Look In The Mirror

The other day I was watching a video of a French Bulldog who happened to pass by a mirror. He caught a glimpse of himself and quickly darted back to face the stranger he saw and the stare down began! The little guy had no idea he was seeing his own face in the mirror. He growled, barked, and lunged at the reflection. It was hilarious! If I asked you, "Look in the mirror. What do you see?" The obvious answer would most likely be, "I see myself." In reality, what you see is not you! What you see is a face you recognize as you. Your physical face is not your "self." You are seeing a shell that encases the "self." Self is more than just identifying the image in the mirror as your own. So, what is SELF? People will usually identify themselves as one of the following: a perfectionist, achiever, pleaser, warrior, romantic, seeker, procrastinator, joker, adventurer, creative, critic, wise, and so on. That's all fine and dandy, but in reality, those mostly define the personalities of WHAT we are. "Self," on the other hand, describes WHO we are!

WHO is much deeper. It is at the core of your being...the soul. That said, when you "look" into your soul, what do you see? Who is there? A thief? A gambler? A fornicator? A cheat? Adulterer? Hater? Murderer? Abortionist? Liar? Wife-beater? Homosexual? Drug pusher? Atheist? Child molester? Pervert? Witch? Warlock? I could go on and on. You are the only one, besides God Himself, that knows what hides in the dark recesses of your soul, your true 'self'. The most interesting thing God pointed out to me is that all the things I listed God has labeled as sin but these are not what KEEPS you from God, they SEPARATE you from Him. Isaiah 59:2 NIV "Your iniquities have separated you from God; your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear." Understand that the words "keep" and "separate" have two different meanings. "Separation" is not a permanent condition unless you choose it to be! You can choose to remain in any of those sins that alienate you from God, or you can exercise your free will to close the gap through repentance and change. This is true of a believer or non-believer. Since sin has no power in and of itself over a believer because of Christs' work, according to Romans 6:14, it is by your own head-strong decision if you continue to REMAIN IN any of those sins. Choosing to do so KEEPS you from Him! Read that again. In other words, sin is a choice and therefore separation is a choice that you have an opportunity to change! But when you as a believing Christian continually deny Him, continually reject what He commands in His Word, or purposely choose to practice and REMAIN in any of those sins, you push Him away--and it KEEPS HIM FROM YOU. I am specifically addressing believers on this matter! If you willfully continue in your sin after knowing the power of God, there is no more sacrifice for sin! Christ cannot die for you again! Listen closely and let this sink in, Hebrews 10:26 "For if we sin WILLFULLY after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins." Christ cannot be crucified again. There are so many professing Christians that are willfully sinning despite the fact they know what the Bible says about the sins they are engaged in. These people are literally working iniquity! They stay in sin, grovel in sin, enjoy their sin and have no fear of consequences. Do you remember to whom Jesus spoke who wanted in heavens door but He responded, "I never knew you? Depart from me you workers of iniquity?" They were believers, professing Christians, not non-believers!! How do I know? Read the verses from Matthew 7:21-23. They were telling Jesus they did many wonderful works by prophesying in His Name, that they had cast out demons in His Name. No single person can cast out a demon in Jesus Name except he received the knowledge of the truth (Hebrews 10:26) and has been endowed by the power Holy Spirit! They were believers who willfully continued in their sin and iniquities and it KEPT THEM FROM GOD. Thus Jesus answered, "I never knew you. Depart from me."

Jesus offered up his life on a cross for the sins of the whole world a long time ago. Since Jesus already paid the price for all sins, what KEEPS you from Him now? Remember that the word KEEP means a permanent state (to remain, continue, stay), but the word separation is not permanent. It means to disconnect, detach, or move away from. Your sins do SEPARATE you because of unholiness (again, a changeable condition), but a willful, rebellious choice to remain in and continue sinful conduct ("Go and sin no more") KEEPS YOU from Him. Believer, since you profess you know Him, are you willfully sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth? If so, you are in danger of condemnation unless you repent quickly and return unto the Lord! To a non-believer, how can you close the gap that separates you from God? You have to commit yourself to the saving grace of Jesus Christ because you, in and of yourself, cannot convert or change the propensity to sin through your own effort, strength, or power. It requires a change of heart and mind that is only possible through Jesus Christ! The apostle Paul stresses in his writings that we must be "transformed" for this to happen. How so? By the renewing of our minds through the Word of God! It is the only way to change our old self. When this transformation takes place you become a "new man" renewed in knowledge after the image of Him (Jesus) that created Him (who is God)." You are given a new nature through belief in Christ, a kind of metamorphosis in conduct if you will, from a life of sin to one of righteousness which is equivalent to the term you may have heard called being born-again. 2 Corinthians refers to this as becoming a "new creation" (in Him).

The person whose face you see in the mirror is the image responsible for the self inside. Self makes all the decisions ... and for the believer that means the decision to willfully sin or not sin, to remain in iniquities or to repent and come back in right standing with God. For the unbeliever that means: to believe or not believe, to want to follow Christ or not follow Him, or to continue to believe the Truth is a lie. The transgressions I listed above are the result of WHO you have become when outside of Christ; as an unbeliever or even as someone who has fallen away. No one is exempt from any of these sins because "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) "No one is righteous, no not one" (Romans 2:10). I guarantee you, my name was on that list at one time. But thanks be to God, my former way of life, my "self" known as the 'old man' (Romans 6:6) was put away when I consciously made the decision to come to Christ and put on the "new man" (Ephesians 4:24) --which is after God created in righteousness and true holiness. I never intend to go back! My desire is to obey and please Him. Any person who desires this transformation can have this new birth. Your former self, which is given to the gratification of human desires, can be put away (Colossians 3:8). Like dirty clothes stripped off you (verse 9), your entire former self will die away and you'll be transformed into a new self, beginning on the inside. Paul states in Romans 6:6 that "our old self was crucified with Him (Christ) so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin." Romans 12:2 "Don't conform to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, perfect, and acceptable will of God."

The transformation from a sinful human body into one that is pleasing to GOD by exemplifying conduct appropriate to the mind of the new self (righteousness and holiness, Ephesians 4:24) requires a lifetime of determination, discipline, and growth. But don't let that scare you. When you come to Christ, He gives you all the strength and power to overcome temptation and sin, to "fight the good fight" as Paul says because we are being renewed inwardly day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16). God has promised His Holy Spirit to achieve this. And the Holy Spirit is powerful! It is written that the Spirit of God "helps us in our weakness" (Romans 8:26). When the mind is renewed through His Word, the body follows. In biology when the brain dies, so does the body. Spiritually, when your brain/mind is renewed and is changed through Gods Word, so does the "SELF" change. The renewed mind will guide, direct, and control the body to keep you from falling back into your old life. Finally, let me say that if you are already a follower of Jesus Christ, let me remind you that your standing before God depends entirely on the work of Jesus Christ. You don't need to give up in disgust at repeated failures as you are fighting the good fight through growing, learning, and hopefully maturing in Him. It's a life-long process. God knows our weaknesses and thus the reason He sent us Jesus Christ to overcome our sins on our behalf. However, that does not mean you get a free ticket to willfully remain in your sin once you've come to the knowledge of the truth because you believe God will continually look away. We will always make a slip up here and there, we are humans, but you should not, as an example, be rebelliously choosing to continue in a sexual relationship outside of marriage. That is a choice! The same goes for any sin listed in this blog. You cannot call yourself a Christian and paint yourself in sin. Look in the mirror. WHO are you? Until next time ...
-Pat-