From Sinner to Child

Fresh into the blog scene. I have now done what I said I would "never" do, very comical. How often do we say that? Only to find ourselves doing the things on our "never" list. Oh the irony... Why do we do that? Why is it that we do the things we say we hate, or become the things we say we will never become? Paul related to this in an almost intimate manner:

Romans 7:15 "For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate"

I do not understand why I am on this blog. Just kidding, I know why I'm on here... Seriously, I do not understand why I say stupid things to awesome people, or treat people as they are inferior to me, or even turn away from a God I know is more satisfying than life itself (Ps 63:3). Why do we do this? Why do we "get pissed" at people we love? Why do we make unwise, foolish choices that wreak our life and the lives around us? Personally, I find this frustrating. Here is how it sometimes works in my mind: "Do not do this, Cory. You know you do not want to do this...this is not going to be a good idea. Oh well.....let's do it anyways." That is a foolish thought pattern. How often do you have the same thoughts as me?
Part of us just needs to grow up and stop making foolish choices. But what happens when you are really trying to stop sinning and you find yourself in repentance for the same sins over and over again? Is it a simple answer of, "grow up"? I think a reply to that might be, "I am trying, but I am getting nowhere!!!" How does God see this? Where do we stand concerning what the Holy Scriptures have to say?

John 14:15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Ouch... We cannot get away from this simple phrase that is emphasized throughout the Bible. An almost immediate reaction to this is, "well I guess I do not love God because I do not do what He says." We might even go as far as to condemn ourselves in our disobedience to God. We cannot get away from the fact that we sin against God, continually! We will never be a sinless people. The people who think they are sinless are usually the ones who never have a bad day, or think they have it all figured out. Our obedience to God is not reason for us to boast; rather, to praise Him!

Where does strength to obey God come from? When will our desire for obedience be met with action? It is true that we have a sin problem. If Jesus says, "and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free (John 8:32)." Us knowing the truth that we are sinners is not the revelation of truth Jesus is speaking of in John 8:32. The truth that we have realized is the same truth that made Adam hide in the garden from God (Gen 3:8). The truth that we know has brought to light that we are sinners and afraid of God, like Adam.
The real answer of truth that we are looking for is Jesus, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (John 14:6)." The complete truth is that we have sinned against God, we deserve to be handed over to death, but God so loved the world (John 3:16). What has God done for us? What does He see when we are stuck in sin? Lets see. This scripture- 1 John 3- will give us more clarity than we are looking for. I will identify a few points using 1 John 3 as the main focus with other supporting scripture to clarify.

1 John 3:1-3 "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."

First point is that, as believers who have accepted Jesus Christ as our savior, are called sons of God (If you are a girl you are still God's son. This is about privilege and access, not gender. Males, you are also the bride of Christ. The bride of Christ is about intimacy, not gender.). Us being sons of God is a great truth that we will look at more later. We see that in verse three there is a purification process that happens as we have our hope fixed on Jesus. See 2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 5:1-5; 12:1-2, Hebrews 12 for more on this.
The purification that happens as we keep our eyes fixed on Him [Jesus] is comparable to an excellent text in Hebrews 12:5-8, "and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons." This says it all. As son's of God in Christ we are purified/disciplined by the Father because He loves us! Oh, what a love! Even Jesus learned through discipline from the Father (Heb 5:8).

1 John 3:4-10 "Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother."

This is a huge chunk of scripture that we will only take three points from:

1. There is clear distinction in who we are born from. It is either the Devil, or God. There is zero gray area here. It is either heaven or hell, truth or a lie, righteousness or lawlessness.
   
2. We see in verse five that Jesus took our sins away (Col 2:14, John 19:30).
3. Jesus is stronger (Romans 8:1, 38-39)! I will tell you that the main purpose for Jesus coming to the earth was not to save us, although we are now partakers of God's love through Christ. Thanks be to God! Jesus' primary purpose for coming to earth was to satisfy the wrath of God and defeat Satan with all of his works and effects. We see in verse eight and nine that Jesus did just that.
   

It is because Jesus satisfied the wrath of God and defeated Satan that we can be called Sons of God. Jesus Christ is the way to the Father, and the life through which we live. Before you go off and think I am a hieratic think about it... Why are we even able to obey God? Where do we get the desire to be obedient to Christ, or to even love God through our obedience to Him? Our answer is in verse nine, "No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." We only "practice righteousness" because we have the seed [Holy Spirit] of God in us (John 5:32, 1 John 3:9). To further prove this truth we will look again at Romans Seven:

¹⁶But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. ¹⁷So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. ¹⁸For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. ¹⁹For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. ²⁰But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

Paul's argument is that it was not him, but the sin in him. Because of our fist father, Adam, we inherited a sin nature. By Adams disobedience to God sin also entered the world (Romans 5:19). As we look back to 1 John 3:8 we see that Jesus defeated sin, "the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning the Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil."

So back to our original concern. What do we do when we find ourselves stuck in sin that we cannot get out of? The answer I have unpacked here is Jesus did it for us. This is the simplicity of the gospel here. Jesus Christ is the way, truth and life- He did it for us. Because Jesus defeated Satan and death we have now been adopted in Christ as Sons with the Holy Spirit as our assurance. Therefore, when you find yourself trying to get out of your own sin you need to repent for your pride and accept the finished work of the cross (James 4:7). We cannot get out of our own sin. Look at 1 John 3:9 "No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." It looks to me that our sin is something beyond what everyone tells us it is. According to this verse, Sons of God cannot practice sin. This is weird because I see myself disobeying God's word on a daily basis. What is sin to God? We will not go there right now, but read Romans 14:23 to get you started. The important thing to remember is that we have been brought out of sin and death.

What I can say is that getting over sin is, nor ever was, our job. We need our eyes to be opened to Jesus and to start living in the blood that He spilled for us. We do not need to abuse God's grace; rather, we need to fight against our sin (Hebrews 12:1-4, 1 Timothy 6:12). Trying to do what Jesus did for us is pride. The key for us is to humbly accept the mighty victory of the cross and our adoption as sons of God.

Romans 7:22-8:4; 11-16:

²²For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

^8:1Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

¹¹But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.

Amen! Let it be confirmed in us! I pray this goes further than knowledge, but we "believe with all our heart" (Acts 8:37). Father forgive us for not fighting for our faith. Thank you for your Son Jesus!