Sin Nature Crucifixion
The image of the snake in the header image above can be used to illustrate the human sin nature within the believer that is like a snake hidden within them. The venom of this snake can represent the poison of the sin nature that is toxic and can poison even the good deeds that a believer engages in. Even good things like giving to the Lord can be polluted and become evil because of the sin nature within believers. Even starting a ministry can often be done out of motives derived from the sin nature which is not seeking to do the work of the Lord but only to harvest human praise or attention or to escape the boredom of being faithful at home to their spouse and children. On Judgment Day everything that a believer did on earth will be tested by fire and all that was derived by the sin nature will be burned up.
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (NIV)
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.
14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.
15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
This scripture has application for crucifixion of the sin nature because it speaks of judgment day when all secret things (like human motives) will be brought to light and exposed. It is the human motives empowered by the sin nature that can defile everything that a believer does. There are even believers who invent their own nonsense ministry which we call a “barking-at-the-pigs” ministry which is entirely derived from the sin nature.
See the link “Glossary” for more details.
The sin nature does not want believers to sit still or remain faithful where God has planted them but instead, they are driven to engage in “non-stop” activity and garner both limelight and human attention. So, a housewife who is bored with managing the home will often invent a “barking-at-the-pigs” ministry which is derived from her own sin nature which is seeking to escape boredom and desires to garner human praise and limelight and attention.
The sin nature has a voice and it has its own evil desires and it will inspire a believer to do all kinds of things in order to feed these wicked impulses. These desires are “evil” only because they did not come from God and the secret motives are evil when they initiate things from their own sin nature.
1 Corinthians 3:11–15 (NASB95)
11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.
14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.
15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
The scriptures above speak of building on the foundation of Christ with both flammable and inflammable materials. This foundation shows that these scriptures refer to believers but those believers who yield to their sin nature will typically invent all kinds of nonsensical things just to engage in their own self-glorification. Whenever they do anything for the kingdom of God out of self-serving and evil motives (derived from the sin nature) then they will produce only flammable materials in heaven. These things will all be burned up on judgment day and only those things that are inflammable will remain. These inflammable things are those things that were done in obedience to the Lord with them adding nothing more and nothing less than exactly what the Lord commanded them to do.
Lordship means that a believer is submitted to the Lordship of Christ and follows the Lord’s directions like a sheep following a good shepherd. Jesus Christ is the foundation of a believer’s life and so everything they do on earth that is under lordship will result in rewards of inflammable materials like gold and silver and costly gem stones. These will become their rewards in heaven for all eternity but everything done out of the inspiration of the sin nature will be burned up and turned to ashes and be lost!
Good Deeds Polluted by Sin Nature
Acts 4:34-37 (NIV)
34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales
35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement),
37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
These scriptures say that those believers who owned lands or houses would sell them and bring the money from the sales and place it under the jurisdiction of the apostles (placing it at their feet) and these funds were used to meet the needs of people in the church like widows and orphans who had no provider in life.
There was a man named Joseph who was a Levite from Cyprus who was also called Barnabas which means son of encouragement. This man sold a field he owned (apparently outside of Israel where he owned land as a Levite) and this brought this money and placed it under the authority of the apostles in the church. Church history says that this was the same rich young ruler who was asked by Jesus to sell what he had and give it to the Lord.
Matthew 19:20-24 (NIV)
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
If this rich young ruler was the same man as Joseph the Levite of Cyprus, then it would appear that later he had counted the cost and examined his heart motives and thought about why he was not able to give when Jesus asked him to do so. He then must have repented and made a heart change and so he sold his possessions and gave them to the church to support those who were righteous poor (not wicked poor). The apostles saw to it that no freeloaders partook of these gifts because by they operated revelation gifts and they would know who was truly in need and who was only a freeloader. The Word of Wisdom and Discerning of spirits could be used to stop all financial fraud in the church and this is why all donations were placed under the administration of the apostles in the church. Apostles commonly operate with revelation gifts to know things present and to discern secret heart motives of humans.
