1 Corinthians 6:17
But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
Here is the heart of the matter. If we are joined with the Lord, then how can we be participants in things that do not please the Lord? This is a quite logical. It really speaks of priorities. What is most important in our lives? Is self? If so, then we will live to please self, including giving in to sinful impulses that all people have. We can attempt to suppress these impulses, but we will more often fail. This is the struggle Paul describes in Romans 7:13-25. We need the Holy Spirit to do a deeper work in our lives. We need transformation at a fundamental level of our being. In practical terms, this is with our mindset, how we think, what our values are, what is important to us, how we view the world, what we think about things and people. We need the Holy Spirit to grow within us the mind of Christ. With God’s help, we can have a new impulse that beats within our hearts. This impulse is love and it will be expressed in holy living. When we are joined in spirit with Christ, what Paul often describes as being “in Christ,” then we will begin to think like Christ, which will lead to acting like Christ. That is our goal as Christ followers, as disciples of our Master. The good news is that we do not do this on our own. A great passage to reflect further at this point is Romans 8 and life in the Holy Spirit.
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