I had a dream right before waking up this morning. There were two versions of me. There was the me as I see it through my own eyes, and a me that was decrepit and falling apart, and trapped within some sort of cell that suspended all movement, but not speech. Apparently, I (the observer) was supposed to be pleading to save “me,” but there was nothing redeeming. The me in suspension was beyond saving, falling apart, cruel, selfish and, in review of “it’s” life, criminal in intent. The version of me in suspended animation begged and pleaded, but even those pleas sounded selfish.
When I woke up, I was wondering what that could mean. Thinking, praying and reviewing things led to believe that my spirit was observing my flesh, as the Bible calls it, and in my flesh, there is nothing worth redeeming. Were I to stand before a righteous judge, I would be found guilty, and, in my dream, I judged myself so. Loved ones, this is why we can’t ever think we’re good enough. We’re not. No matter how good we think we are, our righteous deed, as Isaiah puts it, are as menstrual rags. We’re all that way. Our flesh (that is, our natural self) is self-seeking, murderous, cruel and irredeemable. If we were to stand before God as we are, and judged by the Laws that govern the universe (moral and otherwise), we’d be found defiant, and guilty of breaking them. Not one of us is righteous.
And yet God has laid on Christ the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53). An innocent man died for our guilt. He suffered under the wrath of God for that guilt. This should give us all room to think. Judging ourselves fairly, how would you stand before God? Honestly? Our good deeds don’t matter, because they can’t cancel out the things we have done. Our only hope for Righteousness is in Christ our advocate. So what can we do? Confess our transgressions. Repent (turn away) from our old lives, and surrender our lives to Jesus, not merely as Savior, but as Lord. My flesh has got to go, and so does yours. Dying won’t solve our eternity problem. Call upon the Lord Jesus. Repent and be baptized (that is, crucifying ourselves in Christ Jesus being buried, and rising again). Put on the New Self in Christ Jesus and walk in His love. The flesh has got to go.
1 Peter 3:8-27
Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For
“Whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit;
let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
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