Labour, therefore, to fill your hearts with the cross of Christ. Consider the sorrows he underwent, the curse he bore, the blood he shed, the cries he uttered, the love that was in all this to your souls, and the mystery of the grace of God in it. Meditate on the vileness, the guilt, the punishment of sin as seen in the cross, the blood, and the death of Christ. Was Christ crucified for sin, and shall not our hearts be crucified with him to sin? Shall we give place to, or listen to the folly of, that which wounded, pierced, and slew our dear Lord Jesus? God forbid! Fill your affections with the cross of Christ, that there may be no room for sin. The world once turned him out of doors, into a stable, when he came to save us; let him turn the world out of doors, now that he has come to sanctify us (100).
Tag: Sin
How Do We Work Sin Out of Our Lives?
Along with eating well, working out is an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. Recently, there has been an upsurge of both. If not in the culture at large, at least with my social media friends. It is hard to go a day without seeing someone’s cross fit feats plastered across my Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram feeds. Seeing those got me thinking: How do we work sin out of our lives? The answer I came to is that we do and we don’t.
The Work of God
The main way sin is worked out of our lives is through the Holy Spirit working in our lives. As we are freed from sin’s reigning power in the gospel, we are also given the Holy Spirit, who takes up residence in our bodies. He then works to sanctify us by: Convicting us of sin and enabling and empowering us to deal with sin. In addition to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, God allows circumstances to occur that help us to grow spiritually (James 1:2-4).
The Work of the Believer
Even though the Holy Spirit is working in our lives and God the Father is working everything out in His sovereign plan, we must remember that we are not removed from the fight. We cannot and must not be passive in our pursuit of holiness (Philippians 2:12-13). We must still preach the gospel to ourselves, memorize Scripture, pray, and seek accountability from other believers.
What We Can’t Forget
While we must fight, we must not forget that we can’t get rid of sin by simply trying harder. We must always come back to the gospel and the work of God in our lives. While we can’t be passive, we also can’t be prideful. We must remember we need God.
A Seven Step Process to Dealing with Sin in our Lives:
In his book, Respectable Sins, Jerry Bridges offers 7 steps to dealing with sin that I believe is useful.
- (1) Apply the gospel
- (2) Depend on the Holy Spirit
- (3) Recognize your responsibility
- (4) Identify specific sins
- (5) Memorize and apply appropriate Scriptures
- (6) Cultivate the practice of prayer by planning consistent times and spontaneously praying when dealing with specific sins
- (7) Involve one or a few other believers with you [2]
If we remember God’s role, and our role, and practice these seven steps, I believe we will be well on our way to working sin out of our lives.
Resources
[1] Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins, 51.
Who are We in Christ? – Part 3
Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians while in Ephesus after he heard of some issues plaguing the church. The issues Paul deals with in 1 Corinthians are the same issues we deal with today, which is why this is such a good book for the modern day church to study.
However, before Paul dives into the issues, he reminds the Corinthians, and subsequently us, of who we are in Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 1:2 Paul writes:
“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.” (1 Cor. 1:2)
Based on 1 Corinthians 1:2, the second thing we learn is that:
(3) Those who are in Christ are Saints
In the middle of verse 2, Paul says that we are:
“called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (1 Cor. 1:2c)
Paul doesn’t beat around the bush. He flat out says that we are all called to be Saints.
What does it mean to be saint?
The Catholic Church doesn’t have the market cornered on saints. A Saint is someone who is set apart to live for God. Since all Christians are set apart to live for God, all Christians are saints.
Saints because sin no longer holds us back
We are all saints — we all can live for God — because sin no longer holds us back.
When I was in college, I had a passion for rock climbing. We had a nice climbing wall in our Rec Center at the University of Georgia, and we lived within a few hours drive of the best climbing in the Southeast. Needless to say I climbed all the time.
I remember one day I was climbing on a route in Tennessee at Foster Falls. A route that was a too advanced for me, but one I attempted anyways. While working the route, I hurt my shoulder. Not real bad, but I hurt it. Instead of resting my shoulder for a week or so, I decided to climb the next day. When I did, the small shoulder injury I had turned into a major shoulder injury. One that kept me from climbing for a long time.
Just as my shoulder injury once held me back from climbing, our sin once held us back from living for God. No matter how hard we tried, before we turned our lives over to Jesus, we couldn’t live a life that pleased God. It was impossible because our sin held us back.
Set free to live for God
When we became Christians, however, Jesus sets us free from sin, so that now we are able to live for God. That is exactly what God expects from us. He expects us to live for Him, to desire to and strive to become more and more like Christ each and everyday. Which is possible because we are saints who have been freed from the grip of sin.
Questions for Reflection
- Do you think of yourself as a saint?
- Do you believe you can live a holy life?