See the link “Spiritual Gifts” for more details.
So, Joseph the Levite from Cyprus sold property and gave it to the apostles to administer within the church. This was done with good motives out of a pure heart and he was nicknamed Barnabas because he served as a great encouragement to the believers within the Messianic Community in Jerusalem.
Acts 5:1-11 (NIV)
1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.
2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”
5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.
6 Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”
9 Peter said to her, “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”
10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
Later after Joseph of Cyprus sold his land and gave the proceeds to the church then another man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira also sold their land. Apparently, the people in the church had praised the rich young ruler Joseph of Cyprus when he gave such a sacrificial donation to the church. Ananias and his wife Sapphira must have noticed this praise and attention of the people and they also wanted to glean the same for themselves. So, they also sold their property and gave it to the church in the same manner as Joseph of Cyprus had also done.
But the Apostle Peter operated by the spiritual gifts of both “Word of Knowledge” to know present things and “Discerning of spirits” to expose secret heart motives. Immediately Peter knew by “Word of Knowledge” that this couple had agreed to lie and deceive and pretend to be more sacrificial than the really were.
Mark 12:41-44 (NIV)
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.
42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.
44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything–all she had to live on.”
It must have been well known among the believers about the story where Jesus said that the poor widow gave more to God than all of the rich people because she gave sacrificially more than what she could afford when she gave everything to God. The rich people were only giving out of their great surplus and often blew trumpets to call attention to how much they gave so that they could garner human attention and praise.
This sin of giving with impure motives is the exact same sin as was committed by Ananias and his wife Sapphira because they wanted to appear more sacrificial before the congregation than they really were. By saying that they gave it all they were in fact lying before God and for this sin they both dropped dead as soon as Peter exposed their deception by the operation of spiritual gifts.
This scriptural example provides evidence of how the giving of one man Joseph can be compared to the giving of one couple Ananias and Sapphira. The later was giving out of evil motives to garner human praise and attention while for former gave out of a pure heart before God. One was blessed for his giving but the other coupled dropped dead instantly in judgment for their evil scheme of harvesting human praise and attention!
This illustrates that even good things like giving to the church and be polluted and defiled by human evil motives. These evil motives are derived from the human sin nature and in fact those people who are of the “Sanguine” temperament type will typically be willing to “kill” in order to have human acceptance or praise! Possibly Ananias and his wife Sapphira were of the Sanguine temperament type as indicated by their lust for human attention and praise because they were actually willing to die for it!
See the link “Temperament Types” for more details.
Man Who Talks About Jesus
I know of a man who invented his own nonsense ministry carrying around a wooden cross which he uses to garner human praise and attention. Whenever he speaks before a congregation, he always talks about how much he loves Jesus causing the people in the audience to typically remark “No one loves Jesus more than this man!” But there is a great self-deception involved in this behavior because in fact when this man finishes speaking the people are thinking about how much he loves Jesus rather than thinking of “Jesus” himself. This means that he is garnering human praise and attention by his pious-sounding words that he speaks. All of the praise is actually going to this man rather than to Jesus. But in fact, this type of thing does not work at home because his own wife was not impressed with his “pious-sounding” rhetoric. He lost his wife to divorce for this reason, because he refused to give up this “idol” of false ministry he created for himself that glorifies no one but him! So how could a man noted as “loving Jesus” more than anyone else have polluted his good deeds by evil heart motives within? This is because his nonsense ministry was in fact invented of his own sin nature and is designed not to glorify Jesus but instead only glorifies himself. His pious-sounding words are repeated in non-stop manner until everyone around him is convinced how much he loves Jesus. Except this does not work with his wife and children at home when he is too busy traveling the world harvesting human praises to stay at home and be a husband and father and to put his life and own household in order. The fact remains that no one will give him any praises for staying and home and putting his family in order. His wife divorced him because he was an absentee husband and father who only cared about harvesting human praises for himself. In fact, he loved human praises and craved it like a drug and was addicted to it. Everything he did was centered around harvesting human attention and standing in the limelight. Those who know this guy would normally protest saying that this man loves Jesus more than anyone else but again this is only an image that he carefully cultivates for himself because he is addicted to this human praise like a drug!
