Infant Christians
When believers are so attached to their old natures and the sin that always accompanies it, they will remain infant Christians. When you have a large number of infant Christians in a church, then that church is paralyzed in infancy and will never do the work that God has called it to until the members break free of their bonds. This is a surprisingly common state in the Christian world.
Satan is delighted to see "The Church" immobilized by infant Christians emotionally bound to their old natures so they can never move ahead with God. Satan's kingdom is never threatened by bound Christians. Satan will actively resist every step that a believer takes to break free of the bondage from the old nature which he placed on them. The old nature is his playground where he can reach into the bag of pain and hurl abusive, condemning and disturbing thoughts at unhealed Christians. Even though a believer is in God's kingdom, he can still be harassed by Satan particularly if that believer is still chained to the old nature.
Our old nature becomes familiar and comfortable under
our religious clothes.
This conflict between the old and new nature can easily be illustrated by a Christian who is struggling with an old habit like alcohol or bitterness. These are characteristics from his old nature which Satan put into his bag to destroy him. After salvation he may still be struggling with these problems since the emotional root that caused the behavior is still unhealed. In this state, Satan can still overwhelm this believer with the urge to drink or hate. When God tries to activate the new nature and call the believer to greater closeness, Satan then turns up the urges and hatred so the believer feels so discouraged and ashamed that he turns back from God's call.
Emotionally Free
Have your own Christian guide to emotional health!
Have your own Christian guide to emotional health!
You can see from this illustration that the scars of our past will hold us back from God's plan for us until we are healed and set free. The longer we have spent in Satan's kingdom, the greater is the accumulated damage that we need healing from. We cannot heal ourselves by denying the reality of the chains. Ignoring the problem only guarantees that it will come back to hurt us again. The Holy Spirit is waiting to set you free from your chains once you become aware of them.
As we are healed, the bag empties, the chains fall off and we walk to emotional freedom. Satan then loses his influence on us since he no longer has the ammunition from your past to throw at you. When he tries to remind you of your old habits, you can just walk away confident in the love of God which surrounds and protects you. The fruit of the Spirit will then begin to appear in your life as you are set free. Your relationships with God and with others will be transformed.
Next month we will describe "The Chain of Emotional Bondage."
This article is excerpted from "Emotionally Free" by Dr. Grant Mullen
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