Hi Rachel,
One scripture which always helps meis Galatians 5:16.
...walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
It's not telling us what NOT to do ("don't you dare carry out those evil desires!"), but telling what TO do. The result is that we avoid the wrong thing.
Go East and you won't go West. Tell the truth, and you can't be lying. Think on things that are pure and lovely and praiseworthy and you won't dwell on evil things.
I know that's kinda oversimplified, but what I'm trying to say is that God has provided us not only
instruction for purity, but the
nature to live purely as well. Paul writes,
Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh (Galatians 3:3)?
Obviously, no. Here's a trick question I usually ask in an evangelistic endeavor, but it applies every bit as much to sanctification:
True or false: Salvation is based on perfect obedience to the Ten Commandments.ANSWER:
True! But not
our obedience, HIS obedience! The Lord Jesus was our Substitute in
life as well as in death and resurrection. His obedience is accounted to us! Now it is our privilege and pleasure to render obedience as He gives us the grace to do so, even knowing that in these frail corrupt bodies in a corrupt culture we fail so often in thought, word, and deed.
REST, my sister, in
His obedience, in the knowledge that He will finish what He has begun - recreating us in the image of His Son.
A work in progress until the resurrection,
Robin
