Oswald Chambers... Utmost... Sept 8.

DO IT YOURSELF

"casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God... " 2 Cor. 10.5

Determinedly Demolish Some Things. Deliverance from sin is not the same as deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, that the saint can only destroy through sheer neglect. But there are other things that have to be destroyed through violence , that is through God's divine strength imparted by His Spirit. There are some things over which we are not to fight, but only to "stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord..." (Exodus 14:13) But every theory or thought that raises itself up as a fortified barrier "against the knowledge of God" is to be determinedly demolished by drawing on God's power, not through human effort or by compromise. (2 Cor. 10.4)

It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin- Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that is be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched- the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers "against the knowledge of God." We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory. (Hebrews 2.10)
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Seriously? I love it. There are things WE have to do. Things we are accountable for in regards to banishing them from our lives. Anything that "exalts itself against the knowledge of God" we are responsible to tackle. We have to DETERMINEDLY DEMOLISH THESE THINGS - through His divine strength imparted by His Spirit. We have a role in this.

At times we are called to STAND- the Lord will deliver us from the situation. At times we are called to EVADE... (for instance we know it is simply wrong to steal, cheat, participate in infidelity etc.) and well... in times when our thoughts, words, or discussions exalt themselves against the knowledge of God we are called to CHOOSE! Choose to "DETERMINEDLY DEMOLISH THESE THINGS."

WOW!