THE DOUBLE CURE

Recently I was looking through a cabinet in my bathroom and saw a small can of what turned out to be foot powder.

On the label were words that indicated that it both cured and prevented athlete’s feet problems. As I though on that, it popped into my mind, this stuff is a double cure and there are other products that claim to be able to do that. Solve the problem now and prevent a similar problem later.

Then my mind went back to the words of an old hymn;  “Rock Of Ages” One verse read;

Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Cleanse me from its guilt and power.
I read something by Lewis G. Hale I thought was worth repeating.

“If God should tell you that He would on request perform spiritual surgery on you, would you allow it? If He would make it impossible for you to ever lie again, would you agree to have it done? If you could never cheat again (even on IRS returns,) would you let God do that to you? You would never be unfaithful to your mate, be spiteful and ill-tempered. You would keep your promises. You would show kindness and compassion. You would be willing to share your goods with the helpless. Ad Infinitum (and so on).The amazing truth is that you do not need some special or miraculous experience to overcome the power of sin in your life.

God has promised He will not allow us to be tempted above what we can bear, but with every temptation we face, God will provide a way of escape. 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Take the double cure, cleansed from sin’s guilt and power.”

People wish to be rid of the guilt of sin (get saved) but they have some difficulty with the power of sin for within the scope of that lies my desires even those I wish to be rid of.

I’m going out on a limb and say that all Christians want to walk upright and please GOD, but somewhere between want to and what I do, something happens, and every intent gets nullified.

The big question is how I overcome this weakness in my daily experience, read on!

Proverbs 6:6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!

This is good advice but I went to the fleas instead for this problem.

I had heard of what I thought was the most illogical thing of all and that was the flea circus. When I thought of a circus it was elephants and clowns and such. But a flea circus?

Since there were no PC’s in those days I went to the library and read about the training process of fleas went forth. One of the first things was to place the fleas in a box and put a glass over it where every time they jumped they would hit the glass and have pain. From then on, they would only jump up to the glass without hitting it. They removed the glass and the fleas wouldn’t jump out and further training took place like pulling a wagon. Even though the fleas were free they didn’t know it and acted as if they were in bondage.

This is the position Christians who are under the sway of the power of sin live, not knowing they are free.

In Romans 6 Paul tried to explain that Christians are free from sins power and no longer have to obey the power of sin.

Romans 6  Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If one is serious about serving GOD they should stay with these verses until they become a reality in their life. Go to the flea and learn how a captive lives and then see how a flea acts when he is free born.

Are you a circus flea or a free spirited one?

Let your prayer be; Be of sin the double cure, Cleanse me from its guilt and power and set me free.