Holiness

On Sinning Less

/ Lee A. Robinson / Leave a comment

I heard someone recently ask Elon Musk what he thought was the greatest piece of advice ever given him. After some deliberation he concluded that it was “to strive to be less wrong.” This struck me as a different and perhaps helpful way in approaching life. It is futile and frustrating to strive for perfection. However, to simply shave off a little bit of imperfection seems much more likely and encouraging of a goal. I could say, “I am never going to eat anything unhealthy ever again!” Wishful thinking. However, if I say, “If all else fails, I’m just not going to drink soda for a few months.” This is much, much more likely to be realistic and, if achieved, will push my health in a positive direction.

The ultimate goal for every person is to become more and more like Jesus Christ. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:28-29). We are born in the image of our fallen father Adam and it is the lifelong challenge for us all to be recreated and restored into the image of the perfect son of God. This is aiming at perfection. My thought at this moment though is not to think of it as, “I have to become perfect,” but rather, “Today the goal is just to remove something – even if it’s seemingly small – from what is unlike Christ. Sculptures start with a bland block and chisel away little by little until the desired image appears. 

Here are a few suggestions on how to effectively purge off imperfections of your life…

  1. Remember who God is and who you are. God made you. You did not exist eternally and then at one point create a god to worship. God always existed, then in time he made you, to worship him. God created the game, therefore he gets to set the rules. He embedded the rules in our hearts. We intuitively know what is right from wrong. We didn’t create our conscience, it was factory installed. Who put it there? God. This all means that our obligation is to obey the rules. Obey and live, disobey and die. Submit to God’s authority & rules and be happy, or rebel and be sad. Where is your heart right now? Is it resting under God’s authority? Are you content being a servant of God, or are you still longing to be the master of your own life? Positioning yourself gently under God is the first step to sinning less. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10)
  2. We must admit that we are sinful and that the true enemy is within. We are our own worst enemy. Of course, there is a devil, a corrupt world, difficult people, and severely challenging trials, but if we were like God (if we were holy) we still would not sin because we would be patient, merciful, forgiving and full of faith. I am the problem, not something or someone else. I have this part of me that doesn’t want to admit it. Why are we so quick to judge others, to point out their faults, to excuse our own and to think that we are better than others? Why does it seem so offensive when other people wrong us, but when we do wrong it doesn’t seem to bother us as much? This is our real nature manifesting itself. We are sinners. Admit it. If we don’t we will always be making excuses for ourselves, never actually growing spiritually. We must be quick to turn ourselves in to God. “Woe is me, for I am undone!” (Isaiah 6:5) “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).
  1. Meditate on the consequences of your sins until it hurts. Our sins displease God: our wise creator, benevolent provider, redeemer, savior and friend: the one who left heaven and was crucified for us. There is no one so gentle towards you; so kind, compassionate, merciful, longsuffering, encouraging, thoughtful, committed. Think of how loving God is to you. He only wants your good. He never makes fun of you, hurts you, lies to you, or abandons you. He is by far your best friend. When you choose to sin it breaks God’s heart because he loves you: he knows that in some way your joy and peace is going to be disturbed because of this. Do you see him? He’s not upset or mad, he’s broken. Honor him by doing what pleases him.  
  1. Our sins also displease and hurt others. Every time we sin, no matter what it is, we hurt other people. Sometimes it is directly, by saying or doing something wrong to that person. But think about the other people involved in your life. Those who witness your wrong doings are presented with an unpleasant thing to watch and the weak are encouraged to do the same. When we sin other people are inconvenienced by it. There has to be valuable time spent trying to deal with the sin until it is corrected. Life is not all about you. We know deep down that it is more honorable to put others’ needs and desires in front of our own. Love other people by choosing to sin less. Another thought on this is, every time you sin, you become less equipped to serve other people in the future, so people who could have benefitted from you now will not. “Consider one another” (Hebrews 10:24). 
