accomplished for you and in you. It is only your unbelief that keeping you from truly experiencing His daily victory.

The root cause of all your sinning is your own unbelief. You have not, could not, or would not take God at His word, but you have rather made Him a liar!

Now your life could be one of misery and living in fear. You could became lost in petty problems, bored, going through the motions, always arguing, constantly worrying about things that would never happen.

This is what happens when you refuse to believe. You will worry about every petty, little problem that comes your way. You always grumble and complain and question God. You never have any true love, strength, power, joy or hope.

The book of Hebrews warns us not to fall into unbelief.

"Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God... Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief" (Hebrews 3:12; 4:11).

You are warned not to fall into the same unbelief that doomed Israel for 40 years in the desert of wilderness life. Unbelief will keep you from entering into and truly experiencing all the things that God has already accomplished for you and in you just as it keep Israel out of the Promised Land.

Are you hardened in your unbelief, confirmed in your doubt, and a habitual complainers? You must know that God's mercy, forgiveness and loving-kindness cannot erase the consequences of your deep-seated unbelief! Unbelief shuts you out of the fullness of Christ, out of all hope. And it drives you into a dry wilderness!

I believe the great majority of Christians never enter into the restful life of Christ's fullness. They will spend all of their days saved but most miserable! They will not experience the joys of victories won by faith.They will never experience a life free from continual worry. They never enjoy the peace and joy that come to those who trust all things into the Lord's hands. Only a few will ever enter by faith into the abundant life!

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water" (verse 10:22).

If you are going to make it in these last days, you must be strong in faith and your faith must be founded only on God's Word!

Satan's strategy in these last days is to get you to doubt the reality of what God in Christ has already accomplished for you and in you. He will do everything in his power to make you doubt that you are one with Christ, that you are now new creation, holy, and totally righteous. He will make you even doubt that God Himself abides in you.

His Word says,

"The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations" (2 Peter 2:9). "...God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (I Corinthians 10:13).

These verses are either the truth, or they're lies. But if they're really God's truth, then we must stand on them! God wants us to be able to say, "Lord, I trust You to see me through. Live or die, I'm Yours!"

Look at all that God has already done for you and in you. He did what was impossible for you to ever do. Christ crucified you when He died and you were buried with Him. Your old self died and you received Christ's very Life. You were made one with Him. He made you a NEW CREATION. As a result of this union with God, you are now, fully justified, made righteous, holy and perfect as Christ Himself is. You are one with Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Christ. You are no longer a sinner; you now have a new pure heart and God's very Divine Nature.

God has done it all. He has left nothing out. It is a present reality. He wants to fully enjoy and experience joy, peace, victory and rest in our walk. He is looking for men and women who will stand in these last days calm and a peaceful because Christ abides in them.

So now just let go of all your own efforts and just embrace all that God has done and become a daily participant of Christ's Life within you.

sermonindex Jun 25, 2012

"The great and fundamental sin, which is at the foundation of all other sin, is unbelief. The first thing, is to give up that--to believe the word of God. There is no breaking off from one sin without this. "Whatever is not faith is sin," "Without faith, it is impossible to please God." Thus we see that the backslider and convicted Christian, when agonizing to overcome sin, will, almost always, betake themselves to works of law to obtain faith. They will fast, and pray, and read, and struggle, and outwardly reform, and thus endeavor to obtain grace. Now all this is in vain and wrong. Do you ask, shall we not fast, and pray, and read, and struggle? Shall we do nothing, but sit down in Antinomian security and inaction? I answer, you must do all that God commands you to do; but begin where He tells you to begin, and do it in the manner in which he commands you to do it, i.e. in the exercise of that faith that works by love. Purify your hearts by faith. Believe in the Son of God. And say not in your heart, "who shall ascend into heaven i.e. to bring Christ down from above; or who shall descend into the deep, i.e. to bring up Christ again from the dead. But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith which we preach."

Charles Finney

L

lindi1208 Jun 25, 2012

Hi Tuc

Thank you for posting this exhortation. God has been dealing with my unbelief in some areas in my life! So this a timely word!