Here again, when a believer stands before the judgment throne, they will have everything tested by fire and all that they have done while alive on earth will be tested. There are people like this cross-carrying man who actually served no one but himself all of his life in a quest to garner human praises. But then there are faithful people who did nothing except care for their family and be a good provider and a husband and these will have great rewards in heaven although they were never famous in front of the multitudes of people.
God sees the secret motives of the human hearts and God will judge these motives if they were pure or if they were defiled by the sin nature. The sin nature within believers craves human attention and this same sin nature causes them to invent nonsense ministries that serve no one but themselves! So, such people are serving only themselves all the while they put forth empty verbiage about their love for the Lord. But if they loved God they would have stayed home and took care of their wife and children rather than abandoning them to travel the world only to serve their idol of lust for human praise or attention.
Even good things can be perverted by the sin nature and even Levites have to beware that they do not follow the impulses of their sin nature and justify themselves by saying “Thus says the Lord!” to endorse their own plans derived of human origin and their own sin nature.
I also know of a Pastor who had a good work in Missouri but he hated the place and the culture and the climate and the humidity and everything about that location. But he had started a Christian school and it was a great service to the believers so they would not have to expose their children to the defilement of public education in that place.
But this man lied and said the Lord was calling him to go to California where he loved the weather and the culture and the people. So, he left his ordained place and went where he did not belong. On judgement day he will have to give account for leaving his ordained place. He also said that the Lord had told him to do this thing but in fact this is an example of using the Name of the Lord in vain! God did not tell him to do that and the fruit of it was only destroyed lives when he turned his church in Missouri over to a false cult leader who closed down the Christian school and brought ruination to the lives of the entire congregation he had left behind. The bad fruit of his decision to leave is proof that he was not hearing the voice of God.
The sin nature has a voice and it has desires and it craves things that are evil and lusts for human attention and praise and will pollute even good things that a believer might do. It is this pollution that will be judged on Judgment Day when everything that was derived from their sin nature will be burned up and destroyed. Only those things that were done out of honest and pure hearts before God will remain.
Never Judge by the Flesh
Therefore, believers are not to judge by the natural outward appearance because some who appear so pious and holy are in fact serving only their sin nature and are carefully cultivating such an image to garner human attention and praise. Those who appear to be building great works in the Name of the Lord are often the same people who are serving only themselves and their sin nature to exalt themselves in the sight of humans. Such believers will have little reward left to them when they have all of their huge pile of dead words burned up which were contaminated by their sin nature within. Humans cannot judge the outward appearance of others because those who look like they are real stars for the kingdom may have no rewards at all in heaven and may even experience judgment. Those who were faithful at home their family may have huge rewards in heaven simply because they did nothing more and nothing less than what God told them to do.
One of the best-selling Christian books in America was produced by an author who did a sales campaign to find out what people wanted in a church then he gave it to them. So, he was able to build a large ministry with large numbers in his congregation. He was hailed as a hero and an innovator but in fact he was only catering to the sin nature of people to give them what they want.
The same is also true of the music-based entertainment churches such at those located in Singapore and Australia and California. The Pastors of these churches had thousands of members and could make a huge income based on providing the people with Christian entertainment. The musicians dress worldly and have body piercing and tattoos and at the same time speak of their devotion to Christ by singing lyrics about loving the Lord. This allows the people to be like the world and dress like the world and at the same time profess to be Christians! This feeds the sin nature of carnal Christians who suppose singing lyrics of devotion is the same thing as being devoted to God.
See the link “Idols of the Heart” for more details.
