Jeremiah 13:23
This is a very popular verse that Jeremiah uses to describe man’s inability to change his own heart. Israel and Judah had sinned against the goodness of the Lord for many years and were now reaping the harvest of lives wasted. God has always dealt with them in mercy, but they are now nearing the end of His Old Covenant dealings, and the futility of their lives is summed up in this verse.
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin?” And “Can the leopard change his spots?” are questions that strike at the core of who a man is. No amount of mental power can change the color of the Ethiopian’s skin, nor remove the spots from the leopard. Notice that God chooses examples that are extreme. Had he merely said, “no man can change the color of his skin”, that would have been a half-truth. While he cannot change his race, he could certainly darken himself in the sun. God chooses the extreme case to show us the depths to which failure and sin run.
Man sins by habit, having had a lifetime of practice to ensure that he is good at it! Just as you can easily tie your shoe while thinking of ten other things that you need to do, while never once thinking about the process of tying that shoe, you can sin just as easily. The reason for this is that you have spent a lifetime failing in one way or the other until it is consistent enough to be considered habit.
Having received Jesus as your Savior, you have died to the old sin nature that is within you. Paul said that, “our old man is crucified with him” (Romans 6:6) and that, “he died unto sin once” (6:10). Now that we are saved, our old man is dead and our new man is alive in Christ, so we can live free from the old habits of sin. It was not our ability to change that has made the difference in our lives, no more than the leopard can change his spots. Instead, it has been Christ’s finished work that has finished off the old man with the lusts and the affections thereof.
If that be the case, why do believers still sin from time to time? Knowing that we are a new creature in Christ and that old things have passed away and all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17), then sins that we commit now must be done because of the old habits that die hard. Our spirit man is born-again, but our minds are changing every single day. This is why Paul said to renew your mind (Romans 12:2) in order to live in a manner that does not resemble the world.
Paul talks of “the motions of sins” in Romans 7:5. These “motions” are the habitual things that we do, and until we understand that in Christ we are no longer condemned, we will live in guilt and fear over those things, being under them instead of over them. Paul proceeds in that same chapter to ask, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24). He knew that it was a “who” and not a “what” that he needed. The “who” is the risen Jesus!
You have no ability to change you, but the blood of Jesus has regenerated you so that you are not the person that you used to be. Any sin and failure that happens in your life now will come as a direct result of you forgetting who you are in Christ, and then living below that standard. He has changed your spots!
This is a very popular verse that Jeremiah uses to describe man’s inability to change his own heart. Israel and Judah had sinned against the goodness of the Lord for many years and were now reaping the harvest of lives wasted. God has always dealt with them in mercy, but they are now nearing the end of His Old Covenant dealings, and the futility of their lives is summed up in this verse.
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin?” And “Can the leopard change his spots?” are questions that strike at the core of who a man is. No amount of mental power can change the color of the Ethiopian’s skin, nor remove the spots from the leopard. Notice that God chooses examples that are extreme. Had he merely said, “no man can change the color of his skin”, that would have been a half-truth. While he cannot change his race, he could certainly darken himself in the sun. God chooses the extreme case to show us the depths to which failure and sin run.
Man sins by habit, having had a lifetime of practice to ensure that he is good at it! Just as you can easily tie your shoe while thinking of ten other things that you need to do, while never once thinking about the process of tying that shoe, you can sin just as easily. The reason for this is that you have spent a lifetime failing in one way or the other until it is consistent enough to be considered habit.
Having received Jesus as your Savior, you have died to the old sin nature that is within you. Paul said that, “our old man is crucified with him” (Romans 6:6) and that, “he died unto sin once” (6:10). Now that we are saved, our old man is dead and our new man is alive in Christ, so we can live free from the old habits of sin. It was not our ability to change that has made the difference in our lives, no more than the leopard can change his spots. Instead, it has been Christ’s finished work that has finished off the old man with the lusts and the affections thereof.
If that be the case, why do believers still sin from time to time? Knowing that we are a new creature in Christ and that old things have passed away and all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17), then sins that we commit now must be done because of the old habits that die hard. Our spirit man is born-again, but our minds are changing every single day. This is why Paul said to renew your mind (Romans 12:2) in order to live in a manner that does not resemble the world.
Paul talks of “the motions of sins” in Romans 7:5. These “motions” are the habitual things that we do, and until we understand that in Christ we are no longer condemned, we will live in guilt and fear over those things, being under them instead of over them. Paul proceeds in that same chapter to ask, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24). He knew that it was a “who” and not a “what” that he needed. The “who” is the risen Jesus!
You have no ability to change you, but the blood of Jesus has regenerated you so that you are not the person that you used to be. Any sin and failure that happens in your life now will come as a direct result of you forgetting who you are in Christ, and then living below that standard. He has changed your spots!
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