Blessings in Christ

Lindi

sermonindex Jun 26, 2012

The root cause of all the sinning is because we haven't paid mind to the First and Second Commandments - that were from the beginning and will be until the end.

If you fall in love with someone, you want first of all to do whatever is in your power to please that one. To be with them. To learn what they like and don't like. To learn what they think about everything. You think of them almost every minute of the day.

I wonder if anyone has ever fallen head over heels over a boyfriend or girlfriend that they wanted to someday marry.

Why we don't see that GOD desires that type of love directed toward Himself because that's how He loves us - I just don't know what's blinding us to such an obvious Scriptural reality.

That loving Him and our neighbors fulfills all the law and the prophets.
That we're prefected in/by love.
That love has Everything to do with our "relationship" with Him and why we wouldn't want to do anything that we wouldn't do against a man or woman that we're truly in love with. It's as easy as that. You can't fully put trust in someone unless you truly love them and know that their love is equal if not far more than your own love.

You can't "bring glory" to someone that you don't love with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength.

Loving Him does it all.
Loving ourselves more than Him will cause us to fall - every time.

A

a-servant Jun 27, 2012

Great post Annie, yes that's what it is, a matter of relationship and love.

Usually when you read theological studies you cannot but notice that some of them border on relationship theory.

Not actual relationship, and that's where the whole thing becomes a dogma, void of actual substance. I mean we are all guilty of that to some extend. But the first step out of that would be to recognize it. And then in a second step move away from that by cross checking if we are still in the Word, or if we went into rationalizing the words of God into our own liking. And it's so easy to go astray and believe the temptations of the enemy, that always makes "us" come out of a conflict as a winner. And with us so proud of it that we cannot even see that we just lost the will of God, and declared partial independance - to self.

Of course you said it all much better than me, I'm just looking at the meachinics of it. But it's not technical in nature, it's really that If you love someone you want to know their likes and dislikes, and respect them which is confirmed by doing, it's part of having a relationship. To not do what God says, already speaks clearly that we are relationship theorists. And basically we then are legalists in the truest sense of the word, declaring 'our rights' in that relationship we assume we have. Yes, but do we?

For women this is even more tricky, since today it's considered to be smart to not recognize the authority that God gave to the husband because of "genetic vanity" that is inherited from Eve. That's what makes women great intellectuals and great rebels. We all know how God organizes the universe by structure and with form, still we find it pleasing to our understanding to oppose and reject all that. And it all will go down with great noise, because God's way and our natural ways are totally incompatible.

Yes, love and love, and love. The last time people have actually been in love and understood it was when they've been between the age of 12 and 16. Then something happened and we chose to become rationalists that love to talk about love, without us ever touching it again, but of couse we don't actually feel or mean it, or even understand love most of the time. It's handled as a dogma inside Chistianity. What we mean is, we are blessed by God in these points where it benefits us. If we ever openly declare the will of God, and how it benefits Him, we call that legalism. And that is because we are not wise, nor understand, it's our natural vanity in action that consideres itself to be wise, understanding and in love. Nothing of that is true, and I say that in a tone of provocation, because it makes me angry and sad how powerful this vanity and illusion is today.

R

roadsign Jun 27, 2012

The root cause of all your sinning is your own unbelief.

This is not entirely true to scripture. Consider Romans 5:

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned —
13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

B

Blayne Jun 27, 2012

Hi! RoadSign
I noticed your sign (comments) standing firmly on the high road of our living abundantly and wanted to add:

It's just astonishing to note how many Christians can be so eager to accept a blame which so rightly belongs to the evil one.

If it isn't their unbelief, it's their flesh; if not their flesh, their evil nature; if not their evil nature, then the biological properties of inherited sin. Sadly, there will always be those shouting piously, "It's all my fault!".

Their enemy has become themselves rather than the devil.
They somehow lost the truth about "We fight not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers".

Thanks for your comments, 'RoadSign'.

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by roadsign on 2012/6/27 16:29:31

The root cause of all your sinning is your own unbelief.

This is not entirely true to scripture. Consider Romans 5:

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sermonindex Jun 28, 2012

RoadSign,

Please help me understand what you are attempting to say here about Romans 5.