  1. Sinning now conditions you to sin easier and more in the future. Most people don’t like smoking the first time they try, but many acquire a taste for it. The more you allow yourself to do the same wrong thing over and over and over again, the easier it is going to become and the more you will enjoy it. Drug addicts build up a tolerance to the chemicals. This means that the more their bodies become used to those chemicals, the more chemicals are needed in order to get the same effect. A person who started consistently smoking a couple cigarettes a day will be smoking a whole pack after some time. Do you want to enjoy sin more and need more extreme sins to get the same feeling? God forbid. If not, sin less. Be afraid of where you may end up. Ask any old person and they will tell you that time flies. Time flies. They say about things that happened 40, 50, 60, 70 years ago, “It seems like yesterday.” Don’t wake up tomorrow being deep in sin because you excused your “little sins” today. “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate” (Proverbs 8:13). 
  1. Sin robs you. Do you like being robbed or lied to? Of course not! But when you sin you are freely giving away the most precious treasures you have: your peace, your joy, your freedom! Think about it. When you sin you hide because you’re scared and ashamed. Sin never leads you to joy or confidence. It may feel good for a brief moment, but then you are plagued with worry: you start having to think of ways to not get caught or to get out of the consequences. All of this is dark. Sin is a shrewd liar: promising you freedom but only bringing you into bondage. It’s proven that little children are happier if they play in an area that has clear boundaries. If they have no boundaries and no rules then they get frustrated. Dealing with God’s rules and boundaries are hard to handle sometimes, but playing inside of them is unexpectedly the true path to freedom and joy. “What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:21-23).
  1. You only have one life. If you break your pencil you can always go and get a new one. You can’t just go get a new one if you break you. You only have one opportunity to manage the life that you have. How many days old are you? Today, I am on exactly day 13,600. That’s a lot of days. I will never be able to live any of my past days, ever again. I only had one chance to either make good decisions or bad decisions. The person I am today is the culmination of all of those decisions. The more that I consistently do what is right the better my life will be. The more I abuse my body, soul, mind and spirit, the worse my life is going to become. Also, we have to live with this life for the rest of our lives. You will always carry your past decisions with you. Strive to live in a way that will preserve your life instead of destroying it. You are precious and valuable – there is only one you – so treat yourself as though you are. “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
  1. Have faith. There are times in your life when you desperately wanted something and didn’t get it, but it was ok. For example, there was a night when you really wanted dessert, but your parents said, “No.” It hurt alot and it seemed in the moment like you couldn’t handle it. But the next morning you completely forgot about it never to think about it again. Recognize that temptations only last for a short while. If you overcome it in the moment it will go away. Whatever the sin is, it will try to convince you that you will never be happy without it, but this is a lie. The truth is that you need righteousness and holiness, because without them you truly will not ever be happy. Crave what is good, yield to holiness and it will satisfy you for real. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12).
  1. Believe the Gospel: the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. You cannot sin less without Jesus. You have a fundamental problem: you are a sinner, you’ve sinned already and you will want to sin more in the future. Thankfully, Jesus died for all of your sins – past, present and future. Not only did he die for you, but also rose from the dead, for you. This means that he is the way for us to have power over the temptations of sin. Jesus came out of the grave: he can create life out of death. If he can do that, then he has the power and wisdom to be able to make you happy and content without that sin. You do need water and food to survive, but there is no sin that you need to survive or to prosper. You need the miraculous, creative power of Jesus to generate in you what is not there. This miracle happens as we internalize and obey the truth. Jesus said, “The truth shall make you free.” There is nothing in this world you can see or touch that will truly make you happy. Truth, righteousness and love makes you happy, and these are received only through the Gospel. So, confess your sins to God. Ask Jesus to forgive you. Thank God and rejoice in his forgiveness. Next time you are tempted to sin, run to Jesus and ask him to save you and do a miracle in your life. Ask him to give you contentment without having whatever sin it is you’re being tempted with. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:24-25).
  2. Meditate on God’s Word. Fill up your heart and mind with his Word. “Sanctify them through thy truth, thy Word is truth” (John 17:17). God’s Word is alive and powerful. The Word will lead you to a better understanding of God, yourself and the world around you. It will make you wiser to understand good and evil. The more you learn and grow in knowledge and understanding, the more you will be able to identify sin and avoid it. “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalms 119:9-11).

