A Year of Daily Devotionals: A Journal by Bill Berry … October, 2008
INTRODUCTION: Moving into October, I will be continuing to use the devotionals of John MacArthur in his book Strength for Today; and his topic for the month of October is Sin and Combatting Its Power. ... So, if you come along with me as I blog my devotional journal entries, maybe we all can come to learn to hate our sin and avoid its influence more in our lives. That's my goal! ... BTW, again if you want to add your comments, I'll be putting my daily entries in the comments to this October 1 blog. Feel free to join in with your comments. ... <'BB><
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October 1, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 3: 23 [see in bold] … 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
My Journal for Today: This month, again with John MacArthur’s help, I will be looking at the topic every Christian should understand, and that is “sin.” I say the latter because sin is likely the only thing in this life to be feared by a Christian. In his devotional for this date from Strength for Today, MacArthur quotes an early Church leader, Crysotom, who wrote, “I fear nothing but sin.” Obviously, believing today’s highlighted passage/verse, we know that sin is pervasive in mankind, a force with which ALL Christians must deal. Therefore, understanding the dimensions of sin is of utmost importance to ALL believers. If you are reading this, I would assume that you might be as interested in learning more about how to avoid and deal with sin as do I; so, let’s dive in and grow in Christ together.
First, we know that sin causes death, physical and spiritual death; and it leads to eternal separation from God. Therefore, follow the logic with me. If we, as Christians, pursue God; and sin separates us from God, … then would it not behoove all Christians to do all we can to avoid sin? However, as we will see, all our efforts are futile unless we surrender our ALL to the One Who atoned for our sin … Jesus Christ. I boldly maintain that the most prominent reason most Christians cannot or do not avoid sinful choices is their incomplete surrender to God’s Spirit, Who has saved them; and as we saw in my devotional study last month, it is God’s Spirit Who is fully willing – and most certainly able [see 2Cor. 12: 9] - to provide us with the grace we need to overcome sin, if – and it’s an enormous IF – we humbly receive God’s enabling grace to do so.
MacArthur, in today’s devotional, scripturally defines sin with something that struck me to my core. He wrote, “Sin is the only thing that God hates (see Jer. 44: 4).” And MacArthur goes on to declare that since God hates sin so infinitely much, so should we hate sin, … those of us who call ourselves by His Name. Oh, I hate sin and my sinfulness! Do you? I’m going to assume that any Christian who reads this hates sin and anything in our lives which contributes to sin.
Maybe you don’t hate sin as much as you think you should? Well, join the club! This month, as I wrote above, I’m going to be exploring more of the dimensions of sin to determine just how deeply I understand the nature of its hold on me or any Christian. … I want to learn to hate sin so much that my choices will avoid the consequences of sin and draw me ever closer to God.
Are you with me in this? If so, come along with me daily; and we’ll do all we can, with the help of God’s word and John MacArthur, to more fully protect ourselves against our own sin nature.
My Prayer Today: Lord, separate me from sin and draw me closer to You. Amen
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October 2, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 7: 23 [see highlighted verse in bold] … 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
My Journal for Today: In Strength for Today on this date, John MacArthur claims, “Every TRUE (emphasis added) Christian dispises sin and yearns to be free from it.” This, I believe, is accurate; but WHY? Well, as MacArthur also elucidates with ample reference from Scripture, …
“Sin …
… PLAGUES EVERYONE (Rom. 3: 19, 23)
… Kills everyone it infects (Rom. 5: 15; Eph. 2: 11)
… Corrupts the mind/heart (Jer. 17: 9; Eph. 4: 17 – 19)
… Brings us under Satan’s control (John 8: 44; Eph. 2: 2)
… Makes us objects of God’s wrath (Eph. 2: 3)
… Robs our peace (Isaiah 48: 22)
… Yields misery (Job 5: 7; Rom. 8: 20a)
… Grieves the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4: 30)
… Causes God not to answer prayer in our accord (1st Pet. 3: 7a; Jams. 5: 16b)
… Limits our service to God (2nd Tim. 2: 20 – 21)
… Can disqualify us for service in God’s Kingdom (1st Cor. 9: 27b)
… Renders worship unacceptable (Ps. 33: 1; Is. 1: 14)
… Causes God to withhold blessing (Jer. 5: 24 – 25)
… Robs us of all joy (Ps. 51: 12)
… Subjects us to God’s chastisement (Heb. 12: 4 – 11; Prov. 3: 11 – 12)
… Stunts our Spiritual growth (1st Cor. 10:” 21)
… And above all … SIN DISHONORS GOD (1st Cor. 6: 19 – 20).
Are these not enough reasons to motivate us as Christians to avoid sin in our lives? I would exhort you to do some meditation and study on those verses listed above; and if you do, you will come away, as I have, with a more intense hatred of the sin in your [my] life. If for no other reasons than the first and last reasons listed above [and capitalized], we Christians should be driven to avoid sin in our choices and our lifestyle of living sacrifice and worship (see Rom. 12: 1).
Certainly, as I read and studied the above listed verses this morning, I was drawn into agreement with the Apostle Paul as he declared in Rom. 7: 24, “Wretched man (or woman) that I am?” And to think that God’s love, mercy, and grace still attend me and even pursue me as a child of God. And this little study alone shows me that there are things which I can do to avoid sin which dishonors God; and that is what we’ll be pursuing in the rest of our study this month. I sure hope you want to surrender more to God’s Spirit and join me in this quest for God’s freely given righteousness.
My Prayer Today: O Lord, You have freed me from the effects of my sin … HALLELUJAH! Amen
Note: Since I will be leaving so early for the airport tomorrow morning (Oct. 3) as my wife and I are headed to Hawaii for vacation, I've decided to do another devotional today (what a blessing!) and post my journal entry for Oct. 3 today. I will do my best, given wifi access for my laptop to keep up with the posting of my journal entries while we are gone; but be assured that I'll be spending quality time with God each day while we're traveling. One never takes a vactation from his relationship with God. <'BB><
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October 3, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: 1st John 1: 10 [see highlighted verse in bold] … 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives.
My Journal for Today: I agree with John MacArthur, from today’s Strength for Today, that there is a concerted effort in our post-modern culture to eradicate the concept of “sin” from our consciousness; and I’m afraid, by denial, that is also true in many of today’s churches. However, no human attempts to create a fog of denial can eliminate the truth that the evidence of sin is all around us, which began in the Garden of Eden (see Gen. 3: 11 – 13). That is why the Apostle John is so forceful and direct, exhorting Christians to “fess-up” to our sinfulness (above, as in 1st John 1: 8 – 10).
Today, MacArthur takes his devotional readers through a litany of heroes of the faith who recognized, some more easily than others, that confession and cleansing (see 1st John 1: 9) is essential to maintaining a right relationship with God. Many of you, right now as you read this, may be thinking of David, who needed Samuel’s help to unload his guilt (see 2nd Sam. 12: 13 and Ps. 51: 3 – 4). He had blinded himself to his horrible sin; and he needed the eyes of a wiser believer, in the Prophet Samuel, to open his eyes to his (David’s) need for repentance and confession. One can also read Isaiah declaring his woeful sinfulness (in Isaiah 6: 5); and Daniel, who was such a man of Godly integrity, both of whom still confessed their sin (see Dan. 9: 20). In the New Testament, Peter, who after Pentecost became the leader of the Apostles, declared, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (from Luke 5: 8) And of course, Paul, even after a life which powerfully honored God, labeled himself as the foremost of sinners (see 1st Tim. 1: 15).
So, all these men of God recognized what John ardently taught to us in 1st John 1: 9 … that the only way to be in God’s favor was to be cleansed by open and honest confession. Because, without that we deceive ourselves (1st John 1: 8) and actually label God to be a liar with our defense or denial (1st John 1: 10). I, for one don’t want to be in that company.
Do you?
My Prayer Today: Cleanse me, O Lord, of my sinfulness. Amen
Note ... We have arrived in Hawaii (Kauai to be more exact). And I'll be doing my devotionals, with my journal entries from here on the "Garden Isle" this week. Not a bad gig, for sure. I should get some real inspiration from this lovely State. <'BB><
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October 4, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: 1st John 1: 5 … 5 This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.
My Journal for Today: If you’ve studied God’s word for any length of time, I’m sure you’ve noted the biblical usage of the light versus dark metaphor, often used to compare holiness to evil or truthfulness to dishonesty. Scripture also clearly refers to our Lord as “… abounding in … truth,” as did Moses in Exodus 34: 6 [NASB] , or the Psalmist referring to God as “… the God of truth” [in Psalm 31: 5], or Isaiah using the same reference in Isaiah 65: 16. Jesus, Himself, called Himself “… the way, the TRUTH, and the life (see John 14: 6).”
We, as Christians, can not only lean on the character of God as being truth and light, especially from our relationship with Christ; but we also can lean on his Word as the reflection of His truth and light. David prayed (in 2nd Samuel 7: 28), “O Sovereign LORD, you are God! Your words are trustworthy, … “; and Jesus prayed (in John 17: 17), “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.“ And you may have memorized, as have I, one verse from the acrostic poem about God’s word in Psalms 119: 105, which states “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.“
Therefore, when we are looking for light in the darkness which surrounds us in the world; … when we are looking for truth when it comes to moral decisions in our life, we Christians, who believe in the absolute truth of God’s word (believing in 2nd Tim. 2: 16, 17), can KNOW, beyond any doubt, that no evil or dishonesty can emanate from God and His word (see Ps. 5: 4). Therefore, since God cannot lie (see Numbers 23: 19 and Titus 1: 2), we will always be led by His light to make decisions that are in line with God’s will and His truth when we seek His will and/or His way through His word.
