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Author
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Topic: Put On The Lord Jesus Christ
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Carol Swenson
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Member # 6929
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posted
Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ
Romans 13:14
What does it mean to put on the Lord Jesus? It doesn't mean that we can put Him on, and take Him off as putting on and taking off clothes. It means that we are to arm ourselves, arm our minds with Christ. We are to arm our minds with the whole person of Christ, as God and sinless humanity. Arm our minds with His love, His eternal love, with His righteousness (it is the only one acceptable to God Almighty). Also arm our minds with His atonement, His blood sacrifice, that put away sin once and for all. He alone makes us at-one with God. Put on Christ in His offices, as Prophet to teach us, as Priest to appear in the presence of God for us, as King to rule us and provide us our needs. Put on The Whole Christ, His whole salvation, for there is no salvation in any other name, any other way. (Acts 4:12, John.14:6) "We are to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lust thereof."
Our fallen natures will seek to control us, and will excuse us when we fulfill the lusts of our flesh. We fulfill the lusts of our flesh when we indulge our minds to wander where they shouldn't, our tongues to say what they shouldn't, our bodies to do what they shouldn't, our feet to take us places we should not go. Why would any believer want to provide for their flesh? Why wouldn't a believer want to put on Christ so they would not make provision for the flesh? I am persuaded that those who continually make provision to fulfill the lusts of the flesh are not believers. "How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein" (Rom.3:2)?
Donald Bell, Pastor
http://www.lantanagrace.org/articles/puton.html
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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Carol Swenson
Admin
Member # 6929
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posted
Romans 13:11-14
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
So the night is far gone, the day is at hand; take off the pajamas of sin and put on the armor of light. The Christian life is not just waking; it is war. The armor of light is faith and hope and love. So put on faith in Jesus and hope in Jesus and love for Jesus. That is what it means to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
How Do We Put on the Lord Jesus Christ?
And how do you do that? We could answer this question simply from the nature of faith and hope and love themselves. Faith comes from hearing, so put on Christ by listening to the word of God about Christ. Hope comes from promises, so put on Christ by remembering the promises of Christ. Love comes by the loveliness of Christ, so put on Christ by calling to mind his beauty.
But there is a signal in this text itself that confirms that we are on the right track in answering this way about how to put on Christ. Verse 14: “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” The word “provision” means literally “forethought,” and the whole sentence would go like this: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and don’t let any thought in your head that would lead to a sinful desire—not just to the gratification of the sinful desire, but even the desire itself.
And we all know how this works—male and female, young and old. We know that by thinking certain thoughts we can awaken certain sinful desires. Paul gives us three categories of sinful desires and what they produce. They are just samples. Verse 13: “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, 1) not in orgies and drunkenness, 2) not in sexual immorality and sensuality, 3) not in quarreling and jealousy.” 1) Inordinate desires for drink—or we might say, “substance abuse” (alcohol, drugs, nicotine, caffeine, etc.). 2) Inordinate desires for sex—whether fornication or adultery or incest or bestiality or pornography. 3) Desires for attention and preeminence and control that produces quarreling and jealousy.
And the point of verse 14b (“make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires”) is “Don’t let any thought in your head that gives rise to these sinful desires.”
If you are bored, or lonely, or tired, or discouraged, or feeling hopeless, don’t ponder the relief of alcohol or drugs. They simply put you to sleep; they stir up the sleepwalking that Paul calls the works of darkness. It’s like going to work in your pajamas. Don’t let those thoughts in your head.
Frustrated housewife or working mom, married to a man who never learned affection, never learned tenderness, never learned how to simply talk about what matters to you, don’t daydream about romantic Mister Perfect. Don’t let those thoughts into your head.
Frustrated husband or single man, who wonders why there is no woman to embrace or why the woman you have doesn’t want to embrace, do not let illicit thoughts into your mind. Don’t put them there with your fantasy and don’t do it with your computer. 12% of all websites are pornographic. 25% of all search engine requests are related to pornography. Internet revenue from pornography is $2.5 billion a year. Don’t be conformed to this darkness. The night is far gone. The day is at hand. Put on the armor of light. Put on Christ. Don’t let thoughts into your mind that waken sinful desires.
Or what about quarreling and jealousy? If you have been wronged—maybe 30 years ago—or you have been overlooked, or belittled, or misunderstood, or abandoned, don’t let these thoughts into your head. They are a provision for the flesh. They awaken resentment and anger and envy and covetousness and jealousy. Don’t let these thoughts into your head, says the Lord.
How? Sometimes just trying to resist them reminds you of them. The answer is not mainly by direct resistance—though that is very important. We should indeed say NO! to a rising thought that would lead to sinful desire. But the answer is mainly in putting on the Lord Jesus Christ—that is, calling to mind the words of God that awaken more faith in Jesus, and calling to mind the promises of God that awaken more hope in Jesus, and calling to mind the beauty of Christ that awakens more love to Jesus. This is the confirmation I was talking about.
Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ is not just the alternative to making provision for the flesh. It is the way we keep from making provision for the flesh.. It’s the way we kill these sinful thoughts. It’s the way we keep them from even arising. When you put on the armor of light—daily (or hourly!) fresh faith in Christ, hope in Christ, love for Christ—it is hard for the works of darkness to cling to you. They are pushed out by the light. If your eye is good (if you see Christ as your treasure) your whole body will be full of light.
http://www.desiringgod.org
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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