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Colin Smith: Don't expect that the power of the Holy Spirit will make you feel on Tuesday evening, to take a random point in the week, like you are standing on the victor's podium, taking your bow for your performance in the Christian life during that day. You're listening to Open the Bible Weekend with Pastor Colin Smith, and Colin, if we are not to expect that, that's not what we're going to experience, what should we expect?

Unidentified Speaker: Well, here's how Paul describes the experience of having Christ in you. He talks about it in Colossians in chapter 1. He says, to that end, I toil and I struggle with all his energy that so mightily works in me. It's an amazing combination, isn't it? So you've got the energy of Christ actually working in you, the power of Christ living in you, and Paul says, I struggle. So it's not that you're feeling like you're wonderfully triumphant. You're able to press on in all the difficulties of life because of the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit within. You know, I think a lot of people may still struggle to kind of wrap our minds around that because when I hear you say, I struggle, but I struggle with the presence of Christ in me.

He's the one who gives me the strength to struggle. How does that work? Well, I mean, I often put it this way that, any dead fish can float down the river, but it actually takes some life in you to go against the course of the stream. And that's the point. When the presence of the Holy Spirit is in a believer's life, there is some energy, there is some power to go against the direction of the stream. That's always a struggle, never easy for the fish to go against the stream, never easy for a Christian to go against the tendencies of the flesh. But what makes it possible is the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Steve Hiller: And obviously, we need to be making sure that we're feeding ourselves on God's word and being continually strengthened in our walk with him.

Unidentified Speaker: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Steve Hiller: Well, let's get into God's word right now. We're in Galatians chapter 2, really kind of drilling down on verse 20 today as we continue the message, New Life, New Battles. Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: I'm trying to settle in your mind today this one point that you grasp the Christian life with two handles. It's in the body and it's in Christ, and you'll never understand it if you try to grasp it with only one handle. Let me put it this way then, in Christ you are a new creation, but your struggles are shaped by your experience, by your environment, and by your own temperament. See, here is this wonderful truth that when you are regenerated by the Holy Spirit, you truly do become a new creation, but it's a new you. It's still you. It's you made new, but it's not another person. So it's you put in a position to deal with the stuff of your life that comes from your temperament, that comes in some ways from your experience, that comes in many ways from your environment.

So this helps us to have some kind of window into what each of us are experiencing in the Christian life. All of us are tempted, but we're not all tempted in the same way. How you're tempted has an awful lot to do with your temperament. It has an awful lot to do with your background. The particular battles that each Christian faces are not exactly the same. And it has something to do with environment as well. The spiritual dullness that comes from a comfortable Christian life is not the noticeable battle for our Christian brothers and sisters in our sister church in Haiti. Not many of them are struggling with that.

Not any of them are struggling with that. But that is a battle for many of us here. Why? Because we live in the northwest suburbs. That's our battle. You were born in another part of the world, your experience will be quite different, and your battles may be quite different too. But this is one place where it's for us. Here's another way of putting it, just trying to get the twin tracks of the Christian life here. Sin is no longer your master. That's wonderfully, triumphantly true of you in Jesus Christ, but sin will always be your enemy so long as you are living in this body. Wonderful statement in Romans chapter 6 and verse 14, sin shall no longer be your master.

But it is always your enemy. Let me give you a picture. This has helped me, and maybe it'll help at least a few of us. Imagine a war is taking place between two armies, and picture yourself engaged in the conflict. Here we are together, and we're behind some rocks, and we're taking heavy enemy fire and eventually our escape route is cut off and we're surrounded and we're captured. You surrender your weapons and you're carted off together with the others in your unit and eventually you arrive at a place where you're going to be imprisoned. It is like a massive cage. A whole crowd of people are already there inside.

The cage is opened, you're roughly thrown in there, and when you begin to get oriented to where you are, you realize that this place is being run by a man who looks absolutely terrifying. He shouts out orders, and all the people who have been there for some time do exactly what he says, and you value your life, so you decide you're going to do exactly the same. For the next year, your whole life is in the cage. You eat, you sleep, you exercise, but all the time you are under the power of the enemy, you are in the cage and you have no alternative really but to do what he says to you. And there isn't a way out.