This then begs certain questions. As we deal with sin in our lives (i.e., the darkness of evil and dishonesty), … do we know where to find God’s light? In other words, how well versed are we in God’s word so that we can see His light shining on the path of truth when we’re faced with the temptation of evil or in a fog of untruth? How much do we lean on God’s word to provide us with His light to straighten our path in life (see Prov. 3: 5 – 6)?
If we avoid God’s word; or if we’re unwilling to devote the time and diligence to put God’s word deeply into our hearts via memorization of His truth, how can we expect to navigate the fog of darkness from this world and the deception of our own hearts [see Jer. 17: 9 and Ps. 119: 9]?
I leave it to you to deal with those questions personally. I’ve certainly had to deal with them in my life. They were questions I faced years ago in my discipleship; and I can testify that deciding in my heart to surrender to God’s call and to pursue His word rigorously in my life (as one would find in a careful study of Psalm 119) has been the most productive life discipline in which I have ever chosen to involve myself. I pray that you will find the truth of that memorable Scripture passage, to which I referred above, Psalm 119: 9, 11, to be an incredibly powerful light, one which is God’s prescription for avoiding sin and dealing with darkness in our lives.
My Prayer Today: The more I know Your word, Lord, the more I know You. Amen
October 5, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: 1st John 1: 6 [see highlighted verse in bold] … 6 If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
My Journal for Today: I strongly believe that John MacArthur is correct (from today’s Strength for Today devotional) that we live in an age where most people will not take responsibility for their sinfulness; and I contend this includes many who claim to be “christian,” blaming societal factors or genetics for their behavioral choices. And many non-believers in the culture even claim that studying and living by a strict biblical code of conduct will damage self esteem. Hence we see groups like the ACLU and the People for the American Way doing all they can to strip concepts like “Christ, Christianity, and/or God” from the public arena. There is even a political move in this country to codify Christian rhetoric as “hate speech,” with a desire to prosecute those who use scriptural doctrine as behavioral standards for issues such as labeling homosexuality as “sinful.”
Yet, we read in Scripture (see Mark 2: 17) that Jesus, Himself, pronounced His mission to be a healer for those sickened by their sin and His purpose to free those imprisoned by the effects of sin (see Luke 4: 18). And if that’s Christ’s mission – to save the lost from their bondage to sin and to heal and release the believers who remain bonded to Satan’s sin call – it should be our mission as well … to do all we can as Christians to eradicate sinful choices from our lives and to be a channel of the Savior to the blinded non-believers who need to see the truth of Christ’s saving mission.
The Apostle John, in today’s passage, clearly indicts those who continue to walk in the darkness of the flesh by denying their sin, … further teaching his readers that only those who have been cleansed by Christ’s blood [i.e., born-again believers] will be able to walk in His light (see 1st John 1: 7). Of course, it is true that we cannot escape our inherited sin nature (see Rom. 3: 23); and if/when we do deny it, we deceive ourselves (the natural condition written of in Jer. 17: 9 and also by John in 1st John 1: 8). And worst of all, by John’s truth [see 1st John 1: 10], when we deny our sin, we make God out to be a liar (to ourselves or to others). And this, my dear fellow Christians is serious blasphemy and will, if uncleansed by conversion (for the lost) or confession (for believers), lead the lost to the darkest place of all – Hell – or believers to a dark place in this life where that Christian’s witness is dissipated, damaged, and/or dampened. That place is separation from Christ’s fellowship; and it’s a place of death for the lost and a place of despair for the Christian.
In meditating on this, I ask myself, “What am I doing to be cleansed and purged of the effects of sin in my life today?” And I’m driven to my knees to confess and receive Christ’s blood-bought grace.
My Prayer Today: O, Lord, help me to see clearly where I have sinned and gone astray from Your path so that I can be cleansed to stay on track. Amen
October 6, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: 1st John 1: 7 [see highlight verse in bold] … 5 This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.6 If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
My Journal for Today: Again, as we’ve seen thus far in my studies this month (as above in 1st John 1: 5), one aspect of God’s character is light (i.e., truth from His holiness). In 2nd Peter 1: 3 – 4, a passage to which I refer often in teaching or ministry, the Spirit-inspired Apostle, Peter, makes it clear that the Spirit implantation of God’s character in the heart of the Christian gives the believer all he/she needs to walk away from sin and into a way of life reflective of the light of Christ. In this way, surrendered Christians [and I emphasize the word “surrendered”], as they (we) mature, become habitual bearers of God’s light, which produces two distinct benefits.
The first of these is an intimate and abiding fellowship with Christ. In today’s verse [see bolded and underlined above], the phrase “one another” refers to a mutual fellowship with God, which results as we walk in the path of God’s light – together as Christians. As MacArthur puts it, from today’s Strength for Today devotional, “Believers share a common life with God, experience His presence through the indwelling Holy Spirit, and commune with Him through prayer and meditation on His word.” Hence, we should see that the way we experience the light of Christ in our walk in this darkened world is to do all we can to deepen the intimacy of our fellowship with Christ individually as Christians and together as His Church. And I think you can see that this would mean determined, disciplined, and diligent devotional time spent daily in God’s word and in prayer.
Secondly, Christians experience cleansing from sin by the blood shed by Jesus for sinners. Again, from John MacArthur, “… walking in the light does not earn forgiveness; rather, forgiveness is freely granted to those who walk in the light.” And, as we’ll see when we delve into 1st John 1: 9, the only way we, as Christians, can walk as “children of the light” is to regularly and completely confess our sin, being cleansed by Christ’s blood, so that we can follow the mandate of Christ, Himself, who commanded us to shine His light into the world so that others can see our good works and glorify God, the Father (see Matt. 5: 16).
My Prayer Today: Shine, Jesus, shine! Amen
October 7, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: 1st John 1: 9 [see verse in bold] … 5 This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.6 If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
My Journal for Today: I believe that a pre-determined outcome of walking in the light of God’s Spirit, as we saw yesterday from 1st John 1: 7 (see above in contextual passage), is a God-driven need from the conviction of the Holy Spirit to confess our sinfulness and be fully cleansed by God’s promise and the power of His grace. Unfortunately, however, many mistake the conviction of the Holy Spirit with the lies of our enemy, who would disguise God’s conviction as feelings of unworthiness or condemnation. And so, we pursue self-directed and temporary solutions of the flesh, such as drugs, pleasure, or other forms of self medication, which can never provide the healing and cleansing we might pursue from the light of Christ rather than from the fleshly pseudo-cures from the sinfulness found in the worldly or fleshly corners of darkness.
The Greek term of “confess” in today’s verse, “homologeo,” which means to come into agreement with some standard or source of power. In this case we’re talking about coming into agreement with God’s will or His way. In other words, fully surrendered Christians, when God’s light shines on our sin, … we are drawn, like a magnet, into a closeness with God’s revealed and righteous way. And in this process, which is really part of the process of sanctification, we are shepherded by God’s Spirit, as is clearly taught in Prov. 28: 13, into a restored state of blessing by God. That’s the outcome of 1st John 1: 9; and is that not worth the challenge of overlooking fleshly pursuits in lieu of healthy confession before God’s throne of grace?
This magnetic draw of being pulled into confession by the conviction of Gods’ indwelling Spirit is the genuine sorrow we feel as born-again Christians from our revealed sinfulness. And the outcome of the cleansing of Christ’s blood, when we surrender in confession to be in accord with God’s Spirit, is the heartbeat of true repentance (as in Acts 19: 18 or 1st Thes. 1: 9), which is a turning away from sin, no longer embracing it, but rather seeking to be closer to God and His will and walking away from the ways of the world, Satan, or the flesh. It is the “living sacrifice” and the process of a reformed heart/mind mentioned by Paul in Rom. 12: 1 – 2.
So, again we must ask ourselves. Do we want the eternal cleansing God offers in 1st John 1: 9 or would we prefer the temporary “fix” that our deceitful heart might get from the flesh? God has given us the choice.
My Prayer Today: I choose Your way, Lord! Amen
October 8, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Psalm 51: 1 – 5 … 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
My Journal for Today: As John MacArthur points out in another of his Strength for Today devotionals for this date, King David may have been a man after God’s heart (see 1st Samuel 13: 14); but his adultery, conspiracy to murder his friend, and his cover up show us that, like all of us, he was a sinner in need of confession, cleansing, and redemption. And Psalm 51 demonstrates, from David’s own confession, that we all need to have a right view of sin, which, according to MacArthur, involves the following five elements: … [see passage above] …
>>>Sin deserves judgment. Honest and real confession must begin with a contrite heart … a genuine and very real admission of guilt. (see Ps. v. 1)
>>>Sin demands cleansing (see v. 2). True confession recognizes the outcomes of sin (see also 1st John 1: 7, 9).
>>> Sin is our responsibility, demanding full accountability (as in verses 1, 3), where David refers to “my” transgressions.
>>>Sin is primarily against God (see v. 4), even though others may be involved or even hurt by our sin.
>>>Finally, sin is a part of our deprived nature (see v. 5). We all inherit Adam’s propensity for sin (see Rom. 5: 12).
With all of these elements involved in our sin nature, we believers need to consider that true confession seeks complete and utter cleansing from the inside out, not an external covering or mask to hide the truth.
Though we would have never wished the events of sinfulness to have transpired for David the way they did, Psalm 51 has become a model of confession for the contrite and convicted believer who desires the full 1st John 1: 9 treatment from a loving God who always has His grace ready to cleanse the humble believer who has been convicted by his sin.
