Passage of the Day: Romans 6: 1 – 2 [see verse in bold/underlined] … 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 – 5 [linked] and Col. 1: 13 - 14).
We, who now are in Christ, have been bought by the atonement of our Savior, … saved from the darkness of death into 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, or even repetitive, 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 repentance and remorse of the immature Christian, riding high when he is pure and then falling fast into the valley of despair involving the chosen sin. As I say, that’s the way of the immature Christian. However, it’s the mature Christian who learns to level off in his/her life of faith, 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, and realizing to follow and live out what that more mature Christian learns in order to avoid sin and practice spiritual temperance. And when, in the mature and long lasting decision to follow Christ, rather than self, that maturity becomes so joyful that he/she wants to help others find that dying to sin and living in Christ is so much more fulfilling than any fix one might get from partaking of the sin nature.
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
Showing posts with label darkness of sin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label darkness of sin. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Saturday, October 08, 2011
October 8, 2011 … A Right View of Sin
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 from his sinful flesh. 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) and our highlight passage for today.
>>>Sin demands cleansing (see v. 2 in today’s highlight verse). True confession recognizes the outcomes of sin (see also 1st John 1: 7, 9).
>>> Sin is our responsibility … No denial or defensiveness. We must exercise full accountability (as in verses 1, 3 above), such as David did, referring to “MY” transgressions.
>>>Sin is primarily against God (see v. 4), even though others may be involved or even hurt by our sin, David recognized that his sins were primarily against God.
>>> Finally, sin is a part of our deprived nature (see v. 5). We all inherit Adam’s propensity for sin (see Rom. 5: 12). David fully recognized this truth.
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 a 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, written by King David as a full confession of his sins, 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 about this 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 - 2), in essence by repeatedly testing God’s grace. In asking that question, Paul essentially said “NO WAY!” to this question (as you read in the Romans 6: 1 - 2 passage); and so do I here.
No, when we become Christians, we have died to our 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 its 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 resist its call, denying self, taking up the cross of righteousness, and following our Lord (see Luke 9: 23) on a path to Christlikeness, to which we are called as Christians.
My Prayer Today: Lord, help me to “be” clean, not just to “come clean.” Amen
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 from his sinful flesh. 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) and our highlight passage for today.
>>>Sin demands cleansing (see v. 2 in today’s highlight verse). True confession recognizes the outcomes of sin (see also 1st John 1: 7, 9).
>>> Sin is our responsibility … No denial or defensiveness. We must exercise full accountability (as in verses 1, 3 above), such as David did, referring to “MY” transgressions.
>>>Sin is primarily against God (see v. 4), even though others may be involved or even hurt by our sin, David recognized that his sins were primarily against God.
>>> Finally, sin is a part of our deprived nature (see v. 5). We all inherit Adam’s propensity for sin (see Rom. 5: 12). David fully recognized this truth.
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 a 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, written by King David as a full confession of his sins, 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 about this 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 - 2), in essence by repeatedly testing God’s grace. In asking that question, Paul essentially said “NO WAY!” to this question (as you read in the Romans 6: 1 - 2 passage); and so do I here.
No, when we become Christians, we have died to our 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 its 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 resist its call, denying self, taking up the cross of righteousness, and following our Lord (see Luke 9: 23) on a path to Christlikeness, to which we are called as Christians.
My Prayer Today: Lord, help me to “be” clean, not just to “come clean.” Amen
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
October 5, 2011 … Children of Darkness
Passage of the Day: 1st John 1: 6 [see underlined and 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 our 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 of discussion. 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” or trying to protect the traditional concept of marriage of “one man married to one woman” in our society.
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 [i.e., as Christians] as well … i.e., to do all we can 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 points Christians who continue to walk in the darkness of the flesh by denying their sin, are missing the mark of Christ’s mission. And the Apostle further teaches 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), leads 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 and enlightened to stay on track. Amen
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 our 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 of discussion. 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” or trying to protect the traditional concept of marriage of “one man married to one woman” in our society.
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 [i.e., as Christians] as well … i.e., to do all we can 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 points Christians who continue to walk in the darkness of the flesh by denying their sin, are missing the mark of Christ’s mission. And the Apostle further teaches 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), leads 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 and enlightened to stay on track. Amen
Monday, July 11, 2011
July 11, 2011 … Sensitivity to Sin
Passage of the Day: 1st John 1: 5 – 10 … 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. 9If 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: Yesterday we saw that the first element to look for in the assurance of our salvation is a deep and abiding relationship with Christ, a communion of worship and life with God’s Spirit, growing and maturing as we live for God’s glory [see 1st John 1: 3]. Today in our text passage, we look at the second indicator to which the Apostle John exposes to help believers KNOW that they are saved; and this element is the sensitivity to sin.
And in today’s text on the matter, we see one of the most common word pictures used in scripture to describe sin or sinfulness; and that is “darkness” verses “light” (i.e., Godliness, righteousness, or Christlikeness). For support of this, see also Ps 119: 105 and Prov. 6: 23 in the Old Testament. And in addition to today’s text from the NT, the Apostle Paul also wrote about sinfulness verses righteousness, using the dark/light word picture in Romans 7: 14 – 25. And in the Rom. 7 passage we read of Paul personalizing the battle we all have with self verses Savior … the darkness of our own hearts and the light found in our relationship with Christ. And in Rom. 7: 25 you will read of Paul’s recognition, as we read in today’s text, of our need to surrender to the light of Christ. And then all of Romans 8 is the victory story that results when we live in the light of Christ. And from John, in 1st John 1: 9 from today’s passage [a verse you may have memorized], we read of God’s remedy for the believer who is willing to surrender to God [i.e., the Light], recognizing and confessing his/her sinfulness … and that is to be cleansed and brought out of darkness and into God’s light.
