No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God’s nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God.
According to this scripture, when we are born again, we cannot continue to purposefully, willfully, knowingly sin. Yet Paul says in Romans 7:15, I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate (NLT). Paul, like the rest of us, was growing into the fullness of what was his in Christ.
We can get confused when we read in the Word that we have the mind of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 2:16) and the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22–23), but we aren’t experiencing them in our lives. It is important to understand that having the mind of Christ doesn’t mean you automatically think as Christ thinks, and having God’s seeds of love, joy, and peace in you doesn’t mean you automatically operate in them.
When a woman first becomes pregnant, no one can tell because the seed egg has to grow. Similarly, when God blesses us with His nature, or the seed of all that He is, we have to let it develop before we see it fully take effect in our lives. Be patient, God is working in you.
Prayer of the Day: Lord, please develop Your nature in me, and strengthen me to live according to Your Holy Spirit, amen.
