“But now being made free
from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the
end everlasting life.” –Romans 6:22
A plant is the seed, and
the seed is the plant. This is the way God created it. When you
plant an apple seed, it will grow an apple tree; which will yield apples.
This fruit will not be oranges or watermelon, but apples. Why?
Because the plant is the seed and the seed is the plant. People are the
same way, the seed that is planted in our heart is who we are. If we have
the seed of sin within, then by and by we will do sinful things; and we will be
defined by those things. If we are made free from sin, and have the
holiness of God within, then we will do Godly things; and we will be defined by
those things. Our desires, drive our choices, which turn into our
actions; that in turn, reflects our desires. We are what is within.
Granted, people are complicated beings, so intelligence, environment, and
various other factors can curtail this truth, but ultimately, when you take a
candid view of yourself, it stands: We are what is within.
The bad news is that we
are born in sin and shapen in iniquity.
You can reject the Bible and it’s teaches if you please, but any reasonable man
or women must agree that people are not born into this world with a desire to
be righteous. They have the inbred inclination to steal, cheat, lie, and
do things that are not right. The sooner we as individuals accept that
the Bible is true, and Jesus is the Son of God, and he is the answer to the sin
that reigns within man’s heart; the better off we all will be. The seed
that is in us when we come into this world is sin, and by and by it begins to
bear fruit. We desire things that are ungodly, unholy, and unrighteous;
that desire drives our choices, which in turn shows itself in our
actions. The grace of God works with us via our conscience, and conviction,
trying to show that we are going the wrong way. That we have a seed of
sin within our hearts and it is the cancer that plagues our life. Sin
will destroy your life, and it will destroy your soul. The wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Chirst our
Lord. The devil would mask, and overlay the issue of sin with
self-justification, there have been a many a people who have died and gone to
hell because they thought they were “basically, a good person.” One might
say: “so I get drunk now and again, or slip up and lie, or had a little one
night stand, I am still a good person, basically.” If you have sin
reigning within and that is the seed that is sown; you are not a good
person. Nobody, who is born into this world is a good person, and when
the Spirit of conviction falls upon you showing you the holiness of God, and
the judgment of God, and the love of Christ; calling you to be made free from
sin, you realize that you are not a good person and that you are lost and need
a Savior. That is the bad news, which is, you are lost and need a Savior;
and it is also the good news. I is the good news
because there is a Savior, and since you realize you’re lost you can be saved!
There is a way out of sin! Yes, you can be made free from sin. The
power of God through Jesus Christ can clean you up and purge out the inbred sin
that is sown within. It can take out the seed of sin, and plant within
you the seed of holiness. When you yield your all over to God, when you
give your heart to him, and say Lord “have thine own way.” He can clean
you up, and clean you out. He can put holiness within so that there will
be holiness without. In doing so make you free from sin. You no
longer have sin reigning within, but you have God within, and your desires
which were once unrighteous are now righteous. This seed of holiness
yields fruit that is holy. If you are a drunk then you stop drinking, if
you are a thief then you stop stealing, and if you’re a liar than you stop
lying. Jesus Christ is a Savior who saves from sin!
Now, holiness is not a
magic bean; that just grows and grows once it’s planted. As any other seed on this Earth, it needs to
be watered, and weeded, and tended to on a daily basis. You have to read, prayer, fellowship with
believers and witness to others the glorious experience that you have been
gifted. The devil is still out there and
the storms of life are still brewing, but you have the power within to defeat
him and you can bear fruit unto holiness; unto the holiness that God planted
within. In this you glorify Him, and
there is no greater calling in life.
