Showing posts with label Purposeful Sin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Purposeful Sin. Show all posts
Monday, September 22, 2008
Cheap Grace
If the professed convert distinctly and deliberately declares that he knows the Lord's will but does not mean to attend to it, you are not to pamper his presumption, but it is your duty to assure him that he is not saved. Do not suppose that the Gospel is magnified or God glorified by going to the worldlings and telling them that they may be saved at this moment by simply accepting Christ as their Savior, while they are wedded to their idols, and their hearts are still in love with sin. If I do so I tell them a lie, pervert the Gospel , insult Christ, and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness." -C.H. SPURGEON
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Purposeful Sin
When we become believers in Jesus Christ, we are justified by the work of God in the death and resurrection of Christ. Our sins are paid for and the righteous sinless life Christ lived is credited to us. We are sanctified by the Spirit of Christ during our remaining life on earth. This is progressive but not completed until we are with God (Phil 1:6). Because of the flesh, it is impossible to completely cease from our sinning (Rom 3:23, 1 John 1:8,9). However, we are called to be holy, as God is holy (Lev 11:44). Thus sanctification, being conformed to the image of Christ, is empowered by God but requires our cooperation.
Sin in our lives can be of two forms(Num 15:22-31): what I would call accidental sin and what I would call purposeful sin. Accidental sin would be sin done in ignorance (ie not knowing that an action is a violation against God) or sin done without forethought (eg hitting one's thumb with a hammer and uttering an expletive). Purposeful sin would be any sin done with forethought either in passive defiance (an example would be knowing God wants me to do something yet refusing to do it) or open or active defiance to God's will. Our inability to stop sinning because of the flesh pertains to accidental sin and continued purposeful sin in our lives is a manifestation of either blatant disobedience, ignorance or unbelief.
God cannot tolerate sin and hates evil. I have been convicted of late that I have rationalized my sin by categorizing it as less severe and therefore not important and allowable. Things like speeding, having an extra glass of wine, and giving too much importance to exercise and sleep have persisted in my life despite my knowledge of God's hatred for sin. What does this mean? If Christ is my Lord, I should be submitting to him in all things. I should not be persisting in purposeful sin. Sure, I will mess up at times, accidently, but Jesus wants all of me. Submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ requires a ruthless pursuit of holiness. We must be killing sin, or it will be killing us (John Owen, Mathew Henry. Rom 8:13). Tolerating purposeful sin in my life as at best a grievous insult to God and at worst a manifestation of unbelief. As James said, even the demons believe, but they don't acknowledge and submit to God as Lord (James 2:19).
The ultimate question posed by Jerry Bridges in The Pursuit of Holiness:
Will you decide to obery God in all areas of life, however insignificant the issue may be?
See also this post http://sm--blog.blogspot.com/2008/07/saving-faith.html
Sin in our lives can be of two forms(Num 15:22-31): what I would call accidental sin and what I would call purposeful sin. Accidental sin would be sin done in ignorance (ie not knowing that an action is a violation against God) or sin done without forethought (eg hitting one's thumb with a hammer and uttering an expletive). Purposeful sin would be any sin done with forethought either in passive defiance (an example would be knowing God wants me to do something yet refusing to do it) or open or active defiance to God's will. Our inability to stop sinning because of the flesh pertains to accidental sin and continued purposeful sin in our lives is a manifestation of either blatant disobedience, ignorance or unbelief.
God cannot tolerate sin and hates evil. I have been convicted of late that I have rationalized my sin by categorizing it as less severe and therefore not important and allowable. Things like speeding, having an extra glass of wine, and giving too much importance to exercise and sleep have persisted in my life despite my knowledge of God's hatred for sin. What does this mean? If Christ is my Lord, I should be submitting to him in all things. I should not be persisting in purposeful sin. Sure, I will mess up at times, accidently, but Jesus wants all of me. Submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ requires a ruthless pursuit of holiness. We must be killing sin, or it will be killing us (John Owen, Mathew Henry. Rom 8:13). Tolerating purposeful sin in my life as at best a grievous insult to God and at worst a manifestation of unbelief. As James said, even the demons believe, but they don't acknowledge and submit to God as Lord (James 2:19).
The ultimate question posed by Jerry Bridges in The Pursuit of Holiness:
Will you decide to obery God in all areas of life, however insignificant the issue may be?
See also this post http://sm--blog.blogspot.com/2008/07/saving-faith.html
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