Session 3: Week 2 Notes

There are certain realities to life and our neglect to those realities can have consequences.

Review from Last Week:

We talked about the reality of how we are being formed as people, there is a necessity for us to respond to the avalanche of images that awaken us to certain desires or appetites within us.

Our life journey is constantly changing; the reality is wherever we are in life we are changing, whether this change is accepted or not.

Defining Temptation:

Desire, tension, honest need, to entice or to bait that causes us to act against the Lord.

We do what we do because we want to. You not only have to want what you want, you are also going to have to want what your wants leads to.

Colossians 3: 1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

 5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.

Do you feel like there is a battle taking place within your being?  You want to be close to God, but you feel as if His voice is challenged by a thousand others, pulling you the wrong way.

Old habits are hard to break, the more we break away from a bad habit, the more it tries to pull us back in.  What Paul is talking about in Colossians 3 isn’t about changing behavior, it’s about changing perspective, transformation.

This is about becoming a certain type of person by the grace of God.  What we need to do is be aware of old habits, old patterns, and old ways of thinking.  When we start living the new it’s about being aware of the new habits, new patterns and new ways of thinking.  You have to decide who’s going to define you…Christ.

Romans 6: 5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

If Christ frees us from sin…then why do we still sin?  It’s almost like we face an identity crisis.  It’s because we have a hard time letting go of the old.

Galatians 5:16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

 19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

All the desires and appetites of our body are not evil.  The Spirit is our greatest weapon…not will power, it’s through the Spirit that sin is conquered.  The Spirit and flesh are in conflict, and the battle fought is not to go back to the old.  It’s like being stuck in a prison cell with the door open, but you don’t want to leave.

By surrounding ourselves with the Stories of Jesus…Community…Practices…Life Trials around the Spirit we can move from the old to the new.

Even though the tension will never go away, it can lessen the more we move towards the Spirit.  The more we work towards the Spirit the more we learn how to fight the tension.