Christian Perfection

/ Lee A. Robinson / Leave a comment

In Matthew 5:48 Jesus commanded his followers, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” So the question is, “Can a Christian be perfect?” The simple answer is, “Yes!” Jesus’s clear command is for us to be perfect. He’s not going to command his people to do something that they are not capable of doing. But not only is perfection possible, it is also the standard at which we must continually live as Christians. Perfection is possible, yes, but it is also the requirement. Anything less than perfection is unacceptable to God. The key idea in this article is understanding what is meant by perfection. It is clear that Jesus taught perfection, so let’s say it like it is, and then strive to come to a balanced understanding of what he means. 

Some people wrongly teach that a Christian can arrive at a state of spiritual maturity where they will never sin again, but this is an extreme, unbiblical position. We live in a fallen world, filled with wickedness, and we – though saints of the most High – still reside in fallen, fleshly bodies. As Christians we are washed in the blood of the Lamb, Amen! But our “feet get dirty” as we walk through this life and need to be washed often (John 13). Even the most godly Christians on the planet find themselves continually in this struggle between the flesh and the Spirit. In fact, it often seems the more holy a person truly is, the more unholy they feel, because they have a heightened sensitivity to the enormous standard of absolute holiness and perfection that God dwells in, and also their own spiritual weaknesses. 

But then there is another extreme, I believe, which is to lower the standard away from perfection, and conceive that God’s expectation for the Christian is just a little better than the world, or to live up to what the church or your family or friends expect. The misconception runs like this: “Perfection? Well, no one is going to be able to do that,” and then the person moves on without clearly defining how holy we need to be in order to please God. This is an error and has negative consequences as well as extreme forms of “Christian Perfectionism.” If the Christian doesn’t have a clear standard then they are going to make their own- what they think is holy enough – which is inevitably going to be less holy than the standard. So let’s see if we can arrive at a balanced, Biblical understanding of this topic…

What is the Standard? 

I want to press a little more on this, because I think many Christians are not willing to confess that perfection is the standard. Jesus said, “Be perfect,” so if that doesn’t mean perfection then what does it mean? Consider also 1 Peter 1:14-16 which says, “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” Here, the apostle Peter reminds us of God’s Law that we are to be holy as God is holy. Now, how holy is God? God is totally holy. So, again, the standard is absolute purity – a life in total dedication and consecration to God – anything less is sinful and unacceptable to God…Do you believe this? If we want to be right with God, we must make sure that we are doing and being what he says. Don’t be afraid of how some people abuse a doctrine. Confess it, open your heart, and ask God to teach you. 

How are we to understand Perfection? 

We know from all over Scripture that true righteousness is not attained by works or human effort, but rather by faith. The unbeliever must first recognize that they have already sinned and are worthy of Hell; that God’s standard for justification, for union with God, and for acceptance into heaven is total purity; and then they must realize that the only way to achieve that level of righteousness is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. It must be a righteousness that is not their own, an imputed righteousness (a righteousness that is applied to their moral account by someone outside of themselves). So righteousness, holiness, perfection and related qualities are NOT to be seen as achieved through human effort (at least not our own effort, but rather Jesus’s effort). We must understand Jesus’ teachings on Perfection in light of this fuller, more fundamental teaching of Scripture, about the way of righteousness & holiness – that of faith. Following Jesus’ command to “be perfect” does not mean that I am never going to sin again. What it does mean is that whenever I do sin, I quickly and humbly confess that sin to God and ask for cleansing with gratefulness to Jesus Christ for his all-sufficient blood that was shed for that sin. This is the foundation of perfection – having a broken heart about your sins, moment by moment; walking humbly with your God; not making any excuses for your sins, but quickly acknowledging and confessing. We could call this imputed holiness. It is a holiness, or perfection that comes to us from outside of ourselves. Yes, it does change us, but there is also an immediate sanctification that comes when a Christian is broken and repenting of their sins. 