So, we must ask, as did MacArthur, “Do we have a right view of sin?” And if so, will it bring us, as it should, especially when convicted by God’s Spirit, to a surrendered confession and the cleansing that follows from God’s promises? I don’t know about you; but I know how I must answer that question. And I can’t answer it by a loose attitude about sin and God’s grace. I’m just as adamant as was the Apostle Paul when he asked if Christians can keep relying on God’s grace by repeatedly sinning and then confessing (see Romans 6: 1-12), in essence by repeatedly testing God’s grace. In asking that question, Paul essentially said “NO WAY!” to this question (see Romans 6: 1 - 2); and so do I here.
No, when we become Christians, we have died to old self and a new self now can be alive to Christ and resist sin (again see the Romans 6 passage as well as 2nd Cor. 5: 17). We can, and MUST, say no to sin whenever it’s lure presents itself [see 1st Cor. 10: 13]. And we not only must, we CAN honor God by receiving His enabling grace and holding on to a right attitude about sin, choosing to resists it’s call, denying self, taking up the cross of righteousness, and following our Lord (see Luke 9: 23) on the path to Christlikeness.
My Prayer Today: Lord, help me to “be” clean, not just to “come clean.” Amen
October 9, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Psalm 51: 4 - 9 [see bold, emphasizing verse 4] …
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Surely You desire truth in the inner parts; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
My Journal for Today: Yesterday, with the help of John MacArthur’s devotional, I wrote that true confession of sin requires a right view of the reality of sin in our life. Today, in King David’s song of remorse and confession (i.e., Psalm 51), we see that we must also have a right view of God.
Truly, we must see, as did David [in v. 6 above], that God is holy and omniscient, … a God Who is never satisfied with mere externals, … always requiring a complete surrender of the heart.
Next, as David acknowledged (see v. 7), we must see God’s power with a firm belief that God can and will cleanse and forgive us of our sin.
And thirdly, for our ongoing healing to take place, we must see God’s correction of our sin as that of the Good Shepherd. In v. 8 above, we read the former shepherd, David, creating the word picture of a loving shepherd. In those days a shepherd, who had a wayward lamb (i.e., one who habitually and repeatedly strayed from the flock), would care enough for the lamb to go out and find that lamb and break its leg, carrying that hurting lamb in its brokenness back to the flock until that lamb bonded with the shepherd in the healing process. When the leg was healed, the lamb would stay as close to the shepherd as possible as well as the rest of the sheep in the flock.
Don’t you just love that latter picture, of our Good Shepherd? Yes, we are wayward sheep, as Isaiah had described in Is. 53: 6; but the Prophet, in this verse also indicates the hope we have in the Good Shepherd, Who has taken all our waywardness upon Himself, if/when we’re willing and able to remain steadfast to Him as He does what is necessary to allow us to grow in His flock.
Finally, MacArthur helps us realize that we must see our God, as did David in v. 9 above, repeating his point from v. 7, as a forgiving Lord, willing and able to forgive our sins (see also Isaiah 43: 25). David also penned Ps. 103: 12, where it says. “… as far as the east is from the west, so far has He (God) removed our transgressions (i.e., sins) from us.”
These are remarkable and wonderful promises from an all powerful God, Who has always been, is now, and always will be our Good Shepherd, … A Shepherd Who loves us enough to do whatever it takes to shape our brokenness into closeness with Himself.
As I close out this morning’s devotional, from the material presented, I was taken back to wonderful song, by Phillips, Craig, and Dean entitled He’ll Do Whatever It Takes. I’m listening to it now as I write this; and if you get a chance to, I’d encourage any reader of this entry to find and hear that song. The chorus of this poignant and powerful song reads like this …
He’ll do whatever it takes …
His grace reaches lower than your worst mistake.
His grace will run farther than you can run away
He’ll do whatever … whatever it takes …
Now isn’t this the loving and grace empowering God you and I need to follow as our loving Good Shepherd?
My Prayer Today: Only You, Good Shepherd, can take away my sin from the eyes of the Father. Amen
October 10, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Psalm 51: 6 [see verse in bold ] …
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Surely You desire truth in the inner parts; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
My Journal for Today: In the past two days of this study into the nature of sin, which is actually a study of the inner nature of mankind and my humanity, I’ve noted that true confession of sinfulness involves a right view #1, of sin and #2, of God. And to put a tag on this three-part mini-study, John MacArthur in his Strength for Today devotional on this date, helps us see that it also involves #3, a right view of self.
I agree with MacArthur, who contends that a great many non-believers, and unfortunately far too many Christians, have fallen prey to the cultural trend toward boosting “self-esteem.” There are literally hundreds of self-help books on the market; and “self-esteem” gurus, like Oprah or Dr. Phil, have become the leaders of our self-improvement market of pseudo-spiritual teachers. And many Christians get sucked into this vortex of belief which touts believing in self, following so-called “Christian” teachers like Joel Osteen. If you’re reading this, my friend, it’s all a lie from hell which causes us to take our eyes off of our Savior and onto self. Jesus clearly taught (see an old favorite in my devotionals – Luke 9: 23a) that any disciple of His must “deny self;” and so any worldly teaching that promotes or lifts up “selfism,” is an anti-Christ teaching.
Perhaps some of this, from a Christian standpoint, could come from a misshaped view of Jesus’ teaching from Matt. 19: 19 to “… love our neighbor as yourself,” which is not a mandate for self-love, but Christ’s command of what the Apostle Paul covered in Phil. 2: 3 – 4, … for Christians to “… consider others better than (i.e., before) ourselves.” To Jesus, the love of others came out of the recognition of the reality that God is in our hearts, and whenever we choose (and love is always a choice, not a feeling) to love others, we are giving them [i.e., others] the same love that God gives to us through His Spirit, which is a sinless, selfless love, [i.e., “agape” love] … not a love of self extended to others to make us feel good. But our self-help gurus would have us believe that we must first love ourselves so that we can be able to reach out to others. Hopefully you can see the skin of this lie which is wrapped around a teaching of Christ. Oh, how clever the enemy can be!! Ironically we can love ourselves if and when we’re able to choose to love the God in us, who is Emmanuel … i.e., Christ. And when we love Him, receiving the grace of God through His Spirit, we’re able to extend our love of God in us to others and fulfill the Law of Christ (again Matt. 19: 19).
Actually, as we read in today’s verse of emphasis from Psalm 51: 6, David’s confessional hymn, we see that David recognized from whence the ability to love others came, … from God’s heart to ours … from God’s love of our very created being. He recognized that we would only be able to relate to God’s truth when we submitted to that truth. David saw that he (and, by extension, we) could only have true cleansing from sin and then witness to others when we could/would allow God to witness His holiness to the heart of mankind. In Ps. 51: 12 - 17, David writes of how joyfully he would witness God’s truth to others (i.e., to love others) or to praise God adequately, only when he could be rid of the sin that had plagued him. These latter verses are the outcries of a conquered, contrite, and openly-confessed sinner who had become surrendered to the love of God.
David had learned (of which you can read in 2nd Sam. 12: 10 – 19) that any sin has grave consequences. For David his sinfulness cost not only David, but his family and the nation of Israel; and Ps. 51 is David’s realization that he had to have a right view of himself, as well as his sin and his God, for him to be able to confess and get into a right relationship with God.
Therefore, when we seek cleansing from our sin, as did David, by our open and honest confession at God’s throne of grace, we must see our selves in the light of God’s holiness, seeking, with true humility, God’s cleansing from which we WILL find healing and restoration of our relationship with Christ (again, see and be uplifted by Ps. 103: 8 – 13 and 1st John 1: 9).
My Prayer Today: Lord, You are God; and I am not! Heal me of my unholiness. Amen
Because of traveling home from vacation yesterday and lack of laptop/wifi access in airports, I didn't get my devotional entry posted for yesterday (10/11/08). So, I'll post it here on 10/12 and then today's entry in a separate comment posting next ... <'BB><
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October 11, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 6: 1 – 2 [see verse in bold] … Rom. 5: 20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. --- Rom. 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
My Journal for Today: It is important for all true Christians to have a foundational understanding of our relationship with sin. The Apostle Paul was confronted by this basic doctrinal issue when he asked the important rhetorical question in his letter to the Romans (v. 6: 1). In the context of what he had just written in Rom. 5: 20 – 21 (printed above for your context and edification), Paul asked, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” And to this question Paul answers with the strongest negation found in the Greek language, which is “me” (pronounced “may”) – a small word but a very strong statement, which in our language is the equivalent of saying, “Absolutely not!” … or … “Forget it!” … or maybe, more colloquially, … “NO WAY!”
And so, my fellow Christian, here’s the simple truth. A true, born-again believer in Christ is dead to sin. However, the dilemma found in that same Christian is the fact that this person (maybe it’s you or me) has a sin nature with which he must contend. But for a real Christian to continue in conscious, unrepentant, and habitual sin with no remorse is a virtual and spiritual impossibility. Besides today’s cited passage, Paul repetitively in his epistles harkens to this reality (see Eph. 2: 1 – 2 and Col. 1: 13 - 14).
We, who now are in Christ, have been bought by the atonement of our Savior, … from the darkness of death to the light of eternal life. And though the Christian, retaining a sin nature, may sin – even by choice – such sin will never happen for the born-again believer without redress or conviction by the Holy Spirit, Who now resides in the heart of that believer for eternity.