What God has already done in Christ is a Living reality.

Now is it not unbelief that will keep any person from actually walking in and participating in the Life of Christ?

What else other than unbelief would keep a person from truly enjoying Christ's Life? For if any person truly believed they would experience Christ's Life and true freedom from sin.

Is it not unbelief that prevents the unbeliever from enjoying their relationship and union with God?

If any person refuses to believe than this unbelief cuts them off from experiencing the Living realty of Christ's Life resulting in a life of sin.

sermonindex Jun 28, 2012

Satan's strategy in these last days is to get you to doubt the reality of what God in Christ has already accomplished for you and in you. He will do everything in his power to make you doubt that you are one with Christ, that you are now new creation, holy, and totally righteous. He will make you even doubt that God Himself abides in you.

M

murrcolr Jun 28, 2012

Quote: The root cause of all your sinning is your own unbelief

So have you stopped sinning?

R

roadsign Jun 28, 2012

RoadSign,
Please help me understand what you are attempting to say here about Romans 5.
What God has already done in Christ is a Living reality.
Now is it not unbelief that will keep any person from actually walking in and participating in the Life of Christ?

Thank you, tuc, for these words. They need to be said! Indisputably unbelief prevents one from truly accepting Christ’s forgiveness and his new life. Even for us who are believers, we have no idea how deep unbelief (ie, distrust) may be hindering what God would like to do through us.

About the idea of “belief/unbelief” - I understand it to be an issue of trust. That takes us back to the Garden. The Pair were alienated from God – and ever since all have come into this world alienated from God. Nobody is born in the Garden of Eden with intimate fellowship with God. Nobody is born with the natural ability to trust God - because trust involves relationship: knowing and grasping God’s love (Eph). I think we have lost our appreciation of this spiritual quality because the word “believe” has become so closely associated with ascent of propositional data - that is: I agree that it’s true. But that’s not necessarily belief - as in trusting faith.

We seem to get terribly stuck on this issue of “blame”. Whose fault is it? That’s our way of thinking. Our minds are programmed that way. It’s the way our society operates. But it gets us into trouble when it comes to spiritual truths about God.

Being a sinner is not a matter of whose fault is it. Frankly, it is not my FAULT that I came into the world with Adam’s disposition. And if I am alienated from God and do not know him as he is, how CAN I believe? If we can move past the blame game, I think we can become more focused on God’s solution for sin. It is, as we know, a marvelous act of mercy and forgiveness!

The other problem with the blame game is that we disregard societal forces at work. Unbelief is not just a personal issue – but also a cultural phenomenon. One raised in a secular environment who knows only a distorted version of ‘God’ – should not be expected to belief THAT God. That, is presumption – not trusting faith.

So, you see …. simple assertions like the one you made are not incorrect in themselves. It’s just that they fail to embrace a far bigger picture. And they can be used to judge a person harshly, unmercifully, and impatiently.

Diane

R

roadsign Jun 29, 2012

I got thinking: This theme of unbelief is worth exploring more. It's a big one!

Questions in my mind:

Would it not be correct to refer to unbelief itself as sin?

How does unbelief set in to the human makeup?

Why is unbelief so easily overlooked in the battle against our sinful ways of thinking and doing - either personally or societally?

Diane

sermonindex Jun 29, 2012

Luk 15:25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
Luk 15:26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
Luk 15:27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
Luk 15:28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
Luk 15:29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
Luk 15:30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
Luk 15:31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
Luk 15:32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

The father had already done EVERYTHING possible that he could for this oldest son but the son was so angry he refused to enter into the celebration.

The father kept loving him and kept intreating, wooing him and asking him to join in but he would not.

There was nothing more the father could do. His own son's refusal prevented him from truly enjoying what his father had already prepared.

Now if anyone refuses to enter into what God has already prepared for them, then no amount of forgiveness would help or somehow cause them to enter.

This refusal kept this elder son outside of the celebration and party that the father had planned and was a reality at the time of the refusal.