Other ways that the word “perfect” in the New Testament could be translated would be that of “maturity” or “completeness.” This is helpful, because we can say that someone is mature, even though we know that in some way, shape or form they probably have some kinds of “imperfections” in their life. But, it may be objected, the standard is perfection from God’s perspective, not man’s perspective. I agree, and I think we’re getting at the heart of something here. There is at least some sense in which we can say that God would consider someone spiritually mature, even though He clearly knows that they are flesh and bones- weak and faulty, and will forever be less than God Himself. Perfection cannot mean equality with God in all of His divine attributes – or else we would be God! So, in what way would it be proper for God to see a man as being “mature” or “complete” even though he has imperfections, as compared with God?

King David

We remember verses in the Bible like the following, “and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.” (1 Kings 15:3) God used David’s life as a standard or ruler by which to measure the success or failure of the kings that followed him. Buuuut, we know that David wasn’t all that great, on more than one occasion. So in what sense did God consider David a perfect man? What God was really looking for (perfection) was not that David would never sin, but rather that David was a man after God’s own heart. David loved God with all of his heart, and wanted to please Him more than anything else – and God could see that in him! Additionally, when David sinned and he was confronted about it, how did he respond? Just read Psalm 51 – David’s Psalm of Repentance. In this Psalm we find this powerful and related verse: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” (Psalms 51:17) God is not looking for people who He knows will never sin again. He is looking for people who never want to sin again, and for Christian who, when they sin, readily and humbly confess those sins. Perfection is not being a spiritual machine that constantly is on their knees praying, serving the poor, loving their wife, teaching their kids, displaying kindness and compassion, preaching a sermon, and working diligently at work all at the same time! Of course I am exaggerating, but there are some people (maybe even yourself) who live under a weight of thinking that God will only be happy with them if they were as powerful, wise, and industrious as God Himself is! 

As A Man Thinketh In His Heart So Is He

If we live this kind of life – a life where our heart’s desire is to wholeheartedly please God, and then when we find ourselves overwhelmed by sin and we quickly repent – what do you think is going to be the trajectory of that person’s spiritual life? Are they going to be thriving spiritually, or be wilting? Are they going to sin more or sin less as time goes on? We are never going to arrive at a perpetually and permanently sinless condition (not on this side of the grave anyway), but if we have a perfect heart towards God we will sin less.  

I also want to mention that we have to keep in mind the Biblical doctrine of Progressive Sanctification – which is the idea that when we are Born Again, we are not immediately, in every way totally perfected. Our standing with God is that of perfection (positional righteousness), but practically, the New Birth is just the beginning of a new spiritual life and relationship with God, in which we must grow spiritually. There are new Chrisitans, who know little of the Word, who must be weaned on the milk first. But the main thing to point out is that this idea of being perfect or not, in practice, begins at day one. Is the new believer obeying what they know? They may know little, and have little experience, but are they being faithful to God according to what they know? If so, they are walking perfectly before God. Contrarily, if an old timer in the faith is not walking humbly; has perhaps allowed some strongholds to form into his life; and has developed the ability to be somewhat calloused to it – this brother is not walking perfectly with God. He may be actually stronger than the newborn Christian in many areas of life, because of knowledge and experience, but this brother is not pleasing God as well as the younger, because he is not currently walking perfectly before God.   

God is expecting us to be sinless. Period. And the way to do that is by confessing any known sin, right now to God. His promise is that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) God is faithful. If we repent and confess, then right now, we are sinless. If we truly have a humble heart like this, consistently, the natural outgrowth is that the actions themselves are going to follow. 

I hope this has brought you some clarity on this subject. I don’t claim to understand this doctrine perfectly, but I have not heard much spoken on it from a balanced perspective and haven’t heard explanations that give a satisfactory answer to what Jesus’ idea of perfection is, while at the same time to caution against extremes on both sides of the issue. It is impossible to please God if you are half-hearted. He wants your whole heart.

