Posted on 03/02/2022 7:43:17 PM PST by Pilgrim's Progress
“My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments” (Proverbs 3:1 KJV).
Now, there is a way to keep it in your head by stowing it in your heart. You see that? A lot of religious people have the law in their head. You’ve seen those people that talk about keeping the commandments and then they don’t. The problem is that it is in their heads, but not in their hearts. You get the law in a man’s heart, and there is a good chance it will stick in his head—and he’ll be more likely to keep it. That is why a Christian is more likely to keep the law than anybody else. Now you have to remember that our flesh is contrary to law so that you can’t move the flesh to keep it. Paul said in Romans 1, “For God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel” (1:9).
You serve God in spirit, and your body will follow suit. It doesn’t want to—believe me—it is just a slave to your will.
“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Rom 7:25 KJV).
So, a Christian is the closest thing, to this point, that God can find because God has circumcised his heart, purified it by faith. Now, a Christian can sin and go against the law, but what is the problem? The problem is that he will be miserable doing it. If a man is truly saved, and he knows it is wrong to commit adultery—he will suffer for it—if he commits it. Now he might try it, he might think he can do it like a lost person, but he can’t. There is something in you that magnifies the law, that upholds the law—and that is that Holy Spirit that is in you. Something that is not in the unsaved man. He can break the law and enjoy it. A Christian can’t.
Solomon says, “Let thine heart keep my commandments.” That is why we try to get folks, especially young kids, to memorize Scripture. Especially if they are saved—it is a lot easier for them to memorize Scripture with their inner Teacher. There is no appeal to the flesh to keep the law, it’s the heart where the matter is.
If I really, really trust Him, Shall I ever fret?
If I really do expect Him, Can I e’er forget?
If by faith I really see Him, Shall I doubt His aid?
If I really, really love Him, Can I be afraid?
— Record of Christian Work
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