"I Want To"

"For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do." Romans 7:19

I have heard people say, even preachers preach, that when you come to Christ you can still do anything you WANT to do, (you can drink all you want to drink, smoke all you want to smoke, cheat all you want to cheat, etc.) then they add--- you just don't WANT to do it any more. That is a misrepresentation and it leaves people with the impression that if it is something that you "want" to do, then it's all right to do it.

When I received Jesus as Savior, I had such a radical conversion that I completely turned from the sinful practices that were in my life at that moment- it was not a "progression" to lay down some sins. Even though certain sins were no longer a struggle for me, they ceased being part of my lifestyle, they lost their hold on my soul, there are certain others that did not (and have not) gone so easily. Paul talks about this in his own life in the Book of Romans. He said that the things that he did not want to do he found himself doing and the things he did want to do he didn't do. (Romans 7:15-20) He points out that there is a constant warfare going on within us- the flesh against the spirit, sin against grace.

When I come to Christ, I am born again but at that point I am not completely dead to self. My self still wants and desires that which is wrong, that which is sinful, that which tends to death, that which is in opposition to God's laws and rule over my life. My fleshly nature wants to hate, it wants to be intemperate, it wants to lust, it covets, it cheats and so on. This is why we are also told to "crucify the flesh", "mortify the deeds of the flesh", "deny ourselves", "take up our cross", "follow Jesus". So you see, I can't do anything I "want" to do, not if that which I "want" to do is sin. And until I am "dead" to that sin my flesh will still "want" to do it. When people come to Christ, you can't say to them that they can do anything they want to do, but you won't want to do it, because it implies that if it is something they want to do, then it's all right to do it.

Have a great day. I may "want" to do something that is sin, but it is not all right to do it... I must die to it.