And Lead Yourself Not Into Temptation

/ Lee A. Robinson / 1 Comment

Living the Lord’s Prayer, Part 6

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13) 

This is a great prayer, and I’m sure underused by most. I have a feeling the prayer more often raised to God is, “Father, help me to overcome sin,” which is a necessary prayer as well, but how many times do you think we could have avoided sinning, if only we had asked God to not permit the temptation to come? We can and should overcome temptation by the power of God, but many times we don’t. In most or many cases if we can avoid the temptation we avoid the sin. A walk of prudence is a tremendous addition to a walk of valor. If we are praying and asking God to not lead us into temptation, wouldn’t it be a good idea that we lead ourselves not into temptation? In this article I want to highlight some Scriptures that speak about the necessity and wisdom of building protective walls around our lives, and to give some practical advice on things we can do to avoid temptations…   

The Devil Don’t Sleep 

“Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.” (Proverbs 4:14-16)

Satan and his minions live to cause others to die. They feed on trickery and revel in causing people to sin. It is their entertainment and meaning in life – they are fishers of men, to steal, kill and to destroy. It is difficult to comprehend that there are beings that are pure evil, but so is the case. Wicked men don’t sleep until they have done mischief, but evil spirits don’t need to sleep or eat, nor do they have the distractions of worldly cares. Sin is eager to get you and the flesh wants to be satisfied. “The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” We are no match for evil powers. 

We are in a desperate need for God’s protection on our lives and for wisdom in our walk. If you are the kind of person that thinks you’re all set then you are deceived: “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” Pride precedes a fall.

The more we trust ourselves the more danger we are in. Proverbs 14:16 says, “A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.” “One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless.” -esv

We are never instructed in Scripture to trust ourselves. In fact, the opposite is true: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” (Proverbs 3:5-7) 

Fishermen tailor their bait for their catch. Devils customize their temptations for the souls they are responsible for. Demons have been around a while, they know man. They know who, what, when, where, and how to lay that trap for you to fall into. Thankfully the Bible says that we do not have to be ignorant of Satan’s devices (2 Corinthians 2:11). If he strategizes to lay out traps for us, we must counter strategize to avoid them. It would be better to avoid having to walk through a minefield than to successfully tip toe through one. Therefore, this above verse tells us to not even go near the road where we know wickedness is happening: “avoid it, pass not by, turn from it, and pass away.” All of these phrases are saying the same thing and repeated for emphasis. 

The Necessity of Walls. 

What fortress does not have walls around it? If there is something of value, Evil is going to want to find a way to defile it. There is power in purity and holiness, and it must be guarded. If you have security, why have walls then? A valiant army on the ground perhaps can ward off most foes, but how much more of an upper hand does that same force have on top of a massive impenetrable wall?

To overcome the Evil One we must have on the whole armor of God, but a part of being strong in the Lord is by staying in the castle. We cannot be foolish by tempting the Lord. There are appropriate times to leave the city and engage in battle, but it must be the right time and the right circumstances.   

Do you have walls up? Walls don’t make you pure. Don’t get that mixed up either. But we are better off with strong, defined walls. 

Unhealthy Doctrine 

The Bible speaks a lot about sound doctrine. The word underlying “sound” means “healthy.” Sound doctrine is teaching that produces godliness. Unsound doctrine is teaching that leads people into sin rather than away from it. One of these destructive doctrines is Anti-nomianism (against-law). What they say is that in Christ there is no law, “We are not under the law, but under grace.” It is true that we are not under the Mosaic Law any more, and we are free from the constraints of man made traditions, and that our righteousness comes through faith alone in Christ. But, what it does NOT mean is that there is any justification for us to sin, or to put ourselves into places for temptation to sin. Consider the following verses…

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh…” (Galatians 5:13) Jude warned about teachers who come in secretively, who “turn the grace of God into licentiousness.” (Jude 1:4) “As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness…” (1 Peter 2:16) Each of these scriptures are saying, “Yes, you have liberty, but do not…never, ever…in any way, shape or form, think that this means you can sin.” We have been liberated from sin, not liberated to sin. Jesus is our Master. The Holy Spirit is our Lord. We are obligated to obey him and to be holy as he is holy. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2) So be very careful about teachers who highly emphasize the freedom in Christ, while minimizing our obligation to obey Christ. In following Christ faithfully there is liberty, but there is also prudence. We are not to fear man, but we should fear sinning against God and marring his reputation.  