As long as you're in the cage, there is absolutely nothing you can do to overcome the enemy. Then one night, as you're sleeping, you hear an extraordinary noise and a commotion, and suddenly you realize what is happening. Your captain has come, and he's brought all of his forces, and he's making an assault on the cage in order to set you free. The locks on the cage burst open. He grabs you from where you are, and together with the others, he loads you into a jeep, and off you go and up into the hills, and your captain then hands you a weapon. You haven't had one in your hands for a year. He says, you'll need this.

You're back in the battle now. The next day, you're up there in the hills, and the man who's been running the cage, he comes out and he's looking for you, and he has all of his forces with you, and here we are, the unit, and now we're armed and now we're out in the open. We're in an entirely different position. The man who's run the cage, of course, is shouting orders. He's got this loud hailer and he's saying, now you come back in, you can, he's shouting all kinds of orders. Of course you don't pay attention to him. Why? You're not in the cage, you're free. But now you're in a battle. And he will hunt you as long as you live.

And you will always need your weapon. And you must always be on your guard. And when he is gone, others will come after you. But you're not in the cage. You're free. But being free means you're in the fight. That's the point. Sin is no longer your master. You're not in the cage. That's Romans 6:14. But friends, sin will always be your enemy. You will always be fighting it. This will always be your battle, and how will it be waged as long as you are in the body? It will be waged by faith in the Son of God who loves you and who gave himself for you. Now, friends, here's how you can be discerning with regards to teaching you hear about the Christian life.

Ask two questions about any teaching that you hear regarding the Christian life. The first question should be this: does this teaching take seriously the power of indwelling sin. You hear some teaching on the television, you read some newfangled Christian book that's come out. Ask this question as you read. This teaching that I'm reading, this account of the Christian life that's being so wonderfully presented to me, does this teaching take seriously the power of indwelling sin in the Christian life? Does it take seriously that I live this life in the body, not in heaven. Second question, does this teaching take the power of the indwelling Christ seriously?

Is this faithful to the power of the new life and to the presence of the Holy Spirit and to the light of hope that shines into every human life through the gospel? Does this account of the Christian life give evidence that this author, this speaker, has a firm grip of both handles? New life, new battles, a new freedom, but a new fight, in Christ, but in the body. So if I can put it visually for you, remembering the twin tracks of the metro going into Chicago, beware of any account of the Christian life that looks like the monorail. Beware of any teaching regarding the Christian life that looks like the monorail.

You see, over the centuries, and it's still true today, there have been a line of Christian teachers who have tried to come up with an experience or a formula that would be like a silver bullet for the Christian life. Some way in which you can get out of the struggle and into a higher form of the Christian life. And it may often sound like this, it's an experience of yielding to Christ, or of full surrender, or of baptism in the Spirit, or of letting go and letting God. The list goes on and it goes on and it goes on. What these teachings tend to have in common is that they have the same aim, and it is an attempt to resolve the tension that runs all the way through the New Testament.

And the invitation is always the same. Oh, you poor ordinary Christian, on the old Metra going down the twin tracks, why don't you come and join us on the shiny new monorail? Well, I tell you that teaching like that is always a distortion of the New Testament. And I urge you to grow in discernment, and whenever you recognize the monorail, realize that there won't be much good for your soul that comes from it. In the body, in Christ. Set free in the fight.

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Open the Bible Weekend with Pastor Colin Smith in a message called New Life, New Battles. Now stay with us, we'll get back to this in just a moment. Well, Open the Bible Weekend is listener supported. It is your generosity that allows us to bring you Pastor Colin's teaching, whether you listen on the radio, through the podcast, or online. So thank you for supporting the ministry. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to say thank you by sending you a copy of the ESV Psalms Photography Edition. And Colin, what's one thing you'd like people to take away from this book?