In the ministry to which I’ve been called to serve, which deals with Christians who fall prey to habitual sexual sin, I’m often asked, “How could I truly be a Christian and continue to sin in this way sexually?” To such a question I usually ask a diagnostic question in retort, asking, “When you do sin – even repetitively – do you enjoy the results of your sin afterwards or does the sin satisfy your inner being?” The true Christian responding to my question will answer, “No, way!” [which, BTW, is the same strong negation as the Apostle used in Greek in Rom. 6:1] And continuing, … the Christian who has denied any satisfaction from the chosen sin pattern usually also reports having severe, acute remorse from the conviction they feel from God’s Spirit after a bout or binge into selfish sensual sin. Often the remorse/guilt from the sin drives that one to periods [even long periods] of sobriety from sexual sin; and the valley of remorse can stay with that one for a period of time, even at times allowing that believer to experience to climb to a higher place of joy from their relationship with Christ. This is what I call the roller-coaster ride of the immature Christian, riding high when he is pure and then falling fast into the valley of despair involving the chosen sin. That’s the way of the immature Christian. However, it’s the mature Christian who learns to level off that life, knowing that living with the joy resulting from obedience to God’s way is worth what it takes to stay on an even keel in the life of a Christian who learns to avoid sin and practice spiritual temperance.
So, if you’re reading this as a fellow Christian, KNOW this! In Christ, you are – and choose to be - dead to sin. It is a defeated foe. Yes, sin is a persistent foe; … but in Christ you will ultimately win the battle!
My Prayer Today: In You, Lord, sin has no sway over me! Amen
And now to catch up with my entry for this date upon return from my vacation with my wife to Hawaii ... <'BB><
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October 12, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 6: 3 [see verse in bold … Rom. 6:1 - 3 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
My Journal for Today: Certainly, as Christians, the justification for our sins (past, present, and future), which comes at conversion by our faith in Christ as Lord/Savior, is a wondrous thing (see Romans, Chapters 3 – 5). However, equally wonderful, and enormously important to our sanctification and our lives as Christians in this world, is the reality that we have been joined in spiritual union with Christ.
In today’s passage/verse, the Apostle Paul uses the metaphor of water baptism to teach converted Christians, most Jewish at the time who would understand the symbolism of baptism, that at conversion we died and were reborn in our immersion spiritually with Christ. In Ephesians 2: 1 – 3 Paul also wrote of leaving Satan’s realm at conversion, dying to the former self and being raised again into life with Christ. In Galatians 3: 27, Paul uses another metaphor concerning our post-conversion life in Christ, saying that once baptized as believers, we put on Christ as a garment of righteousness. And in 1st Corinthians 6: 17, he uses yet another image – that of marriage – to show that we are joined with Christ in a covenant bond eternally (the New Covenant).
All of these word pictures, images of our union with Christ as believers, as well as the repetition of these theological concepts, should motivate us to internalize these truths as believers so that we can live our lives in a true covenant bond with Christ. As John MacArthur writes in today’s Strength for Today devotional, “What a blessed privilege and an awesome responsibility is ours (as Christians) to have our lives inextricably bound with the Son of God.” And it was to be ours by our faith in Christ’s gift of atonement on the cross at His resurrection. As Paul points out in Colossians 3: 3, our lives and sins are forever hidden with Jesus.
Now, as we are bonded with Christ forever, we have His power over sin in our lives; and I want to repeat that for emphasis – now with the indwelling Spirit of God in my heart forever, I have the very power of Christ over sin in my life! And we must ask ourselves what we are doing with our lives to give Him our covenant best, becoming the bonded workmanship Paul describes in Ephesians 2: 10, yielding the good works which illuminate our bond with our Lord and glorify God, the Father. And when we see our lives in this eternal union with Christ, we will live it out accordingly, becoming more and more each day like the One with Whom we’ve been joined.
My Prayer Today: How wonderful it is to be in covenant with you, Lord! Amen
[b]October 13, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 6: 4 … [see verse in bold] …[/b] Rom. 6: 1 - 4 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
My Journal for Today: Romans 6 is all about the death and resurrection of the Christian spiritually. In the rebirth of conversion, we, who realize Christ as Lord/Savior, die to sin and now and forever live spiritually in Christ. Today is the thirteenth day of October. For me, the leap from death into eternity with God happened on another 13th day of the month in 1983. It was April 13th of that year; and the one passage of scripture, which I have memorized reflecting on what happened that day for me, is Galatians 2: 20; and since I have it in my heart in the NKJV, let me quote it: [b]“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no long I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.”[/b]
On that day, many years ago now, I died to an old life of sin and was reborn into a new life in Christ, which is also reflected in another Pauline saying from 2nd Cor. 5: 17: [b]“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come!”[/b] I pray as I write this that you, who read this, share in that death to self and the new birth in our Savior. As John Macarthur puts it, [b]“Having died to the old life, Christians have been raised to share new life in Christ.”[/b] And that’s why we Christians – truly born-again believers – will live a life in Christ, being drawn away from the old life of carnal living and toward a life of Christlikeness. But does that mean that Christians won’t sin? Of course, not; but having died to sin in Christ, we can now use God’s enabling grace, ministered to us by His Spirit, to overcome sin as our Lord shapes us into His own image.
There’s really not much more I could ever add to this as a description of who I am as a Christian. On that day in April of 1983, I died to my former carnal life by faith in Christ; and now, living by that same faith in God, the Holy Spirit, Who indwells my spirit, lifts me to walk in this world, growing closer to Christlikeness day-by-day as I deal with my residual sin nature. Yes, to repeat what I’ve said above, I am still a sinner, who can choose to sin; but I am now a redeemed sinner who can rather choose to live for Christ and to live in freedom from those old sin choices by the grace of God, as it says in Gal. 2: 20, living for the One “… Who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
There was a time in my life that I lived as an abomination to God, living and acting in enmity with my Lord; but now, by His grace, I live by faith, and even in the flesh, to glorify God, Who is my Lord and Savior. I don’t know about you, but the now life in Christ is so much more alive than that former life of sin and death in the flesh. And to think it will be that way for eternity as I grow closer and closer to the One Who saved me. How glorious the thought!
[b]My Prayer Today:[/b] May God be praised for His saving grace! Amen
October 14, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 6: 6 - 7 [see highlighted verses in bold] … 5 If we have been united with Him [i.e., Christ] like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
My Journal for Today: In the last few days I’ve been reviewing truths written by a Spirit-inspired Paul in the 6th chapter of his prison epistle to believers in Rome in the 1st Century. He has written that true Christians become spiritually dead to sin and then raised by their new birth to live anew when as they choose to live in an ever growing relationship with Christ. As John MacArthur reminds his readers in Strength for Today, writing that some might argue that we Christians have a “type of spiritual split personality” with this battle continually raging in our souls between the old and new spiritual natures.
However, today’s passage (and others proclaiming the same truth in Galatians 2: 20 and Colossians 3: 9 – 10) negate that view. In Romans 6: 6 (above) Paul says that “ … the body of sin might be done away with.” This latter phrase, which can be translated “destroyed” (as in the NASB), is the Greek term “katargeo,” which actually could (and probably should) be rendered that our sin nature is rendered inoperable when/if we, as believers, surrender the old being (i.e., the sin nature) to our new, more powerful, Spirit-driven being.
It’s like having a vehicle (i.e., the new life) with two distinct gears. Before salvation we only had one forward gear – the Satan gear. But now our life vehicle has a new gear – the Savior gear. Just like a car with two forward gears, we can choose which gear in which we drive – drive or overdrive; and when we choose overdrive, which is far more powerful at the speed of living than the natural drive gear, this latter gear must yield to the overdrive gear when overdrive is engaged. Overdrive takes over and the drive gear is no longer operating. And in overdrive the car is much more powerful, efficient, and effective than in the normal or natural drive gear.
And that’s the way life for the converted Christian has become. When we, as believers, choose to move out of Satan or self gear and into Savior gear, the old gear is rendered inoperable, yielding to the overdrive of Christlikeness. It’s not that the old gear is not there. It is. But our life vehicle will operate so much more powerfully and efficiently in the Savior gear than it can in the Satan gear. And when we choose to go into spiritual “overdrive,” putting Christ into control, we move ahead with direction and purpose that is far more effective than in the old gear, which will never work as effectively for God’s created purpose as can the new gear.
So, in which gear do you find yourself driving? How are you choosing to move forward in Christ’s overdrive? As for me, I choose to put my life vehicle into Savior gear … and goooooooooooo!!!
My Prayer Today: Help me, Lord, to always choose Your way! Amen
October 15, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 6: 6 - 7 [see verses in bold] … 5 If we have been united with Him [Christ] like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin — 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
My Journal for Today: All good teachers know that redundancy is an effective teacher; and the Apostle Paul knew this as he drilled home an important point of Christian doctrine in today’s passage that he had made earlier in Romans, chapters 5 and 6. That point is the core doctrine that all believers in Christ’s victory over sin through His resurrection share in the victory He won over sin. And I will repeat this wondrous point as well. Christ shattered sin with His death on the cross and His resurrection; and those of us who have repented of our sin in faith, believing completely in Christ’s atonement at the moment of our conversion as Christians, now share in that victory (see Rom. 4: 25 and 1st Cor. 15: 54 – 57).
John MacArthur reminds his readers on this date in Strength for Today of the forceful pronouncement of this doctrine, which can also be found in the Book of Hebrews (see Hebrews 10: 10 – 14). And the Apostle Peter also hit hard with this point as well in 1st Peter 2: 24. And dear brothers or sisters in Christ, anytime God, the Holy Spirit, drives home a truth in this way, many times through multiple authors, we, who believe, ought to pay attention. However, sadly it pains me to see this truth ignored or overlooked by many whom I’m called to serve in ministry, where I deal with those mired in repetitive, habitual sin.
So many of these dear souls can’t seem to let go of their sin patterns, and they wallow in feelings identified by the Apostle Paul in Romans 7: 15 – 24, where he used himself to illustrate the humanity of sinfulness. But I believe that Paul did this, identifying his past struggles with sin, to help any believer to identify with such weakness; because he was laying a platform or foundation for the greatest victory treatise over sin in all of the New Testament … which is found in Romans 8.