Biblical Basis for Bulwarks 

Proverbs 22:3 

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

A prudent person considers carefully what could happen down the road based on their course of action, and plans accordingly. They are aware of the evils that are determined to make them fall. They recognize that there are dangers…real dangers. They are not proud and just say, “Ah! Whatever comes, I’ll just stand against it and fight against it!” They humbly recognize that the wisest course of action is to hide. The Christian walk is warfare. Read Pilgrim’s Progress. The forces of darkness strategize and then execute their plans. Discerning Christians do the same. The simple-minded man assumes there is no danger, either as a result of their pride or naivety. Whatever the root, the simple man gets himself into complex difficult situations that could have been avoided.     

There are times to fight and there are times to hide. David hid from Saul; Jesus hid from angry crowds; Paul hid from the Jews. 

1 Thessalonians 5:21-23

“Prove (examine, test) all things; hold fast that which is good (kalos – beautiful, fine). Abstain (keep away) from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

How do we test everything? Of course by Scripture, but also look at the fruit. Do apples grow on vines? “A tree is known by its fruit.” Look at the results of actions and ways of life. There are courses of action, that if pressed to the letter, may be biblical, but not be wise. There are activities that may be permissible, but not best. “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient.” 1 Corinthians 6:12 We should stay away from what is evil, but we should also stay away from what looks like evil; or what could possibly be evil; or what could possibly lead to something evil. “When in doubt, get out!” 

“We should therefore abstain from evil, and all appearances of evil, from sin, and that which looks like sin, leads to it, and borders upon it. He who is not shy of the appearances of sin, who shuns not the occasions of sin, and who avoids not the temptations and approaches to sin, will not long abstain from the actual commission of sin.” (Matthew Henry)

Romans 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Practical Advice for Avoiding Temptation 

*I am not necessarily saying that any of the following activities are sinful in and of themselves. However, if you struggle with sin in any of these areas then I believe that the following recommendations would prove prudent in most cases.  

  1. Just don’t drink alcohol at all. If you don’t take the first sip, then you don’t have to worry about taking too many. “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” (Proverbs 20:1) If you need any amount of alcohol in your system for you to have a good time then you already got a problem.
  2. Don’t be alone with a woman (or a man) that you are not married to. Talk about a door open for the Devil! Remember Joseph and Potiphar’s wife? Joseph didn’t have a choice to be in the situation he was, he was a slave. I believe this is one of the reasons why he had strength from God to escape. But if it is not necessary and you choose to put yourself into that situation, then you are tempting God. Get a chaperone. Better safe than sorry. 
  3. Don’t hang out with people who have the same sinful temperaments as yourself. If you are prone to gossip, stay away from tattlers and busybodies. If you have anger tendencies, stay away from angry people. “Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.” (Proverbs 22:24-25)
  4. Stay away from sinful, worldly people. “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” “Bad company corrupts good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33) You will become like the people you hang out with, so choose your close friends wisely.  The Bible does not say that Jesus was a friend of publicans and sinners (Matthew 11:19), this was a derogatory phrase said about Jesus by the ‘holier than thou’ Pharisees. The point – Jesus loved everyone, even the worst of sinners, and reached out to them to heal them and teach them, but he was not their buddies. We are in the world, but not of the world. Reach out to all, in humble love, but do not be BFF’s with ungodly people, or else in time you will sit in their seat (Psalm 1:1). Come out from among them and be ye separate saith the LORD.
  5. Watch your influences carefully as well. Music is powerful. Don’t listen to music that is ungodly- you will learn their ways. Don’t fill your heart and minds with ungodly movies or books or games. You are deceived if you think that you are unaffected by the communication transfer- whether it be language, images, life values, worldviews, etc. 
  6. Get rid of your TV. Just unmount it and put it into the garbage. It doesn’t matter much money you wasted on it – toss it. “I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way…I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.” (Psalm 101:2-3) If it is sin for you to practice it, then it is sin for you to fill your mind with it. If your problem is not watching unclean things, is it a time waster? “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” You won’t regret it. 
  7. Install accountability software on your devices. Don’t allow yourself to be “untracked.” 
  8. For some- straight up get rid of the smart phones or devices. If this causes too much difficulty or inconvenience in your life – too bad, you made the choices you did. “
  9. If you easily yield to temptations to spend too much money- cut up your credit cards. Don’t even go into that store or visit that website. If it’s a really destructive habit, allow a faithful friend to be in control of your money for you for a while. 
  10. There are some locations you simply should not go. Why are you at the bar? For a soda? Go to the grocery store. Don’t be pressured to go out to the bar with your coworkers or friends. Don’t go to the club. Don’t go to parties where you know they’ll be drinking or foolishness or ungodliness. 
  11. In general – If there are any people, places or things that are common grounds where temptations happens for you – do something to cut those things out of your life. Find a way. Do whatever it takes. 

