The Self Life is Slavery and Sin

Anywhere that I am in the flesh, I am a slave. There’s only One Life that is not the slave-life and that is the Life of Christ. Every other attempt to live this life is from self and slavery. Yes, my every attempt is slavery. My life apart from Christ’s Life is slavery. So, if I am working, living, being in the flesh, then I am a slave. ONE Life and only One Life is free from slavery—Christ’s.

Slavery and Sin

I expect this from blatant sin; for if I am in sin, I am a slave to sin. But what of the good that I do; is that included? Yes, if I am doing it then it’s slavery. This is because in myself I am a slave to sin. My old nature is the slave nature. The only resolve to his state of being is to die.

Anywhere I am in the flesh, I am in sin. Is this taking it too far? Could this be true? Is everything I do sin, bar Christ’s own performance? Yes, I believe so. It is all about source. “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit” (Luke 6:43 NLT). My nature inherited from Adam and Eve is a sin nature. This nature is a bad tree. By choosing the Tree of Knowledge, we chose the bad tree from which NO good comes. The self-life is sin-life.

Here is one of the bottom line examples from scripture: Abraham and his children. The difference between the slave and the freewoman and the children they bore was simply this: “I Do It!” or “God Does It!” From the freewoman has come the child of promise and line of Christ. “You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about Him, for salvation comes through the Jews” (John 4:22 NLT). God chose to bring His blessing through the line of Isaac. Whereas the fruit of the slave woman, even to this day, is death and destruction. The effort of Sarah and Abraham to “assist” God has brought about heartache and contention. And with this being said, God’s grace is still able to overcome.

Self Life Serves Self

The flesh can do nothing but serve self and love self. There is no faith in flesh and without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Flesh only believes in what serves self – this isn’t faith. If I can do or perform it, I need no faith, only belief that I can. On the other hand, Christ’s Life always serves the Father and surrenders to His Will. His Life is the Life that I have been given to reign in me. His mysterious Life expresses His Life, Love, and Will in and through me. This is the ONLY Life that pleases the Father, and the only Life that gains eternal reward and expresses His Kingdom reality.

The work to receive this is but a ‘yes.’ I have believed even the exchanged life was about my effort. But, no! It is as easy as, “Yes Father, I choose You over me.” And with this agreement, His Life begins to express itself through us. There isn’t an effort or striving to make it happen, there’s only the work to believe. To have faith that Christ is our Life and faith that He desires to live His Life through us.