I don’t like someone controlling me. Do you?
Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things... Romans 8:5
So as I was reading in Romans, that word dominated struck me almost as a slap in the face. It made me think of the study in Daniel and satraps= petty tyrants. A dictionary description of a tyrant is a cruel, oppressive ruler who has seized sovereignty illegally.
And that is what this verse is talking about.
Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson wrote The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The work is known for its vivid portrayal of a split personality, split in the sense that within the same person there is both an apparently good and an evil personality each being quite distinct from the other.
There is also the cartoon notion of a demon whispering in one ear while an angel whispers in the other ear.
Both fiction concepts have an element of truth in reality. For those who have come to JESUS actually do have two very different natures residing within themselves.
Two natures:
When we reach out to JESUS and accept HIS gift of forgiveness and eternal life by believing that HIS death on the cross paid for our sins and are born into GOD’s family, our spirit becomes alive.
From that time on we have 2 natures living within us: the old nature fomerly controlled by the god of this world (1) and the new nature=our spirit= that part of us that communicates with GOD.
When we believe in JESUS we also get a down payment of all that JESUS promises. That down payment is the Holy Spirit: (2) the third person of the GODHEAD; who is co-equal, with GOD the FATHER and JESUS, GOD the SON and is exactly like them in HIS power and nature. One of HIS Biblical names is the mind of Christ.(3)
Can you imagine? GOD lives in us? He has come to be our teacher, comforter, our interpreter, explaining the things of GOD to us. (4)
As long as we walk in tune with the SPIRIT= listening to and following the HOLY SPIRIT, our old sin nature is dormant=inoperative, inactive.(5)
But when we listen to the subtle lies of the evil one, like Eve did in the Garden of Eden, he catches us in a trap (6), by tricking us (7) he illegally overstepping his boundaries and becomes a petty tyrant in our lives since we have given him a foothold=place to operate in our lives.(8).
I have found keys to know who is in who is in control of me. Normally, they are negative things. If I catch myself not loving, if I am not kind, if my thoughts are not those that please GOD, I know without a doubt that I am walking in the flesh and dominated by the evil one.
If you ever find yourself there, cry out to GOD, HE will deliver you. But remember the one you listen to is the one who controls you!
PS the longer you willingly stay in the enemy’s camp the stronger the hold he has on you.
(1) 2Timothy 2: 24And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
(2) Ephesians 1: 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory
(3) II Corinthians 210but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: 16"For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?"[But we have the mind of Christ.
(4) Above verse and John 14: 15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth…. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
(5) 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 when you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer subject to the law…
(6) 2 Timothy 2: , 26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
(7) 2 Corinthians 2:11in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
(8) Ephesians 4: 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. 25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. 26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things... Romans 8:5
So as I was reading in Romans, that word dominated struck me almost as a slap in the face. It made me think of the study in Daniel and satraps= petty tyrants. A dictionary description of a tyrant is a cruel, oppressive ruler who has seized sovereignty illegally.
And that is what this verse is talking about.
Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson wrote The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The work is known for its vivid portrayal of a split personality, split in the sense that within the same person there is both an apparently good and an evil personality each being quite distinct from the other.
There is also the cartoon notion of a demon whispering in one ear while an angel whispers in the other ear.
Both fiction concepts have an element of truth in reality. For those who have come to JESUS actually do have two very different natures residing within themselves.
Two natures:
When we reach out to JESUS and accept HIS gift of forgiveness and eternal life by believing that HIS death on the cross paid for our sins and are born into GOD’s family, our spirit becomes alive.
From that time on we have 2 natures living within us: the old nature fomerly controlled by the god of this world (1) and the new nature=our spirit= that part of us that communicates with GOD.
When we believe in JESUS we also get a down payment of all that JESUS promises. That down payment is the Holy Spirit: (2) the third person of the GODHEAD; who is co-equal, with GOD the FATHER and JESUS, GOD the SON and is exactly like them in HIS power and nature. One of HIS Biblical names is the mind of Christ.(3)
Can you imagine? GOD lives in us? He has come to be our teacher, comforter, our interpreter, explaining the things of GOD to us. (4)
As long as we walk in tune with the SPIRIT= listening to and following the HOLY SPIRIT, our old sin nature is dormant=inoperative, inactive.(5)
But when we listen to the subtle lies of the evil one, like Eve did in the Garden of Eden, he catches us in a trap (6), by tricking us (7) he illegally overstepping his boundaries and becomes a petty tyrant in our lives since we have given him a foothold=place to operate in our lives.(8).
I have found keys to know who is in who is in control of me. Normally, they are negative things. If I catch myself not loving, if I am not kind, if my thoughts are not those that please GOD, I know without a doubt that I am walking in the flesh and dominated by the evil one.
If you ever find yourself there, cry out to GOD, HE will deliver you. But remember the one you listen to is the one who controls you!
PS the longer you willingly stay in the enemy’s camp the stronger the hold he has on you.
(1) 2Timothy 2: 24And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
(2) Ephesians 1: 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory
(3) II Corinthians 210but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: 16"For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?"[But we have the mind of Christ.
(4) Above verse and John 14: 15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth…. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
(5) 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 when you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer subject to the law…
(6) 2 Timothy 2: , 26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
(7) 2 Corinthians 2:11in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
(8) Ephesians 4: 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. 25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. 26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
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