Matthew 5:29-30

“And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” 

There are some things in life that we just simply need to have no toleration or relationship with. Some things need to be cut off, smashed up and thrown in the pit.  

Colossians 3:5 Mortify your members which are upon the earth…This is heavy language. Kill. Violence. There are some things we should hate as Christians. We should hate sin. For some this may mean that you have to get rid of the smart phone or devices; some of you the wisest route is to dismount the flat screen and either trash it or give it away. The fact that you think that is too radical shows you how much of an idol it is in your life. David Wilkerson was the founder of the very successful Christian drug rehab discipleship program called “Teen Challenge.” He saw great works of God in his ministry. He traced his success back to getting rid of his television and replacing that time with reading the Bible and prayer. It’s time to get serious for God! Some of you need to sell that car, or downsize your house, or quit that job, or walk off the team, or cut up your credit cards. It may be time to check into a long term rehab. Sell your car, give it away, burn it! – Do whatever you need to do to eliminate the possibility of entering in to temptation.  

What are you willing to do to be right with God? 

What are you willing to get rid of in order to gain freedom from sin?

Living the Lord’s Prayer – Part I

/ Lee A. Robinson / 1 Comment

The “Lord’s Prayer” gives us amazing insight into what is important to God. It’s as if God is saying, “Look, this is what you really need to focus on in your life.” The Lord here condenses all that we could pray for into six concise statements. Now, if God laid out a template for our prayers, wouldn’t that also serve as a good template for our priorities in life? How can we pray a focused, passionate prayer about specific things, then leave without those same things being the focus of our lives? I want to focus on how the Lord’s Prayer-Template can also be a good Lifestyle-Template. Take a few moments of meditation on each one of the six themes in the Lord’s Prayer, and ask yourself this question, “Am I cooperating with God in my life as well as with my prayers?”

Matthew 6:9-15 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:  For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 

Hallowed be thy name

Each of the requests in the Lord’s Prayer is in the imperative mood, which means that they are actually commands (in Greek study we called it a “sweet command” because it is being addressed to God; more like an entreaty). So, an accurate way of translating this would be, “Father, Make your name holy.” We are requesting of our Father that he would, by his power, make his name (which represents all of who God is) consecrated, or hallowed in our experience. The desire is for God and his reputation to be viewed as sacred, holy, unique, special, or elevated above all else to us. If this happens anywhere, it is surely a work of God- only the Spirit of God can create reverence for the one true God. But our question is- “Am I cooperating with God after I pray this prayer?” Are you requesting for God to make himself special above all else to you, but your decisions are not working towards that end?  