But the same people involved in the Christian entertainment churches are worldly and live like the world and are doing their own things and there is no lordship evident in their lives. The same is also true of the largest church in the United States that is run by a a man who is not even saved. This man was raised in the church and has mental assent only but was not rejuvenated spiritually. Instead of teaching on biblical faith this man puts forth only success motivation talks. This is not true biblical teaching and most of his congregation will perish in hell together with this false leader because most of them are not even saved. His talks appeal to the success motivation people who love to hear that sort of rhetoric but as far as the kingdom of God is concerned, he is doing nothing to help people make it to heaven when he himself is not even saved. How can someone impart salvation by preaching when they have not experienced salvation themselves? It is by the operation of Word of Knowledge and Discerning of spirits that Apostles know what is really happening with popular Christian movements on earth. Just like Peter exposing the impure motives of Ananias and his wife Sapphira so an Apostle can also expose things that sound good and look good but are actually derived from the evil sin nature that dwells within all humans.
Galatians 6:4 (NIV)
4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else,
Each believer must stand before God on Judgment Day and then the secret motives of their hearts will be revealed. All that is derived from their human sin nature will be burned up and their only rewards will be that which was done from honest and pure motives in the sight of God. Only God can judge the motives of the hearts. But God has also distributed the office of Apostle to many men who are able to discern these things for the purpose of calling people to repentance before it is too late and before they cross over into perdition.
The only responsibility of the believer is to be diligent and faithful and to do what the Lord has called them to do. God will spend years on character development of his servants only because he is tired of having them fall due to the sin nature and evil motives within them.
Those who start their own ministry or go to the mission field of their own initiative are not those who will remain because they are following an invention of their sin nature and God did not call them to do such things.
Matthew 20:16 (NKJV)
16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”
This scripture has application to the fact that many are called to follow the pathway of the cross which leads to the crucifixion of their sin nature. But the sin nature is strong and many believers refuse to give it up and press forward serving idols of their sin nature even after they have been exposed by an Apostle or a Prophet operating in spiritual gifts.
Isaiah 1:19 (NIV)
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
Believers (including Levites) have to be both willing and obedient to the Lord. If they will be willing together with their obedience then they will have reward from God. All believers (including Levites) have to learn to lay down their lives for their spouses and children and for others God has called them to minister to. They cannot follow the selfish sin nature within them and still please God.
Also, the Lord will often use those around us to expose our own sin and evil motives. When these are exposed, it is the duty of the believer to repent of and forsake all things that are displeasing in God’s sight.
God’s idea of success is quite different than that of humans. God’s idea of success is that his children have their sin nature crucified and their selfishness killed off and that the character of Christ be developed within them. The Lord uses many circumstances to expose the sin nature to believers only that they might see it and repent of that evil which resides in their hearts.
For example, whenever a believer responds in love when they feel like revenge and anger then they kill a part of their sin nature within by not yielding to it. God’s perfect will is not what is always happy and comfortable to their selfish sin nature. Killing off selfishness within the believer is a big and important endeavor of the Lord.
But believers have to submit to this purification process and if they choose to attend an entertainment-based church or a success motivation church or a church that gives them what they want then they will typically have not chosen to partake of God’s refinement process. If they give themselves what they want they will end up in hell but if they submit to the lordship of Jesus they will be purified. Many are called into the purification process but few will choose to remain but instead will seek some sort of comfort to give them what their sin nature desires.
Belonging to a dignified social club church can pamper their sin nature because they are never challenged by an Apostle or Prophet and as a result they will never repent or be purified in such a place. Choosing such a church is a way of choosing death because those who lead such a group and those who follow will all end up in hell in the end.
Churches are typically filled with wounded people who have been hurt by those who have not submitted to the crucifixion of their sin nature. Also, for Levites the greater their ministry (and the more people they can reach) the more ability they have to hurt and destroy others if their sin nature is not killed off. Church history is filled with people (ministers) who destroyed and harmed thousands because they had no godly character, no godly love, and cared for no one but themselves.
