But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. [NASB]

1 Corinthians 2:14-15

• We often struggle to understand God’s Word and His will for our lives. If we’re honest with ourselves, the difficulty comes from either a lack of familiarity with God’s Word and/or a desire to find some exception to the rules He gives us to live by.




• How can we claim to not know God’s will if we don’t even bother to read His Word every day? If we do not read The Bible every day, is this willful ignorance? Ignorance of God’s Law is no defense. If we want to know God’s will, we will study His Word and ask Him to help us understand how He wants us to live.

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. [NASB]

Joshua 1:8




• We often resist just doing what The Bible says. In regards to God’s Law, The Bible is extremely clear. We refuse, however, to take The Bible at its word because it conflicts with our own desires.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. [NASB]

Ephesians 1:1-3




• The Bible tells us in Genesis 8:21 that “…the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth…”. God’s Laws conflict with our very nature. This is why we resist simply doing what they say. Because of this, even professing Christians will often times look for loopholes or exceptions in order to continue in their sins. This search for loopholes allows us to be rebellious without coming right out and saying that we do not want to do what God tells us to do.




• Despite our professed faith and trust in God, we continue to believe that what God has intended for our lives, to live righteously, could not be as good for us or as fulfilling to us as the promises that sin makes to us. We continue to trust our rebellious nature and the temptations of the Devil more than we trust God.




• Because our desire to sin stands in such stark contrast to the words of The Bible; because we can’t seem to find the loophole or the exception that we’re looking for; God’s Word doesn’t make sense to us. We want God’s Word to say one thing, in order to fit into our lifestyle, but instead it says something contrary to our desires and, therefore, seems foreign to us. This is often why we can’t understand God’s Word; because we don’t want to understand what it is telling us about how we should live.

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Romans 8:5-8




• The thing we have to wonder is; who are we fooling? We are not fooling unbelievers. When they see us making excuses for our sins they simply call us hypocrites. We certainly aren’t fooling God. The only ones being fooled are ourselves. We are fooling ourselves into thinking that we trust God and have faith in Him. If we are trying to fool ourselves in this way, we need to ask God to help us, to strengthen us, to change our hearts.

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you– unless indeed you fail the test? [NASB]

2 Corinthians 13:5

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. [NASB]

Hebrews 10:26-27




• If we ask God to help us live the way He wants us to, He will help us. This is why God provides His Holy Spirit to us. God’s Spirit will strengthen us to help us simply do what God’s Word commands us to do. We must, first and foremost, want to stop sinning against God. These are God’s laws that we’re breaking. Our sin is against Him. If we truly love God and trust in Him, then we will trust that His will is best for us; even better than our own will.




• We can ask God to give us the strength to live righteous lives. As we begin living this way, we will quickly notice all the guilt in our lives disappearing because we no longer fight against God’s Spirit by trying to defend our sins. We will find that it becomes easier and easier to follow God’s will because sin will become contrary and an anathema to the Spirit that is inside of us. We will feel the joy of God in our lives because our sinful desires will no longer separate us from God. And when we do sin, our desire to confess and ask for forgiveness and repentance will be immediate; and, therefore, so too will be the peace that comes from knowing that we are forgiven.

I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. [NASB]

Psalms 103:12