Where should we expect this prayer request to begin to be fulfilled? Would it not be in our inner life: inside of our heart, mind and soul? Why should we expect the White House, Wall street or White-Castle to consecrate God in their midst if we ourselves are white washed tombs? “Father, make me a holy place. May all my thoughts be pure and pleasing to you. May my soul tremble and rejoice when you speak.” Are you praying this prayer? And are you cooperating with God in your choices?

Romans 13:14 commands, “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” 

Are you putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, or only putting on the t.v. or your phone? 

Are you putting Scripture into your mind, or putting on pornography and ungodly entertainment? 

Are you putting on modest clothing and surrounding yourself with God’s humble, holy people, or putting on skimpy, immodest dress and finding fellowship with unholy people?

We could go on, but you get the point. 

We cannot pray for God to make our minds a holy temple if we are desecrating it with our choices. This would be like an Old Covenant saint praying for the Temple to be filled with God’s glory after offering swine on the altar and hanging up a picture of Chemosh near the veil.

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

After the inward parts, we must move to our home. The plea is, “Father, may your name have a sacred, holy place in my house and among my family. May it be clear to everyone- dwellers and visitors, that God is specially honored, respected and obeyed. Amen.” This is a great prayer. Are you doing what is in the power of your hand to facilitate that happening? Is there anything unclean or dishonoring to God on your walls, in your movie cabinet or in your closets? Would your heavenly Father be at ease in your home the way it currently is? Would you be at ease if he came for an unexpected personal visit?

Do you pray that God’s name would be respected in your home, but as a parent you cheapen or even defame his name through hypocrisy your children regularly see? Perhaps the Lord would stoop down to bless your home if he saw you stooping down more often to ask your children to forgive you for the sins you commit in front of them? Do you long for God’s blessed presence to fill the air in your home, but you allow bitterness, unforgiveness, verbal fire-darts and unclean media to fill the air? If you allow devilish things to come through the screens into your home, what kind of spirits do you think will literally visit your home? Clear out the air with repentance, humility and confession. Give family Bible-time and prayer an honored time-slot, and then ask for God to hallow his name there. Make church attendance and service to others in Jesus’ name a priority over sports and extracurricular activities, then request his anointing on your family.

Thirdly, we should pray for God’s reputation to be celebrated in all of the world around us. “Father, make these streets clean and safe; make all of these churches faithful to you, glorifying Christ and his Word only; make our schools academies of truth and godliness; make our businessmen honest and fair; make our law-makers, police and judges upright and just. Make every person and every place humbly submitted to the Lordship and adoration of Jesus Christ!” Amen. Those are good prayers. We should be praying them regularly with specific names attached. But are you cooperating with these prayers? 

Are you praying the church-house is hallowed but you spread gossip about the saints? Do you stride into the service dressed so all eyes look upon you and then sing “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.”? Do we ask for the manifest presence of God while employing fleshly music and tailoring our preaching to the unregenerate?

Public schools are committed to training up animals and you still send your children there, but you’re begging God that they come home saints??? And you don’t speak out at the meetings? 

Are you praying for an awakening in your society, but you don’t preach the Gospel? Praying for the seeds of the gospel to sprout up new conversions but you are not sowing the seed? Praying that God would send forth laborers into his harvest and not considering it might be you that he wants to send?           

Our Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of deep, unrivaled respect and adoration. This is a work of the Holy Spirit of God that we should beg God for. But our prayers should have feet on them. 

“Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3). Make room for God to do his work and then wait upon him! 

In this prayer-template given by the Lord, holiness is at the top of the list. Should it not be at the top of the priority list in our lives? 
Remember, this prayer is addressed to your heavenly Father. He does not deal with us as criminals, but as favored sons and daughters. If we simply confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). He is not looking for a slight slip to judge you. Not at all. He is very patient, kind and long-suffering. But we must yield to his authority. A broken and a contrite heart God will not despise (psalm 51). If you have not been cooperating with God, be humbled before him today and ask him to give you strength to yield your life to him. Amen.