Resources
Post adapted from my sermon Who Are We In Christ?
Why Do We Rebel?
“But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards,” (Mt 24:48–49)
In Matthew 24:48-49 Jesus pictures one of two servants. The second servant, the one we see here, is much different than the first. Instead of remaining faithful the entire time his master is gone and taking care of his fellow servants. He does the opposite.
Jesus tells us with the master delayed in returning, the servant forgets his master and the task he has been given. As a result, he begins to indulge his flesh.
Notice he does two things:
(1) He acts unjustly – He abuses his position and those under him. Instead of taking care of and feeding his fellow servants, he beats them. He lashes out against them in violence.
(2) He befriends drunkards – Eating and drinking with them, and inevitable taking up their lifestyle – their actions and way of living.
Change Didn’t Occur Overnight
Now, I want you to understand the change in this man didn’t occur overnight. A switch didn’t just flipped in his heart so that he became corrupt. No, these things were always in his heart. They just didn’t have an opportunity to come out. You see, his master was the one who was restraining him. With his master gone, with the restraint lifted, he could act as he pleased.
So his current actions — beating his fellow servants and hanging with drunkards — was the actual state of his heart. He just needed an opportunity for that to show.
Applying It To Us
I think we see something similar in our own lives and our own churches.
Think of that kid who grew up in the church. All their life they were taught to act a certain way — Don’t be a drunkard, don’t use drugs, don’t have sex before you get married, and always go to church. While they lived at home, for the most part, they lived by those rules.
However, as soon as they moved out of their parent’s house or went off to college in another town, they started doing all the things they were told they weren’t supposed to do. They started using drugs, getting drunk, having sex with their girlfriend or boyfriend and stopped showing up to church.
As parents, we wonder why? I mean, “They were so good at home. Why are they acting this way now?”
Well, the reason they do is the same reason the second servant — the unfaithful servant — acts the way he acts.
The restraining power of the master is no longer present. When that is taken way, the heart will show it’s true nature.
That’s exactly what happened with this servant, and that is exactly what happens with kids who grow up in the church but then go off to live as if they didn’t grow up in the church.
Or you might think of another scenario. How about the church going business man who goes on a business trip and looks at porn in his hotel room, or even worse, cheats on his wife. That happens for the same reason. The restraining power of the master has been taken away and their true heart is able to come out.
The same thing with people who go off to Las Vegas for vacation. There is nothing there to restrain them. Vegas knows this so they play it up and you see that with their motto: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
So all this tells us is that:
Our true nature shows through when external restraints are taken away.
When the outside influence that keeps our true desires at bay is no longer there, they (our suppressed desires) will come out, showing our true heart. That is what happens to the servant here in our passage, the young adult who leaves home, the businessman who goes on a trip, or the person who goes to Vegas for vacation. When the restraint is lifted, their true heart is shown.
Questions for Reflection
- Do you believe our environment can have that kind of restraint on us?
- How do you explain the teenager who was a saint at home, but a hellion on his/her own?
Resource
On Idolatry
John Calvin comments,
“God renders his glory conspicuous everywhere, so that it ought to engage and occupy the thoughts of all men; and it would do so were they not led away by their own vanity.”
Idolatry does not exist because the Lord is unclear about His existence but because of our own vain imaginations. Sin makes us prone to trust gods other than the one true Lord of all, but when we do that we become captive to fear and the destructive results of putting our final hope in any but God.
Questions for Reflection
- Calvin argues idolatry exists because of our own vanity (our futile thoughts due to sin), what do you think?
Resources
Table Talk Magazine, Devotional from July 10th
Fight the Good Fight in Community
Sin is something we don’t like to talk about. Something we would rather keep hidden. It is certainly not something we want to tell others about. James, however, tells us we should tell others about our sin. He writes,
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working (James 5:16).
James exhorts us to confess our sins to one another, so that others might pray for us. Do you confess your sins to others? Do you ask others to pray God would remove sin in your life? If you don’t, I would encourage you to find someone you can trust, confess your sins, and ask them to pray for you. Don’t try to fight temptation and sin by yourself. Don’t be a Lone Ranger Christian. Fight the good fight in community!
Why Can We Confess Sin to Others?
Often confessing sin to others is hindered by what we believe others will think about us. We don’t want to appear like we don’t have it all together. We are afraid others will look down on us, if we confess our sin.
Christians shouldn’t think that way. The gospel should encourage us to confess our sins to others because it tells us we are not accepted based on our works, or what others think about us. We are accepted based on Jesus’ work for us. Concern for what others think shouldn’t dissuade us then from confessing sin. What others think doesn’t matter because our acceptance is not based on what others think.
Question for Reflection
- Do you confess your sins to others so they can pray for you?
- Are you worried about what others might think of you?
Christianity Matters 