Greetings!
Do your temptations purify you?
In the same way that our flesh impulses became flesh-patterns by repeating an action over and over again, so temptation can cause us to become fixed in the way of the Spirit by persistent choice. We can choose Him over and over until He becomes our holy habit and the ways of the Spirit become our spontaneous choice.
Temptation shows us the places
at which we are still responsive to sin. Temptation is a heart echogram. It pinpoints the weak places. It exposes flesh. Remember that the stimulus can only entice if a root of unrighteousness is present. Temptation exposes impurities. It unmasks our hearts so that sin cannot lurk there undetected. It exposes flesh and forces a crucifixion moment—a juncture at which you can choose to surrender your flesh to crucifixion, or to allow it to operate. Temptation forces flesh into the light where it can be destroyed.
Forgiveness of sins has been accomplished once for all at the cross. Purification from unrighteousness is an ongoing process—a process that is being accomplished by the Lord Himself. His Life in us is uprooting the root that grows the fruit.
Faithful and Just
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness
” (1 John 1:9). He is faithful. Faithful means trustworthy, true to His word. You can count on Him. He is faithful to what? He is faithful to the covenant. He has fulfilled the covenant and provided all that is necessary for our sins to be forgiven. The conditions have been met that provide for our forgiveness. When we come into agreement with Him about our sins, He is faithful to the covenant.
He is just. He is fair. He balances the scales.
Having accomplished that part of the covenant agreement that provides for the payment of our debt, He now completes the covenant by making us able, by His own indwelling life, to be cleansed from the unrighteousness that causes us to sin.
Do you see? He is faithful—He will forgive your sins; He is just—He will purify you from all unrighteousness.
Jennifer Kennedy Dean
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Content from,
personal writings, Jennifer Kennedy Dean 2018
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