Colin Smith: Well, I think the Psalms are the prayer book of the Bible, and we should use the Psalms in the way that they were intended to be used, to pray them and to shape our own prayers. You know, I think Christians often put emphasis on spontaneous prayer, and that that's a great thing, but some folks find that really difficult. And if you find it difficult to know how to put words to your thoughts and to bring a prayer to God, there's no better way to learn to pray than to use the Psalms, the prayers that the Holy Spirit himself has given to us in Scripture. And of course, you can use any Bible for that, but this photography edition of the Psalms that we have this month is absolutely gorgeous.

And if you're going to work your way through the book of Psalms and to turn these prayers that the Holy Spirit has given into your own prayers, I think you'll find this edition that has each Psalm on its own page, accompanied by a beautiful image that just relates to what it is that God is saying in that Psalm. You're going to find this really helpful, uplifting, and inspiring.

Steve Hiller: It's a gorgeous edition of the Psalms, and I think it's going to be a help and a blessing to many. Well, we want to send you a copy as our way of saying thank you for your financial support this month. You can give online at OpentheBible.org or when you call 1-877-673-6365. That's 877-Open365, or again, the website is OpenTheBible.org. Let's get back to the message. Again, here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: In the body, in Christ, set free in the fight. Now, let me just make a couple of applications before we conclude here today. Once you've got a firm grip on the Christian life, once you've got your hand on these handles, what difference will that make to you? Let me suggest just two things. The first would be this, get real about the battle. Get real about the battle. You are living this Christian life in the body. And so it is so important for you to grasp that you really are up against the world and the flesh and the devil. This is not going to be easy. You will be tempted. You will feel your own weakness.

Satan will have a special eye on you. You were in his kingdom, and you've been taken out of the cage, and he will never rest in his attempts to get you back. You are safe in the hands of Christ, but you're in a fight. You're in a battle. How realistic are you about this battle? You know, when our sons were in high school, I remember very clearly an occasion when one of them asked me if he could go to a particular party. Now, I asked a number of questions, and from the questions that I asked and the very honest answers that he gave, it was very, very clear from the folks who were going there and from the description of other things that were going to happen there, that this was not going to be a party that was going to be a good scene for him to go to.

The answer was very obviously going to be no. Walking into temptation makes no sense for a Christian. And parents know how these conversations go, right? so after we've talked it round, well, dad, can I go? No, son, that's not the place for you. And you know the ace card that a high schooler can play at this point. Dad, don't you trust me? And I remember the moment so clearly because I said to him, of course I don't trust you. And he looked absolutely stunned because that is not the politically correct thing for a parent to say. It's not what you're supposed to say to your high school student, right?

I said to him, of course I don't trust you. I said, because you're made of the same stuff as I am, and I wouldn't trust myself from what you've told me is going to go on in that party. And you should learn not to trust yourself either. Get real about the battle. It was a wonderful conversation in the end. But it was a decisive moment. The naivety that says, hey, I can go into any environment, it'll have no effect on me. So you develop the habit of sitting in front of the television or in front of the computer screen, and you're watching stuff you know you should not be watching, but you have rationalized it.

You have said to yourself, this won't affect me. Of course it will affect you. It is affecting you. It has affected you already. It's going into you. It's shaping your thoughts. It's shaping your actions. It's gaining a grip on your life, and every time you do it, it's making the battle harder next time. You live this life in the body, so get real about the battle. So much failure in our Christian lives arises from foolishness because we have not taken seriously what we're learning today. I live this Christian life in the body. Are you taking that seriously? And here's the second and obvious out application.

You live in the body, so get real about the battle, but you live by faith. And so start trusting Christ with regard to the outcome. Let me encourage the person who feels defeated. Right now you're saying, oh, hey, you just put your finger on exactly where my battle is, and I feel so defeated, and I don't know that I can ever get out of what I've got into now. I'm saying to you, well, now you're getting realistic about the battle, so let's talk about what it means for you to exercise faith in Christ in this regard. The Son of God has not left you. You are a Christian today, the Spirit of God indwells you.

The battles, the struggles that you are going to face, whatever they are, be it overwhelming circumstances, be it particular temptations, here's what you can say as a Christian. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. And the Son of God is with you, now and every day of this week. He is totally for you, and you are able to face the toughest battles of your life. How? By appropriating the power of Christ who is present with you by faith, by looking to him. Lord Jesus Christ, help me stand. We're going to look more at that next week. But take away this, that when you're looking to Jesus Christ in faith, it means that you don't despair.