Having been in that place of darkness in my past; and having experienced the truth of 1st John 1: 9 and the victory of Romans 8, I firmly believe, with personal witness, that there is no more lonely or forlorn place for a true Christian than to be walking in the darkness brought on by a believer’s selfish choices, taking him/her out of fellowship with Christ and out of the light provided by our Lord. However, the opposite of that is true as well … that a Christian, walking in surrender to God, will experience all the fruit that walking in the Light of Christ affords, which includes a blossoming of all of the fruit of the Spirit (see Gal. 5: 22, 23).
And so, I’d exhort any reader of this journal entry to make Psalm 119: 105 a strong memory verse for your life … praying continually for Christ’s light to shine on your path so that you can walk in His light, following Him as He commands in Luke 9: 23.
My Prayer Today: Thank you for Your light, Lord! Amen
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If 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: Yesterday we saw that the first element to look for in the assurance of our salvation is a deep and abiding relationship with Christ, a communion of worship and life with God’s Spirit, growing and maturing as we live for God’s glory [see 1st John 1: 3]. Today in our text passage, we look at the second indicator to which the Apostle John exposes to help believers KNOW that they are saved; and this element is the sensitivity to sin.
And in today’s text on the matter, we see one of the most common word pictures used in scripture to describe sin or sinfulness; and that is “darkness” verses “light” (i.e., Godliness, righteousness, or Christlikeness). For support of this, see also Ps 119: 105 and Prov. 6: 23 in the Old Testament. And in addition to today’s text from the NT, the Apostle Paul also wrote about sinfulness verses righteousness, using the dark/light word picture in Romans 7: 14 – 25. And in the Rom. 7 passage we read of Paul personalizing the battle we all have with self verses Savior … the darkness of our own hearts and the light found in our relationship with Christ. And in Rom. 7: 25 you will read of Paul’s recognition, as we read in today’s text, of our need to surrender to the light of Christ. And then all of Romans 8 is the victory story that results when we live in the light of Christ. And from John, in 1st John 1: 9 from today’s passage [a verse you may have memorized], we read of God’s remedy for the believer who is willing to surrender to God [i.e., the Light], recognizing and confessing his/her sinfulness … and that is to be cleansed and brought out of darkness and into God’s light.
Having been in that place of darkness in my past; and having experienced the truth of 1st John 1: 9 and the victory of Romans 8, I firmly believe, with personal witness, that there is no more lonely or forlorn place for a true Christian than to be walking in the darkness brought on by a believer’s selfish choices, taking him/her out of fellowship with Christ and out of the light provided by our Lord. However, the opposite of that is true as well … that a Christian, walking in surrender to God, will experience all the fruit that walking in the Light of Christ affords, which includes a blossoming of all of the fruit of the Spirit (see Gal. 5: 22, 23).
And so, I’d exhort any reader of this journal entry to make Psalm 119: 105 a strong memory verse for your life … praying continually for Christ’s light to shine on your path so that you can walk in His light, following Him as He commands in Luke 9: 23.
My Prayer Today: Thank you for Your light, Lord! Amen
Sunday, April 17, 2011
April 17, 2011 … Supernatural Darkness
Passage of the Day: Matthew 27: 45 … [During Christ’s crucifixion] From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.
My Journal for Today: John MacArthur in his devotional for this date from Strength for Today helped me learn about this darkness that enveloped the countryside at mid-day during Christ’s crucifixion. The darkness referred to in today’s verse has been historically confirmed to have taken place worldwide at the very moment of time mentioned in this scripture. Most certainly it could not have been caused by a parallel-occurring solar eclipse. That is astronomical and scientific fact.
MacArthur posits, and I agree, that this darkness was like that reported repeatedly put forth by Jesus in the book of Matthew (see Matt. 8: 12; 22: 13; 25: 30), … a darkness where there will be “…weeping and gnashing of teeth.” This is the outer darkness associated with God’s judgment; and MacArthur indicates that this was the darkness in Matt. 27: 45, a darkness which shadowed the world, indicating the spiritual time when God’s wrath was visited upon Jesus, as our Lord took upon His shoulders the sinfulness of mankind.
This was time of the “cup” which Christ dreaded so much as he shed drops of blood, sweat, and tears in the Garden of Gethsemane. This was the moment when God, the Father, turned His back on His Son because the Son had taken upon Him the sins of all mankind. This was the darkest moment in the history of mankind – literally and spiritually. It was the time when the Lamb of God was slain; and MacArthur says that the darkness on that day was “… a graphic portrayal of the cross as the focal point of God’s wrath, a place of His immense judgment … a place of horrible spiritual darkness.”
And yet, three days later, in the event that all believers associate with the Light of the World, Christ was risen; and now we associate sin with darkness (as in today’s verse) and light with God’s holiness and purity … and of course, with Christ Himself. To be in the light is to be in Christ. To be in the darkness is to be under the influence of Satan, sin, and self.
In the ministry which I’ve been called and ordained to lead, BattlePlan Ministry, which helps men come out of the darkness of sexual sin into the light of purity and victory in Christ, the men often, upon confessing some episode of sin to their fellow BPM warriors in our men’s discipleship meetings, refer to actually “feeling” the light of Christ when they are cleansed of the darkness of sin, i.e., experiencing the light which comes from cleansing confession (see 1st John 1: 9 and/or 2nd Cor. 5: 17).
So, may we ever be in pursuit of God’s light and doing all we can to avoid the darkness of our sin nature.
My Prayer Today: Lord, I go to Your light! Amen
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