I challenge you who read here to read and meditate on Romans 7: 15 – 24; and then read and internalize all of Romans 8. And when any Christian can believe and live in Romans 8, as opposed to Romans 7, he or she will be living the victory Christ has won for us by His death, resurrection, ascension, and re-glorification. Oh, how I pray that we all can live in that victory.
My Prayer Today: With You, Lord, I live in victory! Amen
October 16, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 6: 8 – 11 … [see highlighted phrase in bold] 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. 10 The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
My Journal for Today: When it comes to dealing with sin, this may be one of the most important doctrinal passages in the New Testament. In verse 11, Paul pronounces an exhortation, which is actually in the form of a forceful command for believers. He says, “… count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” That term “count yourselves,” in the Greek, which is also translated “reckon yourselves” in the NKJV, I’ve learned is a banking or accounting term, which we might translate “take it to the bank” in today’s colloquial English.
However, when it comes to viewing sin in our lives, I’m afraid that all too few Christians have this “bank on it [!]” mentality from God’s truth. MacArthur implies in his devotional for this date in Strength for Today that most Christians have not put Paul’s truth of Romans 6: 8 – 11 into our heart/mind “banks;” and therefore, when have the need to bring out a payment of strength when we’re confronted with the temptation to sin, we don’t have enough in our spiritual banks to withdraw and resist the sin.
MacArthur also contends that “duty (i.e., action) is always based in doctrine;” and if we don’t have doctrine, such as the one in today’s passage, deeply “banked” in our hearts/minds, we will not be able to act upon it. How can we live unto Godliness, if we don’t know/believe that we’ve died unto sinfulness? Many times, if not most times, our inability to resist sin is based in the reality that we have not banked away (i.e., in belief) enough of God’s truth to be able to avoid the deceit of an enemy who is very powerful and will do all he can to keep God’s truth out of our heart-bank as well as our own deceit-ridden heart, which is so vulnerable to Satan’s lies.
If we truly and fully “believe that we live with [Christ],” as it says in v. 8 above, we will be able to “count [ourselves] dead to sin,” as it says in v. 11. This is to bring out the credits from our bank of doctrine (i.e., our hearts/minds) when we need them to confront evil and temptation in the world and our lives.
Our salvation is much more than eternal fire insurance. It is the power to change from selfishness to godliness. It is the reality of 2nd Cor. 5: 17 AND Gal. 2: 20 AND Rom. 12: 1 – 2. Remember what I wrote yesterday, … that it is living in Romans 8, instead of wallowing in Romans 7 (vv. 14 – 24). It is being able to count ourselves dead to sin and alive in Christ as Paul says here today from God’s word. And what the Apostle is saying so clearly here is that WHEN we can put the truth of Romans 8 in our heart bank, we will live (i.e., “be”) as we are alive in Christ, having become dead to sin.
Remember what it says in that verse you hopefully have memorized from Proverbs 23: 7 … As a man thinks in his heart, so is he! Well, how full is your heart with God’s truth? Is it full enough with God’s doctrine and truth to be able to pull out whatever you need, especially when Satan comes calling, and live in Christ, being dead to sin?
My fellow Christians, we can bank on the truths espoused in God’s word; and one of those is in the passage presented today. WE, who believe Christ as Savior and Lord, ARE DEAD TO SIN; and we ARE ALIVE IN CHRIST!!! Now … we must BANK ON IT!!!
My Prayer Today: Amen, Lord, … and amen !!!
October 17, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 6: 11 – 14 [note passage in bold] … 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. 10 The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
My Journal for Today: In this October study on sin, John MacArthur, from Strength for Today, has helped me to review the Apostle Paul’s passion for believers to “know” (see Rom. 6: 3, 6, 9) and to “count [ourselves]” as being truly dead to sin and alive to Christ. And I have seen that we do that by our choices, as we read in today’s passage of emphasis. Paul says that this understanding and belief in the truth of Christ’s victory over sin must ultimately lead Christians to “offer” the parts of our bodies as instruments of righteousness under God’s grace. This, may remind you, as it did me, of Paul’s exhortation in Romans 12: 1 – 2, where he declared that believers become a “living sacrifice” as a life of living worship, being transformed by the renewing our or minds into Christlikeness.
We can also read the Apostle Peter, who echoed Paul’s teaching, as in 1st Peter 2: 11 he wrote, “Dear friends (i.e., my fellow Christians), I urge you, as aliens and strangers in this world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.” And Paul, following this thought in scripture, exhorted the Corinthians believers (and therefore, by extension, you and me) that the only way to avoid sin in this way was to discipline ourselves in our beliefs, like soldiers [see 1st Cor. 9: 27], and to be effective warriors, wearing God’s full armor in the spiritual battles we face daily [see Eph. 6: 10 – 18].
As MacArthur puts it, we have to surrender our choices to God’s will for others to confirm that we are believers and followers of Christ. As he writes it, “Yield to sin and experience chastening and sorrow; (or) yield to God, and experience joy and blessing.” To me that’s a no-brainer choice. But I see so many of my fellow Christian warriors being felled in battle by choices which allow our enemies (Satan and the world) to pick them off like shooting fish, … big fish, … in a very small barrel.
My Prayer Today: Lord, I choose You !!! Amen
Because I will be leading a men's retreat for Christian men this weekend at a place where I will not likely have internet access, I've decided to get alone with God and do a couple of extra devotional. So that I will not miss the posting of the entries for Saturday (10/18) and Sunday (10:19). If you're reading and want to comment, just do so individually any or all of the last three entries. Thanks for your understanding in this strategy. ... >>> Bill
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October 18, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 6: 15 – 16 … 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
My Journal for Today: Readers: Listen to John MacArthur: “Freedom FROM sin does not mean freedom TO sin.”
This is the essence of the text of today’s passage [especially v. 15] from the Apostle Paul, which is a strong restatement of his strong exclamation and exhortation in Romans 6: 1. [If you’ve been following my devotionals, see October 11 for an exposition of that statement.]
If you know the Pauline epistles, you are aware of Paul’s true gospel message of salvation by grace alone through faith alone. Some have said that this can lead one to an easy grace, sometimes referred to as living out God’s “cheap grace.” But to this Paul emphatically proclaims, “NO WAY, JOSE!!” He repeats, as we’ve said, in a short space of this one letter, writing to the Romans (vv. 6: 1, 15) that the grace that leads to salvation should not – yea, MUST not – be cheap grace. It is the most extravagant grace ever offered, paid for the blood of Christ, shed in His death on the cross for the sins of all mankind.
As MacArthur reminds his devotional readers in this October series from Strength for Today, the thought of a Christian testing God’s grace unto salvation with repeated and/or habitual sin was repugnant to Paul and other Gospel writers; as it should be for all Christians. Christ said it clearly (in Matt. 6: 24a) that we, as believers and His followers, cannot serve two masters; and as Paul reasoned (in Romans, chapters 5 - 8), a Christian cannot continue to rebel against his new Master (i.e., Christ) by paying homage to his old master (i.e., Satan) in ongoing habitual patterns of sin.
The Apostle John also taught this message in quite a bit of his teaching from the book of 1st John. God’s grace, as John and Paul were teaching to the early church (see Titus chapter 2, v. 11 – 14), compels true believers to reject worldly desires (i.e., sinfulness) and enables them (us) to live righteously (i.e., growing in Christlikeness). Again, John taught us in his Gospel teachings that we cannot love God and live in a worldly way (i.e., without the repercussions of conviction and/or chastisement from God – see John 14: 21 or 1st John 2: 15 - 16). So, as I must do when I complete devotionals like this, I must ask myself; does my worship (i.e., my 24/7 lifestyle of living for God) reflect God’s light into a world so filled with darkness?
It’s a tough question; and it demands a straight answer! And the way you observe me living will answer the question for God … and for you.
My Prayer Today: Your grace, Lord, leads me on your path of truth. Amen
And now for day 2 of my pre-posting of devotionals, this one for Sunday, 10/19. And I'm touched to think how appropriate and powerfully timed these last two devotionals are in the context of my leading a men's retreat to help us all to walk free from our sin nature and to become more like Christ. <'BB><
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October 19, 2008 …
Romans 6: 17 – 18 [highlighted verses in bold] … 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
My Journal for Today: Oh how the Apostle Paul, the great discipler, wanted the Roman Christians (and for you and me, by extension) to grasp the truths in today’s (and yesterday’s) passages, which would allow them (us) to be free from our past in Christ. The Apostle John must’ve felt much the same thing when he quoted Jesus in John 8: 31 - 32: “To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Both Paul and John wanted the bonds for believers who surrendered to Christ to our past sins to be broken by the Living Truth, Who, of course is Jesus. As John MacArthur puts it, “Christian liberty is not the freedom to choose to sin, but the freedom to choose not to.” And in today’s passage we read of the spiritual heart transplant performed in the life of the true, born-again believer who moves from being a slave to sin to becoming a slave to righteousness.
I believe … from Paul in Romans 6 and John in 1st John 1 and Peter in 1st Peter 1 … there’s ample biblical truth to say that true Christians are spiritually compelled to become slaves of righteousness; … that is, we are convicted with a growing sensitivity to sin as well as a growing power in the Spirit to overcome its grip on our lives. And that maturing conviction and enablement comes from our building/growing relationship with Christ and our surrender to His Spirit.
A Christian’s first step of repentance in faith to truly believe and receive Christ as Savior and Lord at conversion begins this process of relationship building with our Lord; but it is completed as a spiritual process in our lifelong sanctification, carried out by the same Holy Spirit Who saved us. This change, as we’ve seen in past devotionals is documented in 2nd Cor. 5: 17, Gal. 2: 20, and/or Phil. 1: 6 [all verses one should have thoroughly memorized and internalized]. And our sanctification is the reality of each of us, as Christians, becoming loyal, volunteer and surrendered slaves to Christ, humbly and joyfully wearing His Robes of Righteousness to cover over our rags of sin (see Colossians 3).