Despairing and looking to Christ in faith, these are opposites. Of course, there will be times when you feel completely defeated, but this is the moment for you to say, Lord Jesus Christ, you are with me, and I place my hope in you. And if you're feeling right now that all of this may be very useful for other people who have real temptations, but really you're doing quite well in the Christian life, as some of us might be feeling. Let me just say this to you, that looking to Christ in faith not only means that you don't despair, it means that you don't presume. I've noticed, that some Christians these days are really picking up on the fascinating fact that the New Testament describes believers as saints.

That's wonderfully true. It's true. But it is a dangerous thing to affirm yourself as a saint if you have lost sight of the fact that you're a sinner. Remember the monorail, because that might just be what you're on. A believer is a saint, but only because he or she is in Christ. And without Christ, I am completely and utterly lost. I have no standing before God without him. My life flows from him. My hope is on him. All my good is in him. It is by the grace of God that I am what I am. And so living by faith means you don't despair, you don't presume. Living by faith means that there is humility and that there is hope.

You look to Christ and you will see that this Christ to whom you look is the Son of God, and that he loves you, and that he gave himself for you. So I invite you to look to this Christ today, to humble yourself before him, and to find your hope in him. Bowed down beneath the load of sin by Satan sorely pressed. By war without and fears within, I come to thee for rest. Be thou my shield and hiding place, that sheltered near thy side, I may my fierce accuser face and tell him, thou hast died. The Son of God loved you, and he gave himself for you.

Steve Hiller: Great reminder from Pastor Colin today that just because we come to Christ and we receive that new life, it doesn't mean that we're done with battles in our lives. No, we still continue to battle sin, and we need to be real about that battle. But the great thing is, we also live by faith, and so we can trust Christ for the outcome. Well, today's message is called New Life, New Battles, and it's part of a larger series entitled The Inside Story of the Christian Life. If you ever miss a broadcast in the series, come listen online at OpentheBible.org. Colin, I know that today you said that for the Christian, sin is no longer your master, but it will always be your enemy.

But you know, for some of us, it feels like sin is still our master.

Unidentified Speaker: Yeah, it does because sin is a very threatening enemy, and it always wants to lie to us. But the bottom line here is that this is an issue of believing the gospel. The Bible says sin shall no longer be your master. Now, I don't experience freedom by saying I believe, but by actually believing, and that means believing what God has said, that sin shall no longer be your master. Jesus saying, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

Steve Hiller: All right, so you've made the point in today's message that because of this truth, we can say no to sin. So what happens then when we enter into that fight and we fail?

Unidentified Speaker: And you will fail. We all fail. the issue is that we entered into the fight. The evidence that a person is a true Christian is not that you have an unbroken string of victories. The evidence that you're a real Christian is that you do engage in the battle. And that's something that God calls us to. It's something that every one of us can do and will do if we're following after Christ today. We will fail. There's the cleansing blood of Jesus, but we'll get up and we'll fight again.

Steve Hiller: Well, that's a good word and a great way to wrap up today's broadcast. If you want to go back and listen to this program again, you can do that at our website. Just come to OpentheBible.org. For Pastor Colin Smith, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening, and I hope you'll join us next time. Open the Bible

Unidentified Speaker: Weekend

Steve Hiller: is a listener-supported production of Open the Bible.

Unidentified Speaker: At Open the Bible, we're grateful for like-minded organizations committed to sharing the gospel around the world. And to that end, I'd like to commend the work of Global Fingerprints. You know, in the book of James, God calls us to help orphans in their distress. That's a clear command, but it's not always clear how we should obey it. And this is where Global Fingerprints comes in. Through Global Fingerprints, you can sponsor a vulnerable child to help meet their physical needs and ensure they hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to commend Global Fingerprints to you. They're focused on equipping the local church to care for children, and where there is no church, they help to plant one.

If you'd like to help a vulnerable child, you can find more information on Global Fingerprints at our website, openthebible.org/gf. That's openthebible.org/gf.