Isaiah 1:19 (NIV)
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
God wants humility and meekness in the lives of believers but it should also be noted that being unwilling is a form of rebellion against God. Only when a believer (including the Levites) are both willing and obedient then they will experience the full blessings of God.
Looking Over the Fence
Believers (including the Levites) have to stop looking over the fence and imagining that the grass is greener on the other side. They have their own pasture where God has placed them and they have to be willing and obedient in that place to receive rewards from God. God always focuses on inner heart change and this is the purpose of the refining process.
Living By Faith
The ordained path of the Levite to live by faith may appear hard but actually their path will end up being easy and tremendously fruitful. They have to stop looking at others and only focus on what God has called them to do. They will do increasingly less of their own labor and self-effort as they learn to trust God will bring their needed provision to them. When the Levite has faith for his provision then he will be free of the fear of man and control of humans. They will then rely totally upon the Lord for their provision and not people. They will have no fear of offending supporters because they know God is the one to bring in their finances. So they can speak the truth in love even when God calls them to deliver a hard rebuke to the people to expose sin.
Those who are the greatest in God’s kingdom will operate by faith and will not be controlled by fear of man or fear of offending supporters. They may not be known to the masses but they are going to reign as kings in God’s kingdom.
The Levite is to be bold and single-minded in purpose and walk on the pathway that God has given to them. They are to stop despising their own lot in life because it hurts God’s feelings when they do this. They have a pathway that is blessed when they do nothing more or nothing less than what God has called them to do without adding anything of their sin nature to go with it. God’s pathway of refinement is a blessed route to take because it will result in the Name of the Lord being glorified rather than in human self-exaltation.
Levites have to stop having a pity party as Elijah did when he said that they killed all of the Prophets and he was the only one left! God told him that there was still 7,000 devoted followers of the Lord who did not bow to the false idol Baal. There are still thousands of Fivefold Ministry Levites who are doing great things for the Lord without a newsletter or mailing list or fund raising. These are men who are of the category in heaven of being called “great” because they trust in God alone for their income and do not resort to gimmicks or entertainment or flattery trying to buy the support of humans. Those Levites who live by faith must stop being double-minded and embrace their calling and way of life and relish it rather than feeling sorry for themselves.
In heaven those who are great will not be those who have made themselves great on earth. Trying to build buildings or other edifices on earth is not related to the kingdom of God but only builds the empires of humans. God’s blessing is upon those who chose to accept his pathway of purification and living by faith so they should not feel sorry for themselves for making the right choice in life.
God cannot skip over character development and make a man into an overnight success because this would only destroy them. Levites must stop looking to humans for their approval and stop comparing themselves with others. They also have to stop living too far into the future and learn to live one day at a time with the Lord. They must train themselves to follow the still small voice of their spirits and not be moved by outward circumstances.
Levites should not follow the status quo or do what is popular with others. They are to seek the Lord in every detail and never do anything in presumptuous manner. God’s Spirit will adjust to the needs of the people so they have to be sensitive to move with God in every detail.
Summary
The sin nature is alive and well in all believers including the Levites. God has not removed the sin nature when they were saved but instead gives them grace to overcome that sin nature. But nevertheless, they have to utilize this grace and yield to it in order to overcome their own evil tendencies as are derived from the sin nature within them.
Isaiah 55:6 (NIV)
6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
This scripture speaks of seeking the Lord while he may be found and calling upon him while he is still near. This has application to all believers (including Levites) to call upon the Lord for His grace to overcome and utilize that grace while it is present. They can experience victory over all aspects of the sin nature if they will yield to the Lord while he is present to help them. But if they do not utilize the grace of God to overcome then a time will come when that grace will no longer be present. Then they will be left to themselves in permanent bondage to sin and this could lead to their own damnation. They must utilize God’s grace when it is present to overcome sin and the sin nature and not passively indulge that which must be put to death in their lives.