CASTING OFF THE BODY OF SIN
The sin that was committed by the children of Israel in the book of Ezra was that they had taken 'strange wives' and produced children with them. God commanded that they put away these wives and offer a ram of the flock for their sins Ezra 10v19.
They repented and said to God And now oh God what shall we say of this for we have forsaken thy commandments! Ez9v10.
Repentance is a gift from God, for we do not know how far we have fallen from whence we first came to Christ, when our only desire was to do His will.
A Covenant was to be made to put away the strange wives and a time limit was given i.e. three days. Abraham also, after being promised that the Lord God would give him a son, by his own works took a 'strange wife' and produced a son, calling him Ishmael, who was not the true son but a son of bondage.
Galatians 4v24-31 and 5v1, speak of becoming entangled again with the yoke of bondage i.e. thinking that we, through our own works, that is to say, depending on them instead of on the Holy one, can enable us to carry out His commands. This leads us into bondage, putting ourselves back under the law. It must be all of Him to will and to work. Our part is to have faith and wait on Him, ready to co-operate when He tells us to do so.
Abraham did not wait. He thought that time was running out for him. He lost faith in the God of the impossible. What was required now, when repentance was granted, was to put away the strange wife and her children i.e. our own works which is the body of sin or dependence on the flesh and confidence in it. Children are our fruit or what we produce, even in our Christian service.
As the Apostle Paul said I know that within me there is no good thing Gal 3v29 says And if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise (Abrahamic Covenant) of faith.
We do not only depend on our own flesh, we look upon others to fulfil our needs. It interferes with God's work, just as much. If we do not have faith that God alone will help us and wait upon Him to do so, we will look unto others.
Under the Old Covenant, it was the heart that was at fault. In the New, God provides for us a heart of living flesh, in which God places His law fear and love. Man failed to secure holiness under the old. The old heart is the body of sin. Man's part is to cast it off, to put it in the past, with all of its old resentments, lack of love, anger etc.
God circumcises the heart, man casts off the old, discarding the flesh. In the New Covenant, God's presence with us does not depend on man's obedience as in the old. He says you WILL obey. A fact not a command. It then becomes man's delight to obey, no longer will the body of sin drag us down and make obedience difficult and a burden.
God requires us to love Him, 'wholeheartedly' to trust Him to equip us to do this. Our part is our willingness. We must turn from the past with all of its hurts and disappointments and look towards a new life in Him. Forget the old, with all of your sinful ways and your looking towards man to fulfil your needs, which only brings disappointment when he fails you and wait on the Lord to come and take possession of your heart, looking to Him with ALL of your love Rom 6v6:-
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him that the BODY OF SIN may be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Make no provision for the flesh. Trust the Lord that He will give the power to do this, to barricade the heart, the new heart so that sin shall no more be the victor. The Lord's word is as good as His deed. It is His will that we receive the new heart. We only need to trust Him and believe that He will carry out the 'operation', then we can rest in His promise. We can then act as though the deed is done as indeed it was, on the cross. We only need to appropriate it to ourselves. Ignore your feelings, just trust and obey.
The evidence of the new heart is love shed abroard towards Him which brings the desire to have nothing for ourselves, our only desire will be to bring Him pleasure and joy. Does this seem too high to achieve? Remember, we had a taste of it when we first came to know Him. He longs to have this sort of fellowship with us. There is only the action of 'self' which separates us from Him.
We cannot love Him wholeheartedly unless we cast off this body of sin and leave behind the past, otherwise the heart remains uncircumcised and therefore unable to love Him fully, so preoccupied is it with the things in this life, its hurts and its remembrance of things past.
The 'outer-man' needs to be broken, the body of sin. In its unbroken state it prevents the spirit from flowing out in its purity. It mixes with the prominent feature of the outer man which is our main characteristic. The Lord shines His light and we see this and it is burned away for ever. We cannot stand in His sight and are 'undone' when we realise the extent of 'self' even in His service with its self seeking. We do not need to do anything. It is done for us when the light shines in and we see it.
The spirit is then freed from its imprisonment in its hard unbroken outer shell. When it flows out, it brings with it the Lord's Spirit joined to it. This is what touches people and what brings refreshment, and not just words or emotion.
The Lord has removed the veil and opened the way into the sanctuary. Jesus entered in with His blood as the sacrifice required, our Great High Priest led the way and opened it up for us, that we may enter in, into God's Holy presence and into God's rest that He has preserved for the people of God. He removed the veil, rent it in two and said Today, if thou hearest my voice, harden not your hearts as in the day of the provocation, but with boldness enter in.
The Lord longs for us to dwell within the sanctuary, ministering to Himself then going out and ministering to others. The 'outer-man' is the heart, the seat of the emotion and we must allow it to be broken so that our spirit can flow forth. The emotions are to be our servants not our master. Stand on the word of God alone brethren, and refuse for ever the dependence in the flesh (cast out the body of sin) Amen