Indulge Your New Nature
Monday, April 25, 2011 at 11:07AM 
A friend of mine told me that because of the message he was hearing in church each week, he expected to sin. He didn't expect to love well, follow in Christ's footsteps, or live in the strength of the Holy Spirit. He expected to sin.
His Christian leaders taught him to expect that.
And this is the message being offered most Christians on any given week.
It's like a Christian suffering with an addiction, confirming the worst [and least important] thing about him at the weekly meeting:
"Hi. My name is _______, and I'm an alcoholic."
Stop right there: Your behavior and struggle is no longer a reliable indicator of your identity. No matter how it feels to you, you are under a different, more powerful influence.
The problem with the expectation to sin is that it contradicts the already-remarkable work of Jesus in the Christian. Rather than fearing we'll indulge dangerous desires, seductive temptations, or selfish ambitions, we ought to think about indulging our new nature.
- Bing on our new goodness.
- Dote on our new, God-given passions and desires.
- Cater to our circumcized hearts.
- Nourish our new purity.
- Pander to our new heart's super-natural potency.
By the way, this is exactly what the Holy Spirit is up to in you: he is releasing the new and noble goodness he's birthed in your new heart. He's inviting you to the bash he's throwing there and waiting to see what kinds of unadulterated love gets stirred up in you, spilling and splashing onto those who need your life. Your new heart is a wellspring of life cascading out and advancing into barren places. Indulge your new goodness and let it come out and play.