Sin No More

Colossians 2:20  If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world?


The world in the images of St. Paul so often represent all that draws us from obedience to God. The world and the flesh fight against the will of God. For Paul if we have died with Christ to the elemental spirits, then we have been given the power of the Holy Spirit. With such power Paul writes in a number of places that we need not sin any longer. We have all sinned and fall short of the grace of God, but with the Holy Spirit that need not remain so. Jesus spoke in the positive about what living in Him would mean, love your enemies, turn the other cheek, while Paul taught in the negative, all the worldly choices that are against God's will. He made many of those choices until he accepted the power of the Holy Spirit.


I don't know about you, but I have found that in times of temptation, if I turn to the Holy Spirit for help I can resist, but at other times I don't think to turn to God. Even some of my most troubling weaknesses have surrendered to the power of God. I depend on God for awhile and I live in peace and harmony with God and man, but soon I get distracted from my spiritual center and fall prey to the pressures and temptations of the world. 


So why do we live as if we still belong to the world? I was talking with some folks at bible study last week about the serious deception that has infiltrated the church. It sits in our subconscious because it has been so ingrained. It becomes the normal response to our behavior, and what is it you may ask? I think it is the prevailing notion that sin is unavoidable, as if we have no availability to the power of God.


Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery remember, "Go and sin no more!"