The Choice

For the past little while, I've been noticing some areas of sin in my life which had hung around for a while. To be perfectly honest, that is at least in part because I haven't seriously been fighting against the sin in my life. This is why when I was reading Romans 6 today, the Holy Spirit had some select verses to bring to my attention.

Before we get to them though, a quick review of Romans 6 is in order. The overarching thrust of the chapter centers on the Christian's victory over sin. Specifically, the believer's current victory over sin. In the context of the rest of Romans, Paul is refuting the idea presented at the end of Chapter 5 that Christian's should sin freely to exult God's grace and forgiveness. For those of you who love theological terms, this relativistic Christianity is call antinomianism (literally No Law).

Paul's argument in Chapter 6 is that our sin nature died with Christ on the Cross. This means that instead of being freed to sin, the Christian is actually freed from sin. Indeed, to sin is to willfully ignore the effects of Christ's sacrifice for us.

While the whole chapter speaks to this issue, there were several verses which specifically jumped out with application for my life:

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."
(Romans 6:12-14 ESV)

Paul's admonition isn't new. It was stated more concisely by Joshua back when Israel first entered Canaan:

"And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
(Joshua 24:15 ESV)

The question of sin in our lives is not a question of whether we can stop sinning, but rather whether we will stop living in sin. Sin is not unbeatable, or inevitable. It is something that we can overcome through Christ's strength. This leaves us with one final question: will we choose to move forward in Christ's victory, or decide to remained a slave to our sin. There is no other option.

In the post above I briefly touched on the idea of antinomianism, which is one attempt to answer the question of how the Law relates to the Christian. What do you think Scripture says on this topic, and how should that affect our daily lives?

"As Weary Pilgrim"

Currently I am in the middle of an American Literature course. Today my studies found me reading Anne Bradstreet's poem "As Weary Pilgrim." Anne was part of the Puritan band who traveled with John Winthrop to found Boston. In the poem, Anne looks at the end of life from the backdrop of a pilgrim who has ended their travels. It echos some the cries of my heart (the final lines particularly this time) and reminds me to keep my focus on Heaven and Eternity. Hopefully you find the same encouragement in her words:

"As weary pilgrim, now at rest,
  Hugs with delight his silent nest,
His wasted limbs now lie full soft
  That mirey steps have trodden oft,
Blesses himself to think upon
  His dangers past, and travails done.
The burning sun no more shall heat,
  Nor stormy rains on him shall beat.
The briars and thorns no more shall scratch.
  Nor hungry wolves at him shall catch.
He erring paths no more shall tread,
  Nor wild fruits eat instead of bread.
For waters cold he doth not long
  For thirst no more shall parch his tongue.
No rugged stones his feet shall gall,
  Nor stumps nor rocks cause him to fall.
All cares and fears he bids farewell
  And means in safety now to dwell.
A pilgrim I, on earth perplexed
  With sins, with cares and sorrows vext,
by age and pains brought to decay,
  And my clay house mold'ring away.
Oh, how I long to be at rest
  And soar on high among the blest.
This body shall in silence sleep,
  Mine eyes no more shall ever weep,
No fainting fits shall me assail,
  Nor grinding pains my body frail,
With cares and fears ne'er cumb'red be
  Nor losses know, nor sorrows see.
What though my flesh shall there consume,
  It is the bed Christ did perfume,
And when a few years shall be gone,
  This mortal shall be clothed upon.
A corrupt carcass down it lies,
  A glorious body it shall rise.
In weakness and dishonor sown,
  In power 'tis raised by Christ alone.
Then soul and body shall unite
  And of their Maker have the sight.
Such lasting joys shall there behold
  As ear ne'er heard nor tongue e'er told.
Lord make me ready for that day,
  Then come, dear Bridegroom, come away."

In today's culture we seem to lean towards ignoring eternity and focusing on this present life. However, it can be quite easy to go to the other extreme and ignore this world entirely while focusing on heaven. How should we avoid these extremes? Does your focus need to be adjusted?

I'm Actually Impressed with the Israelites

We are forgetful people. This was impressed on me when my pastor asked us a month or so ago for the top 2 times we had seen God at work recently, in either our lives or the lives of those around us. I'm sorry to say, I couldn't think of a single instance. That isn't to say that God hasn't been at work, but it does say something about my memory of His workings.

Looking at this from a different perspective, my pastor took us to Exodus 14-15. In this passage the Egyptian army is drowned in the Red Sea, the people of Israel praise the Lord for his deliverance, travel through the wilderness for 3 days, and then begin complaining about the lack of water. Now I don't know about you, but I've always seen the Israelites as "The Complainers." They see God's miraculous works time and time again, yet still seem to be able to quickly slip into complaining. As my pastor pointed out though, they went three days before they started complaining. This was followed up with the question: How long do you go through life before you start complaining? Those three days of the Israelites is much more impressive now, isn't it?

As the sermon progressed, one specific way was highlighted to combat our forgetful tendency: Regularly attend corporate worship services with your local Body of Believers. One of the reasons we should gather to worship as a body on Sunday mornings is to remind ourselves of God's greatness and mighty acts from the past, present, and future. Because of our individual forgetfulness, we need to come together as a Church Body to help reorient our focus back on Christ and off our individual situations.

On the flip side of the coin, we should also look to actively share with others how the Lord has been working in our lives. This was impressed on me as while reading the Psalms for my personal Bible Study. Consider Psalm 35:18 and 28 (ESV):

"I will thank you in the great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise you....
Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
                and of your praise all the day long."

So the challenge to us is two fold: 1. Are we feeling down, and in a dry place in my walk with the Lord? We mustn't let that stop us from gathering with fellow believers. In fact, we probably need their insight and encouragement to help us to focus back on Christ. 2. Is the Lord working in our lives? Great! Who did we tell about it? We can't hold the good news to ourselves! On that note, here are some of the things that I have to be grateful to the Lord for, small and personal perhaps, but they are ways that I have seen His presence in my life--a decent grade on a paper which I didn't know whether the prof would agree with - peace in answer to prayer during a troubled moment last night - conviction of sin from Scripture reading.

What about you? How has the Lord been working in your life recently?