Stick with me on this one…
I once heard a pastor preach about not taking sin seriously and not monkeying around with it.
The point was, we have to KILL SIN immediately (the pastor used the illustration of the Prophet Samuel hacking the Amalekite king to death when King Saul had disobeyed God and refused to kill the enemy of God.)
He explained that the enemies of God in our lives are the things that keep our hearts from God.
He said, “You can’t kill sin with easy strokes.”
There is no middle ground. There is no way for a Christian to coexist with sin and experience peace, hope and joy for very long.
Furthermore, if we ignore sin in our lives, we will be like the frog in the slow boiling pot of water.
If we ignore sin, if we don’t kill sin, it will “kill” us and those around us.
Later, the same day after hearing that sermon, I read an article by John Piper that just “popped up on my feed”, (coincidence? I think not!):
“…what God creates in the new birth is not a sinless Christian. What he creates is an embattled, not-yet-perfect, Spirit-empowered, persevering, Christ-treasuring, sin-hating, new being — a new creation in Christ. And don’t miss those words, “embattled” and “sin-hating.””
Piper goes on to say, “What God creates in the new birth is not a sinless Christian, but a sin fighter.”
A FIGHTER
Then the next morning, my daily devotional by Paul David Tripp, said, “I’m a very skilled self-swindler. I am very good with my morality.” “It’s so easy for me to convince myself that the wrong I have done is not so wrong at all. And as I work to minimize the gravity of my condition, I in turn devalue the grace that is the only hope of my rescue.”
A theme for sure!!!
Take sin seriously.
Don’t allow it to remain in your life.
Fight!
Kill it!
If we minimize sin, we devalue the grace that is the only hope of our rescue.
And we will surely be destroyed.
Then, as I continued my reading in Acts, chapter 9, — Saul is persecuting Christians and Jesus appears to him on the road to Damascus and asks, “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?”
Saul, who has fallen to the ground, asks Jesus, “Who are you, Lord?” and Jesus responds, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”
Just like Saul, our sin always persecutes Christ too!
And as I pondered ALL of this… I remembered the words of David after his adultery with Bathsheba, after having her husband killed in battle and the consequence of his sin —the DEATH of his infant son.
Sin led to death!
And like David, when we recognize sin in our life we need to run away from it and to the Lord!
David is devastated by his sin and he says these words in Psalm 51:
- Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned”
And with all of that, I’m slain!
Like Saul (who will become Paul) I want to fall to the ground when confronted with the words of Jesus.
Like David, I’m heartbroken because I know ALL my sins, the ones I take seriously AND the ones I’ve excused and made light of, ALL of them, MY SIN is what held my Savior to that cross!
Everything God calls sin, every sin, my sin and your sin, is utterly ugly. It only leads to destruction and death.
Always.
We can’t excuse it.
God, help us see it!
Help us be so sick of it, and take it seriously enough, to KILL IT in our lives!
Help us to run to God’s grace and flee it!!
May our prayer be that of David’s:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)
“For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (51:16-17)
God, break our hearts over our sin!
Even the sin you are bringing to our minds in this very moment!
May we turn from it, and run to your GRACE!
And may we be ever thankful for your GRACE!! Amazing Grace!
What a Savior!
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