So, we must ask ourselves … do we feel under a compulsion to become an indentured servant of Christ, free from the enslavement to sin in our past? If so, in what patterns in our life do we demonstrate our willingness to surrender to Christ’s Spirit and wear His robes to allow others to see Christ by the way we choose to live? When we answer that with our 24/7 lifestyle of worship, we’ll be the “living sacrifices” of Rom. 12:1, which reflect the freedom in truth Christ talked about in John 8: 32.
My Prayer Today: You are my Master, Lord! Amen
October 20, 2008 …
Romans 6: 19 [not verse in bold] … 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
My Journal for Today: Later in his epistle to the Christians in Rome, the Apostle Paul wrote, in Rom. 12: 1, about the Christian life being one of “living sacrifice;” and when he wrote that, he knew, in the context of today’s passage, such a sacrificial life, a life of reasonable worship to God, would not be an easy matter. As he writes in today’s verse, we Christians are “… weak in our natural selves.” And as you’re reading this, maybe you’re saying “Amen [!]” to that. Perhaps your weakness is sexual sin; perhaps it’s gluttony; perhaps it’s another pattern or stronghold of sinfulness; … plus other battles you fight as I do. But as John MacArthur points out in his Strength for Today devotional for this date, “It is a truism in the spiritual realm; no one stands still. Sin leads to sin; while holy living leads to further righteousness.” [Take time to let that statement settle in your mind/heart. That’s a powerful truth with which we, as Christians, simply must use for our lives.]
MacArthur’s point is what I call “spiritual inertia.” Inertia, as you probably know, and as defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, is ”a property of matter by which it remains at rest or in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force.” In other words, something that is at rest tends to stay at rest and something that is put into motion tends to stay in motion. That’s why a snowball rolling downhill, picking up additional snow, tends to go faster and faster. So, think with me how this applies to Christian living. If one gets into the habit of either a sin pattern or of righteousness, the momentum of that pattern tends to perpetuate itself and build in momentum. So, unless we can act upon our spiritually motivated habits by some external change, these habits will continue to replicate themselves; and overtime the momentum of those habits will get greater and greater and greater.
Yes, we are weak; and given our natural heart of deceit (see Jer. 17: 9), we can be drawn, by Satan and the world, toward our weakest points of vulnerability; and that’s what leads to our sin choices or inertia-bound patters of habitual sin. That’s why Paul wrote the sequence in Romans 7: 14 – 24. Paul knew that any Christian can identify with the weaknesses to which Paul addressed in that passage. However, he also wrote all of Romans 8; and also using his own weakness in writing to all Christians (in 2nd Cor. 12: 9), Paul quoted Christ, who somehow had related to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you; for My power is made perfect in your weakness.”
Am I sensing an “Amen [!]” yet from those who might be reading this? I certainly can’t speak for you, as you read this; but I know that I can give personal witness to the truth of Paul’s passion in all of these writings to have Christians live the victory he wrote about, with God’s inspiration, in Romans 8. When I once lived a life totally captivated by sin, the snowball of my life was ever downward in the spiritual inertia of my sinful habits; and that snowball was headed towards hell. But now, with the truth of 2nd Cor. 5: 17 and Gal 2: 20 beating in my born-again Christian heart, Christ has intervened in my life and I have allowed Him to break the inertia of my sinfulness, creating a whole new spiritual inertia in my life; and the spiral of my sanctified life is ever upward; and as documented by Paul in Romans 12: 1 – 2, it is a Spirit-led life of worship, leading to heaven and prayerfully ever more rightness in my life.
So, it’s onward and upward!
My Prayer Today: And to this, I must say a strong HALLELUJAH! Amen
October 21, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 6:23 [see in bold] … 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
My Journal for Today: Wow; if there was ever a passage that hits the heart of yours truly as a believer, it is the verse highlighted for today above from the Apostle Paul. However, every now and then it’s wise, and spiritually healthy, to reflect deeply on the wondrous truth of God’s gift-wrapped grace of eternal life in the light of what I (we) deserve as sinners. And the wage for our sin condition is death, as Paul reminds his readers in today’s highlight verse (i.e., Rom. 6: 23); and nothing we can say, or nothing we can do, will ever pay off that debt. And I’m remembering Paul also declared in Phil. 3: 7 … that all of Paul’s works were a loss for the sake of Christ. But then, balancing this truth with joy and exuberance, the Apostle declared with conviction to the Corinthians, and all of us as believers, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift.” [2nd Cor. 9: 15]
And as I sit and type this, I’m meditating and remembering that Christ did it ALL – EVERYTHING – when He died for me (us) and when He was raised again and ascended into Heaven to be re-glorified by His Father, … now sitting on His throne and interceding for me (us), having given me (us) His Spirit to be my (our) Paraclete forever. And it’s all a gift – a marvelous, mysterious, and wondrous gift. And if you’re reading this, I would hope, as I am, that you are thinking and maybe singing or declaring, something along the lines of the Doxology … “Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.”
Christ is the only One Who could – and has – paid my (our) sin debt (see Acts 4: 12); and He paid it in full, declaring from the cross, “It is finished!” He was my only hope for redemption when I was locked into my past chains of sinfulness (see John 14: 6); and He’s the only hope I have now as a saved sinner to be cleansed from my sin (see 1st John 1: 9). Only my faith saved me; and only my faith in repentance can continue to shape me into the person I’m now predestined to be … and that is the image of my Lord and Savior, Jesus. [see Phil. 1: 6]
Are you singing yet? … If not, join me. I think you know the tune …; but even if you don’t, just say the words and reflect on the truths of today’s devotional as you say or sing these words aloud from the classic Doxology …
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above the heavenly hosts.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
My Prayer Today: Amen and amen!
October 22, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 7: 4 [see verse in bold] … 1 Do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to men who know the law—that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. 3 So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.
4 So, my brothers, you also died to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
My Journal for Today: Often when discussing sin, it is good to know how our sinfulness, especially our past sin, relates to God’s Law; and John MacArthur, citing Romans 7: 1 – 4, helps his readers in Strength for Today to see this relation. In today’s devotional entry MacArthur uses the word picture of a drunk driver, who, dying in a car accident, cannot be indicted for the laws applying to drunk driving. In Romans 7: 2 – 3, the Apostle Paul applies this same principle to marriage, citing a wife’s release from the marriage laws at the death of her husband. And then we read in Rom. 7: 4, today’s focus verse, that this principle also applies to God’s Old Covenant Law and our sin, for which Christ died that we may be released from The Law’s indictment.
Having received Christ as my Lord and Savior, at my conversion, being born-again in Christ, I am now bound only to my Covenant to Christ and not to “The Law,” to which my sin indictment became null and void due to Christ’s death/resurrection. And to emphasize this truth, Paul, inspired by God’s Spirit, repeated this Spirit-written case law for the Corinthians (see 2nd Cor. 5: 21) and the Galatians (see Gal. 2: 19 – 20).
As a Christian, I must realize – and internalize – that I have died to The Law in Christ (see Rom. 6: 3 – 7); and now I am bound eternally in life to my Lord and Savior. However, by this New Covenant, I must equally realize that I will only be free from The Law (i.e., the Old Covenant) when I recognize and live in obedience to my new Master, … Christ. And in many respects His demands are even more rigorous that was my binding to the Old Covenant (see Matthew, Chapters 5 – 7, the Sermon on the Mount).
However, now, in Christ, I know that I have God’s Spirit in me to enable me to be completed in my relationship and covenant with my Savior (see Rom. 8: 29 and Phil. 1: 6). Rejoice with me; and let us live in this truth.
My Prayer Today: You are my law, Lord. And You are my freedom. Amen
October 23, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 7: 4 … 4 So, my brothers, you also died to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
My Journal for Today: Extending the discussion of our union with Christ, Paul uses the marriage metaphor (see yesterday’s devotional and Romans 7: 1 – 4), representing our union with Christ. This is a common New Testament metaphor for our relationship with Jesus, the Bridegroom, Who died so that He could be reunited with His Bride (the Church) for eternity at the wedding feast of The Lamb. As you’ve no doubt read before, Paul also uses this metaphor powerfully in Ephesians 5: 22 – 33, as he discusses the Christian covenant marriage.
Our union, as converted, born-again Christians, is a forever union of the Bridegroom, Christ, with His Bride, the Church; and Paul is certainly right when he calls it (in Eph. 5: 32), “… a profound mystery.” But it is only through this covenant union with Christ that we, as Christians in His Body, the Church, can become fruitful for God (as seen in today’s verse as well as Jesus’ discussion in John 15). And MacArthur, in today’s Strength for Today devotional, helps me and his readers understand what these spiritual fruit might be, “… defined as any righteous act that glorifies God.” This can consist of Paul’s insightful list of Spirit-born attitudes/attributes in Galatians 5: 22 – 23. But, it can also include such things as praise to God (see Hebrews 13: 15), being God’s agent as He ushers souls into His kingdom (see Romans 1: 13), giving to those in need out of love for God (see Romans 15: 26 – 28), and/or righteous living (see Philippians 1: 11).
God always gets the glory when we live as His Bride. So, as we live as Christians, may we be the Bride of Christ, preparing ourselves for the wedding feast of our Bridegroom, the Lamb of God. (see John 14: 1 – 4 and Revelations 19: 7 – 9 – AND - do not pass over these verses without meditating on their meaning for your life!).
My Prayer Today: To God be the glory as Your Bride prepares her linens. Amen
October 24, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 7: 5 [ NIV] … 5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death.
Romans 7: 5 [NASB – key terms in bold] … 5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by The Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.