R

roadsign Jun 30, 2012

There was nothing more the father could do. His own son's refusal prevented him from truly enjoying what his father had already prepared.

The elder son, of course, represents Israel – those who had tasted the heavenly gift... those who had refused to enter God's rest because of unbelief ” see Hebrews.

The father had already done EVERYTHING possible that he could for this oldest son but the son was so angry he refused to enter into the celebration.

I do not believe so!!!! There was one hope yet for the people of Israel – their only hope. You know what it was, right!

Diane

sermonindex Jun 30, 2012

I find this very interesting and strange. I have never heard any teaching that the elder son represents Israel.

In this teaching who did the younger son represent?

Where can I read or hear about more about this?

How do you know for certain that this teaching is the correct view of this parable?

R

roadsign Jul 1, 2012

Well Tuc,

You got me thinking: Where DID I get this idea that the older brother was Israel (and by implication the younger brother were the Gentiles). I guess I've never considered it otherwise. The two brothers represent the two main categories in Jesus day - the same two which would be addressed further by Paul (ex Romans and Ephesians). The older brother's reaction is like the Pharisees' to whom Jesus was talking - and really, that is who I had in mind when I said, "Israel".

Tuc, there is something else I'd like to raise regarding the problem of unbelief. I've been wrestling with the theme of God's judgment as depicted in verses such as this:

“They do not know nor understand; For HE HAS SHUT THEIR EYES, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. .” Isa 44:18 (NKJV)

How can anyone believe when they are blind - that is, do not have the capacity for spiritual truth? Scripture (throughout) notes that God himself has caused this to come about - as a form of divine judgment.

What do you think?

Diane

sermonindex Jul 1, 2012

Firstly - I just do not see that this parable represents what you are saying.

It just does not fit that the younger brother somehow represents the Gentiles.

Nor does it fit that the older brother represents Israel.

I have looked at this story many times but I just do not see how it could be viewed this way.

I am open so please give me any insight that would help me with this view.

As for what you wrote about blindness I will have to get back to you on that latter. I do plan to respond to that what want to take time for thoughtful prayer on this important subject.

R

roadsign Jul 1, 2012

It just does not fit that the younger brother somehow represents the Gentiles.
Nor does it fit that the older brother represents Israel.

The Israel/Gentile symbolism, I think, is generally held. But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t ever be put to the test - in case it has become a mere assumption.

Still - context is vital in biblical interpretation. That includes both the immediate context and the wider context. Both readily lend credence to the Israel/Gentile symbolism. The brothers represent two great streams of people in the Covenant promise: those “who were near” and those “who were far” (see Eph. 2:17, Is. 57:19) The great mystery of the promise, mentioned in Ephesians involves just these two groups – the ones who were at odds with each other – hopelessly divided by an insurmountable barrier of hostility. Christ would bring those very two streams together into one! In Jesus day the Jews could not imagine any Gentile being brought into the kingdom. That was a big barrier on their part – as depicted in the older brother’s behavior. Jesus’ parable must have felt shocking and even heretical to the Pharisees’ ears that day.

The Israel/Gentile imagery respects the overall biblical context – cover to cover. It fits the Law, prophets, Gospels, and epistles. And it fits history: the Gentiles did end up coming in – when Jews did not (see Rom. 10.)

The question for you then, TUC is: Why might Jesus not have had these two groups in mind?

Would an Israel/Gentile interpretation necessarily prohibit contemporary applications such as today’s churched vs unchurched folk, or the law-abiders vs the “worldly”?

Diane

sermonindex Jul 2, 2012

Thanks so much for sharing this.

I was very surprised to hear this view because I had never heard of it before.

I do understand how shocked and even mad some of the Jews were when God embraced the Gentiles when He included them in His Covenant.

If you know of any sermon that would explain this view in more detail please let me know.

I still plan to respond to the blindness issue you brought up but want to take my time.

R

roadsign Jul 2, 2012

I still plan to respond to the blindness issue you brought up but want to take my time.

Thanks, TUC. Take your time. You could also consider parallel references: dulling of the mind, ears getting stopped, Jesus' parables and teachings centered around blindness..., the veil, etc.

Diane