Doing the Do!
It is so amazing and refreshing as we read the pages of scripture to find out how truly easy it is to not sin. Now I am getting ready to contradict myself, it is very VERY difficult to not sin, but at the same time it can be so easy. Ok now that we are all scratching our heads let me explain. Each of us struggles daily to “crucify our flesh” and “walk according to the Spirit,” yet I think we struggle harder than we have to because we, as hard headed humans, tend to try to be legalistic. We focus so hard on NOT doing the things we are told are sin such as when the Bible tells us that drunkenness, orgies, lying, stealing, etc. are all sins and we work hard NOT to do those things. But is this scriptures’ real approach to living a holy life?
The apostle Paul reaffirms that it is not scriptures’ approach to holy and effective living. Just like Jesus he tells us that living a holy life is done another way. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:6-10
Paul takes the list of the commandments, albeit not a full list, and does exactly the same thing that Jesus did. He summed them up by saying to love our neighbor as ourselves, because when we are doing things out of true love we do not wrong anyone. When we put our energy into loving others with the love of Christ, and doing as Jesus said, loving God with all of our being, then we often times find we don’t really have the time to sin. I am not saying that we are sin free at this point, but that we sin a whole let less. Living a holy life becomes so much easier for us when we focus on doing the “do” rather than not doing the “don’ts.”
Lord God,
May you guide me a direct in paths of righteousness as I seek to love you and love others. Father may I walk upright and blamesless as I let love be my guiding principle in all that I do.
The apostle Paul reaffirms that it is not scriptures’ approach to holy and effective living. Just like Jesus he tells us that living a holy life is done another way. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:6-10
Paul takes the list of the commandments, albeit not a full list, and does exactly the same thing that Jesus did. He summed them up by saying to love our neighbor as ourselves, because when we are doing things out of true love we do not wrong anyone. When we put our energy into loving others with the love of Christ, and doing as Jesus said, loving God with all of our being, then we often times find we don’t really have the time to sin. I am not saying that we are sin free at this point, but that we sin a whole let less. Living a holy life becomes so much easier for us when we focus on doing the “do” rather than not doing the “don’ts.”
Lord God,
May you guide me a direct in paths of righteousness as I seek to love you and love others. Father may I walk upright and blamesless as I let love be my guiding principle in all that I do.
posted by Pastor Jerry at
7:35 AM
3 Comments:
Matthew 1:21 "...you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." If we are "his people," then we are no longer slaves to sin. Our new nature permits us a choice. We will still sin, but regretfully. Anyone who still sins willfully should examin himself (or herself)to see if he is truly born of God. Thanks for reminding me of this priceless benefit of being a converted sinner.
By
Anonymous, at 2:49 PM
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We still have a sinful nature within us, even after we have asked the Lord for His salvation. We will still sin, but I don't know how regretful people will be. Take my friend, for instance, who actually said that she likes to sin because it's fun.
The only thing that is going to set us apart from the world is a deliberate act of obedience to God's ways. It will not be easy, but we are instructed all thru scripture to try. If we truly want to be God's people, we must go against our sinful nature and actually follow the teaching and instructions that God gave us in the Old Testament.
Jesus showed us how to follow those teaching and instructions with the correct heart attitude--do the commands the way that God has laid it upon our hearts. It may not exactly match all the steps shown in the OT, but that is okay because all God wants from us is a heart that is willing to follow His ways--to be a doer of the Word, not just hearers.
By
Anonymous, at 6:02 PM
Dear anonymous #2, Please read Romans 8:1-9. You should understand that the "sin nature" is dead in the believer. We will never have complete victory over sin until we are glorified in heaven, but the life of the believer should be characterized by growing holiness. If your friend still likes to sin, I am very concerned for her salvation. (V.9) "You, however are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ."
Some people try to make sense of the multitude of professing Christian hypocrites by adopting the notion of the "carnal Christian." There is no scriptural support for such a classification.
If you dissagree, I'm open to reason, just show me with scripture.
By
Anonymous, at 8:00 PM
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