My Journal for Today: Today’s verse (Rom. 7: 5, offered above in both NIV and NASB versions, reveals the horrific and evil chain of events created by the fall of mankind, resulting in a human nature, which, when activated by our free will can – and does – lead to death. Here we read (mostly using the NASB in this journal entry) the four terms (in bold above) which characterize those who are not in Christ or Christians who choose to rebel from His ways. The four, listed in a sequential order that John MacArthur uses for a point about the outcomes of sin are … the law, the flesh, man’s sinful passions, and [spiritual] death. Taken in that order, in today’s Strength for Today entry, MacArthur speaks of how these four operate to separate man from God, which, is an excellent operational definition of “sin.”
THE LAW is ever present, indestructible and eternal, to reveal our weakness and sin, which thereby activates man’s FLESH, … which then provides a channel for man’s Adamic and/or carnal nature (i.e., the SINFUL PASSIONS), leading to choices which result in separation from God (i.e., spiritual DEATH). This chain of horror is what John MacArthur calls the “fearsome foursome,” which continually operate to undermine man’s relationship with God. The latter, of course, holds the lost from God’s saving grace; and it holds the saved sinner from a fruitful life in Christ.
But praise be to God [!], we ever live to be moved by our loving and merciful God, Who, “…made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions,” [the wondrous truth of Eph. 2: 5]. And all we need to do, in our human state, is to make a choice … to repent in faith and/or to live in faith, believing in Christ’s sacrifice, and receiving His grace (saving grace for the lost and enabling grace for the saved), which breaks the effects of the “fearsome foursome,” resulting in eternal and/or fruitful life.
It’s really a no-brainer choice; but we can make it so difficult at times by choosing self over Savior. What is your choice going to be today?
My Prayer Today: I choose You, Lord! Amen
For day two in a row I'm tardy in posting this [in the afternoon rather than the morning]; but this one was not my fault. I did my devotional this AM; and then I discovered that my ISP had server problems ... and I couldn't get it posted online. So, I went off to a scheduled church event; and after returning from another successful men's retreat today, here's what I had entered in my journal this morning ... <'BB><
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October 25, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 3: 28 … 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.
My Journal for Today: This month we’ve been discussing how we relate to God in dealing with the concept of sin in our lives. And as Christians, everything we stand for spiritually rests upon the linchpin doctrine of justification by God’s grace alone and through our repentance in faith alone, apart from our works. Though there has been much theological debate over the centuries about this doctrinal stand (all of the reformation was wrapped up in this debate), it seems clear to this believer, as evidenced by today’s verse (as well as by Eph. 2: 8 – 9 and/or Titus 3: 4 – 7) that God’s grace alone, in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, The Christ, was the propitiation for my (and man’s) sin; and I was saved forever when I repented in faith and received God’s saving grace … as did Abraham of old (see Romans 4: 16).
This has been the entire thrust of Paul’s theological treatise in his letter to the Romans (and the Church … and to you and me) in Chapters 1 – 6; and mankind must deal with the wondrous or terrible outcomes of this Gospel message … that being the salvation or the damnation of man by faith in Christ or faith in anything other than Jesus. For those who choose, in faith, to follow Christ completely (see Luke 9: 23, Gal. 2: 20, and Romans 10: 9 – 13), the wondrous outcome is life with God in heaven forever. For those who choose, with no faith in Christ, to follow self and/or Satan, the terrible and absolutely horrific outcome will be an eternal damnation to a hell separated from God eternally.
Clearly, at least to this writer, Christ came to save me (and mankind) – see 1st Tim. 1: 15; and thankfully God is patient, desiring that all be saved (see 2nd Peter 3: 9). However, each of us in our years of accountability (and some would say the latter has nothing to do with the gospel), must either receive or reject the truth of the Gospel by faith as we know it (see Romans, chapters 1 – 3). The choice may be emotionally difficult; but in reality, it is theologically that simple.
I pray that any, who are reading this, have made that absolute commitment to receive God’s saving grace by repenting in faith of your sins and accepting/receiving Christ as your Savior and Lord. I probably should do this more often, (i.e., offer God’s gospel promise) knowing that others may read what I write; but I have a tendency to get focused on other discipleship issues for believers in my devotionals – probably because I know that I’m saved and desire that other saved Christians find what I am finding in my relationship with Christ. However, if you’re reading this; and you just want to make sure of your salvation, I beseech you to meditate on that passage from Romans 10: 9 – 13, and then, if you mean it in your heart, simply pray to declare your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior – and then share this decision with a Christian whom you respect. And after this declaration of your repentance and reception of God’s saving grace, get with that special someone, whom you perceive as a mature believer in Christ, and ask what you need to do to grow in your covenant of faith in Christ.
Wow, if you’ve had doubts about your salvation, this could be an eternally special day for you!
My Prayer Today: I pray, Lord, that all would find and receive You as I have. Amen
October 26, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 7: 7 [ note verse from context in bold]… Rom. 7: 4 So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. 7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet."
My Journal for Today: In the past week of devotional entries, we’ve seen the truth that God’s Law cannot save us (see Rom. 7: 4 – 5 above, which is the context for today’s highlight verse (Rom. 7: 7). Nor can the law sanctify us (see Rom. 7: 6). However, in today’s focus verse, we see that God’s Law is also not to be considered evil or sinful either. That’s what John MacArthur desired to explore in his next few devotional entries from Strength for Today. And so, in the next few days, I will follow suit by exploring what God’s Law does for the believer.
And the first of the reasons for God’s Law remaining a viable spiritual force in the life of a New Covenant Christian is that The Law reveals sin. God’s Law is His Holy standard; and without such a standard of righteousness the concept of “sin” becomes meaningless (see 1st John 3: 4 and Romans 3: 20, 4: 15, and 5: 13). That is why the Apostle Paul was/is so emphatic in today’s verse of record that The Law, coming from a Holy and Righteous God, could never be evil to produce sin in man. And as you read on in Romans 7 (primarily after v. 14), this was very personal for Paul, who had once lived a counterfeit version of God’s Law as a Pharisee and a pursuer of Christians. And even after Paul came to know Christ as the true Messiah, he still recognized, from the Law, that he struggled against sin in his life, … the Law revealing just how sinful he was even as a believer in Christ [again, see Rom. 7: 14 – 24].
We note in today’s highlight verse, Paul uses the sin of covetousness as his example of sinfulness, because the Apostle wanted us to see that God’s Law reveals more than merely external behavioral sin [such as murder or theft]. It also reveals internal attitudinal sin as well. It becomes God’s all-revealing mirror of holiness, which when we use it as God’s standard, it gives us a clear picture of how inadequate we are in dealing with sin without Christ as our Savior and His Spirit as our guide and enabler to avoid sin. God’s Law reveals ALL of whom we are or are not … but only IF we are willing to look into that mirror to see ourselves through God’s eyes of holiness … to recognize our sinful form … and to let God’s truth (primarily from His Holy Word) guide us to His transforming grace.
God’s word, … His truth, is that mirror. How often and how deeply are you looking into it to allow God’s Law to reveal you and to guide you toward the righteousness demanded by a Holy God [see Matt. 6: 33 - I hope you have that one memorized!]?
My Prayer Today: You reveal me in Your Truth, my Lord. Amen
October 27, 2008 …
Romans 7: 8 [note verse from context in bold]… Rom. 7: 4 So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. 7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead.
My Journal for Today: Continuing the discussion of the effects of the Law on sin in our lives, yesterday (from Rom. 7: 7) we saw that the Law reveals sin. It is like a mirror unto holiness; and it, sometimes painfully, reveals all the ugliness in our soul.
Now, in today’s highlight verse (Rom. 7: 8), Paul uses himself, as he does in much of his discussion on sin in Romans 7, illustrating that The Law also arouses sin in sinful mankind. It’s the old, but perverse, truth that when we’re confronted when THE Truth or with God as our Holy authority, our “natural,” reactive tendency is to rebel. John MacArthur uses the old illustration of what a young adolescent will do walking down the sidewalk, confronted with a “KEEP OFF THE GRASS!” sign. You may have been that child; and yes, I’ll bet you did what I did – i.e., tiptoe through the grass. Admit it; that’s who we are as sinful man.
So, today we’re confronted with the reality that the sin nature remaining in us will want to take every “opportunity” to taunt us toward sin when we know God’s holy signpost. That word, “opportunity,” is the Greek term “aphorme,” which actually means “taunt;” and the world has a military derivation, meaning that a base camp is established from which attacks on an enemy can be launched. And that’s exactly what Satan does, perversely using the “base camp” of God’s eternal Law. Satan knows that mankind, with his curse-driven sin nature, cannot live up to The Law, so he dangles it out in front of man, tempting him at every “opportunity” to make us want to walk on the grass in rebellion to God’s signpost of holiness. And Satan also wants us to try to do the work of avoidance on our own, trying to independently live up to God’s Law. Our enemy knows that we will never be able to do so; and so he can then use our headstrong nature to create discouragement in the hearts of God’s redeemed. It’s a double whammy; and the Law is there, essentially provoking it.
Yes, of course, it’s true that we must face our inability to overcome our sin nature and the Law on our own; but we can and will do just that … if we choose to submit and receive the grace that God has waiting and available for any born-again believer who would choose to accept and use that grace, provided by God’s Spirit, to overcome sin. We can live in holiness; but we have to choose surrender to God’s Spirit to find the victory.
My Prayer Today: Without Your grace, Lord, I am lost in my sinfulness. Amen
I'm sorry that my entry again somewhat late for the day. I'm having problems with my internet connection. But now that I'm connected at this time (in the PM), I'll post this morning's journal entry at this time. ... >>> Bill
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October 28, 2008 …
Romans 7: 9 – 11 [highlight verse in bold]… 7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.
