It is actually a blasphemy to tell people who are not born-again about the commandments of God and expect them to live by them. Because when we do that we are implying that a lost person, with a sinful nature can live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, when a lost person fails to live up to the standards of God then we should not be surprised, because that is exactly the purpose of the commandments: to show a lost person how far off from God’s goal of holiness he is, and how impossible it is for him to attain that goal of holiness by his own efforts. Living by the commandments was never a way to attain forgiveness, and that is why they had to sacrifice blemishless animals in the Old Testament—it has always been by the blood. Let me tell you a little story:
In Iraq when Ramadan, the fasting month in Islam, comes almost everybody becomes extra religious. One thing men do is that when a girl who is dressed sensually passes them by, then look at her then say, “Allah, make her a cow in my eyes!†Another popular saying they have is, “One hour for your god, and one hour for your heart.†Implying that their god’s desires are not the same as their heart’s desires. That is because when you try to live to those strict holiness standards in your own power you will eventually break, and they deal with it by: either sinning knowingly then asking for forgiveness; or live for their god one hour and then live for their sinful nature in the next hour—they have to give their sinful nature an outlet to express itself.
Let me explain my point using another analogy:
In 1960 a small manned submarine called the Trieste reached a record 10,911m (about 36,000 ft) depth in the Challenger Deep—the deepest known point in the oceans. What surprised the two mariners is that there was life there! Fish had such small skin that you can see through them actually lived there, while most submarines with shells made of inches of steel would be crushed by the weight of the water way before they reached 25% of that depth!
The fish was able to withstand such high pressure from the water column weight because the pressure on the inside was as much as the water pressure from the outside—so their skin could be as thin as it gets and they would be fine. (This fish has no gas filled swim bladder because if they did they would be crushed since water is much denser than air.)
Living the Christian life is similar: you can put all the external layers of precautionary measures you want to avoid sinning but you will if on the inside your joy is not complete in the Lord. You can impose 1000 ways to prevent someone from sinning, but if that person wants to sin then he will find 1001 ways to sin! And the only way for a human being not to want to sin is if he finds no joy in sinning, but we humans have to find joy in something so for us not to sin our joy has to come from the Lord. We have to be filled with the Holy Spirit on the inside—Who is more powerful than Satan—not to be crushed by Satan’s temptations.
When Joseph was tempted by his master’s wife to sleep with her he left his cloak in her hands and ran out of the house, not because he did not see her, did not hear her, or did not have physical desires, but because his desire to live for God outweighed all other desires.
(Summer 2011; Toronto, ON.) by Fadi
I said all that to bring you back to the initial topic: spiritual freedom. If a person is addicted to pornography, for example, then he is only truly free if his joy in the Lord is complete, that is: if he has a close union with the Holy Spirit on daily basis throughout the whole day by living a surrendered life for the will of God. Having to move the PC to a more open space in the house, keeping the curtain open and the lights on, installing a filter on the Internet, having an accountability partner, etc, are only precautionary measures—they will not change the man from the inside out. For example, locking up a murderer will only prevents him from murdering, but it will not stop him from being a murderer. And that is not what the Christian life is about: it is about being that transforms our doing, and not doing for the sake of having a fake appearance of being.
I am not against those precautionary measures—I for one have an Internet filter installed on my PC—but a person can only be truly free if his joy in the Lord is complete. That does not mean if a person is born-again then he will not sin no matter what and now he can watch anything he likes, go anyplace he likes, and does whatever he likes! We have been freed from sin, and not freed to sin! The Bible says:
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?†Romans 6:1-2
What I am saying is this: our approach in Christianity to sin should not be the same approach of all religions to sin and that is by covering it with a band aid here and there and everywhere and hoping all will go well. No, we should bring our sins in confession to God, wrestle with Him in prayer, and let the Holy Spirit live in us and free us by living a victorious spiritual life that is pleasing to God through us.