My Journal for Today: Again we look at the effect God’s Law has on our dealings with sin. And The Law not only REVEALS and even AROUSES sin in mankind (see my last two devotional entries); but when man is really able to look into God’s mirror of truth (i.e., God’s Law), sin DEVASTATES US with the realization that we are utterly incapable of living up to the Law’s demands for righteousness. The lies of the master of deceit (Satan) and the condition of our deceit-ridden hearts (see Jer. 17: 9) would have us perceive that our good works could or would make us blameless. Paul once saw himself in this way (see Phil. 3: 16); and the Apostle recognized that his own deceitful heart gave him the tendency to be blind to his own sin. That’s why he wrote with such conviction about his own sinful condition in the passage with which we all probably identify - Romans 7: 14 – 24.
Unfortunately today many, as did Paul when he was Saul of Tarsus, fall prey to Satan’s con-game, leading the lost, and even Christians, to believe the lie that our good works can satisfy God’s Holy Law. However, anyone who is really able to look honestly at The Law, will realize their need of a Savior (see Rom. 5: 6 – 8). And Jesus (see Matt. 9: 12) said that it is not the healthy who needs a doctor; … it is the sick. And most certainly The Law is a devastating tool for God’s diagnosis of our sickness of sin.
So, as you read this, as I have meditated writing it, you (and I) must decide where we stand with regard to satisfying God’s Law. Just because we live now under the dispensation of grace under the New Covenant, it doesn’t mean that God’s Law is null and void in its demands. It still is our mirror of Holiness, revealing the horror of our human weakness to sin. Have we been conned by Satan’s lies and his world to think that our good works will usher us into Heaven? Or do we see that trusting in Christ is our only way to be justified when we stand before a Holy God and His Holy Law.
I pray that the latter is our response to God’s call for holiness from His Law; and that you, like the writer of this entry, have found salvation, and our ongoing sanctification, in Christ.
My Prayer Today: I am saved unto Your Law, Lord, … only in You. Amen
October 29, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 7: 14 - 17 … 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
My Journal for Today: John MacArthur, in today’s entry from Strength for Today, begins with a stark statement – almost a warning. He writes, “Believers (in Christ as Savior/Lord) have been freed from sin’s power, but not from its presence.” And as a Christian, like myself, I’d almost bet you readers just said, “AMEN!”
In the garden at Gethsemane the night before His passion on the cross, Jesus warns His disciples to watch and pray as they deal with the temptations of sin. He said, and we read it in Matt. 26: 41, “… the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Again, do I detect another “Amen?!”
Well, nowhere in Scripture is this feeling of inadequacy in dealing with sin more apparent than in the soulful lamentation of Romans 7: 14 – 25, from which today’s passage was extracted. Some have wondered how a mature, experienced Christian, let alone an Apostle, as Paul was when he wrote that passage, could pen such a message of self defeat. And you may ask how Paul could follow the languish of Romans 7 with one of the greatest declarations of Christian victory over sin in the New Testament – found, of course, in Romans 8. Well, I used to wonder that too, until I finally realized that Paul was using a rather standard preaching/teaching technique in Romans 7 – the use of self identification to persuade his writers about the importance of the matter he was describing, and that is the retained presence of sin in the life of any Christian. And to that we’d all say, “Amen,” wouldn’t we?
In today’s passage, we see Paul, the converted zealot for Christ, describing himself as one who must continually deal with his own weaknesses when it comes to his own sin nature. Who cannot identify with such weakness – the seeming inability to do what God would have us do in avoiding sin? But Paul, in writing Rom. 7: 14 – 25, was merely setting the stage for his great and powerful treatise on Christ’s victory over sin and our power, in Christ, to overcome its presence [i.e., Rom. 8].
So, as we read and identify with Paul’s life-long struggle with his own sin nature, we should never forget that, as Christians, we should be living in the reality of Romans 8 rather than the lament of Romans 7. And we can [!]; but we must, as Paul also writes in Romans 13: 14, “ …clothe [ourselves] with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.“ And assured by the truth of Romans 8, we can do just that in the power given to us by Christ and His Spirit, allowing us to put off the rags of sin (as we read in Colossians 3) and to put on Christ’s robes of righteousness, given to us freely by His grace and through His Spirit.
What about you? Are you choosing to live in Romans 7, giving quarter to your sin nature, … choosing to wear those sinful rags? Or are you choosing to live in Romans 8, where you can wear Christ’s glorious Robes of Righteousness, showing the world that your surrender to Christ is your power over sin?
My Prayer Today: Lord, I live and walk with You in Romans. Amen
October 30, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Romans 7: 24 - 25 … 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
My Journal for Today: If you’ve read my devotional entry for yesterday, you read my exposition of Paul’s passage of self-deprecation in Romans 7 (i.e., vv. 14 – 24). As I said in yesterday’s journal entry, some have questioned why Paul would seem so down on himself when he was such a mature and victorious Christian at the stage in life when he wrote the Epistle to the Romans. I posited that it is likely that the Apostle was using a writer’s tactic, i.e., using himself – positioned at his worst (probably reflecting back to his early days as a Christian) – to help believers of lesser maturity to be able to identify with the reality of our sin nature. But I also believe that Paul was laying a foundation for the great victory chapter he was about to write to Christians in Rome and everywhere (i.e., Romans 8).
Paul’s rhetorical question, “Who will rescue me from the body of death,” is, I believe, the great fulcrum truth in the battle for all Christians, which is life. It is said, and I believe it’s true, that a sure sign of sanctification and maturity in a Christian is the degree to which he hates his own sin and then acts on that hatred to become more like Christ. But as much as we hate our own carnality, as Paul expresses in today’s passage, we also, in faith, must be able to revel in the realization that our bodily and fleshly transformation will one day be completed in a glorified Christlikeness (see Romans 8: 18 – 19 and 1st Corinthians 15: 53, 57).
Therefore, knowing what our flesh (i.e., our sin nature) is predestined to become (i.e., see Romans 8: 29), we can – and should – empathize with Paul’s declaration of frustration as he laments to be rescued from his human condition. And his cry, “rescue me” (or “set me free” in the NASB), is the Greek term “rhoumai,” which is another battle field word picture of a soldier, possibly wounded, being rescued from the battlefield by his comrades.
And you may have been reminded by this imagery of Paul’s word pictures in Ephesians 6: 10 – 13, where the Apostle describes the battle in which we find ourselves everyday as Christians for our spiritual lives. Beloved, it is true that we are at war, every moment of everyday. But as Paul also states in Philippians 3: 20 – 21, we, who know Christ as Savior, will one day be rescued from the warfare of this life. Therefore, we must fight on in faith toward the realities of Romans 8 with the hope we have in Christ, leaving the frustrations of Romans 7 behind.
Hope is ours in Christ!!!
My Prayer Today: Amen and Amen!!!
Last day of the month. On to a new topic; and I'll be posting each day as a separate blog in November to see if that format works better. ... <'BB><
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October 31, 2008 …
Passage of the Day: Hebrews 4: 15 … 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One Who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
My Journal for Today: Okay, … last day of the month; and the last day on this topic concerning “sin.” But obviously it’s not the last day we’ll be dealing with sin in our lives; and here we are coincidently on a day [i.e., Halloween] that is set aside by our culture to practically glorify the dark and/or evil elements in our world. So, I’d say it’s a pretty good day to be devoting time to God about how we can overcome evil through our relationship with Christ.
And closing out on this topic for October, to deal with sin [i.e., overcoming temptation] in this life, Jesus, of course, provided us with the best model. If we go to the account in either Matthew 4 or Luke 4 where Satan confronted Christ in the wilderness, we note that the prince of evil brought three forms of sin before the God-Man, Jesus.
Satan first tried to get Jesus to doubt His Father’s provision (see Matt. 4: 3). Next the evil one tried to get The Messiah to doubt God’s protection (see Matt. 4: 5 – 6). And finally in this triad of temptation, the Devil attempted to get Jesus to doubt God’s perfection (see Matt. 4: 8 – 9). If you’ve ever memorized (and I’d recommend you do so) 1st John 2: 15 – 16, you may have noted in this review of Matt. 4 or it’s parallel rendering in Luke 4, the striking similarity with the three types of sin that God’s word says we, as believers, should avoid to show that we love God – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. So, as you see in today’s verse, Jesus faced exactly the same forms of sin that we face.
And as today’s verse trumpets, we have a Lord, Who confronted all possible forms of temptation and sin; and yet, as our model, He was without sin. And, furthermore, we note (from the accounts in Matt. 4 or Luke 4) that Christ defeated Satan with the same weapon that God provides all believers … His Spirit Sword (see Eph. 6: 17), i.e., God’s Word.
Being the Director of a ministry for Christians who deal with habitual sin, we teach that avoiding sin and/or temptation should always be our first strategic battle option (see 2nd Tim. 2: 22). However, when we must stand against evil or its agents in this world, as did Christ in the wilderness, His strategy, as our model for confronting Satan, was to use God’s word to defeat temptation; and this is a strategy that will always work, because it’s the prescription against sin recommended by God’s word itself (see a passage you also should have memorized - Psalm 119: 9, 11). And I always think (and say), “If it’s good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me (or you)!”
I pray that I, and any who read this, always carry a sharpened and well-practiced Sword of the Spirit, so that we can, if confronted by the evil one, as Jesus modeled, dispel the enemy when he comes against us. I think you know, as a Christian, that our common foe will do all he can to confront us with his temptations. So, we must always be carrying our sword, as I said, sharpened, ready, and practiced, to do battle and stand for Christ.
Jesus saves us from sin daily just as He saved our souls … with His Word. So, use it!
My Prayer Today: Hallelujah, Lord, for Your Word, … my sword in battle. Amen
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