Years ago when I began a path of recovery they told me something that has always stuck with me. They said, "We don't have a drinking or a drugging problem, we have a living problem. We simply do not know how to live, and we medicate ourselves to keep from facing real life". When I embraced God through Christ, I embraced real life, and the drinking and drugging fell away.
I was thinking about that in the context of just plain old sin in our lives. You know, the everyday stuff we ALL do that we know we really shouldn't, no condemnation no bondage here, don't get uptight and say you don't because you know you do, and it's different from person to person, and if we are Christ-followers, we know EXACTLY what it is. At least, we should. (If you're not sure what yours is, spend some time with a few well-meaning Christians, I'm sure they'll be able to point it out for you).
Look, because we were ALL sinners, before we received forgiveness through the sacrifice of Christ, we cannot say we have not sinned. I think we can all agree on the truth of that. But many of us (if we're honest) still struggle with areas of just plain old sin in our lives. Whether is something we do, something we say, or some attitude we allow ourselves to have - it's all the same. Why? Why, why, why?
You may disagree (and that always makes for great conversation), but I have come to believe that we really don't have a sin problem at all. What we have is a GRACE problem. That is to say we have great difficulty at times LIVING under, LIVING by, LIVING in, or LIVING because of God's great and complete grace through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We view grace as an "act", not something that is alive in us. Oh, we live by FAITH, but do we live by faith in faith, or faith in grace?
Is it possible that if we truly understood that the grace of God was a power that is ACTIVE, on-going, life-sustaining, and all-encompassing, we'd spend a lot less time wrestling with sin? I think maybe so. Perhaps the reason we run headlong into sin (and we ALL do at times, whether a one-off, once in a blue moon type sin experience, or some form of habitual sin - I'm not qualifying sin, you do it), is because we look at grace as a one-time event; "God saved me by grace, I received it by faith". And our understanding of grace becomes past tense.
Looking at that "act" of grace as something that happened, rather than something that happens causes us to fix our gaze backwards saying, "there's the place I was saved by grace and forgiven for all my sin"; rather than embracing the reality of grace as something that is eternally active and dynamic.
In the same way "reformed" old druggies and boozeheads like me learn to embrace real life, and that propels us forward in sobriety, what if we endeavored to (because we're already empowered to) embrace the grace of God as something that propels us forward in holiness?
Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace. Romans 6:14, NLT
We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God's grace, not on our own human wisdom... 2 Cor 1:12, NLT
In light of these (and other) scriptures, is this grace and freedom from sin only for the life to come? What do you say about sin and grace? Do you think we have a sin problem, or a grace problem? Speak out.
Dude, I have to be reminded of that CONSTANTLY!
ReplyDeleteit's too true for comfort.
I tend to attempt battling those sins using my own will power. Ha! as if that was what freed me to begin with!
I all too often for get that God not only saved me, but is SAVING me.
it's active, like He is active, like his Word is active.
...
Yayy! God's grace like the Energizer Bunny, it Goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on...
...and on!
I've been struggling with sin a lot lately. But I'm honestly not sure exactly what it is. I think a part of it is the fact that I don't really understand God's grace like I should. I do know that I don't like where I am and it's no one's fault but mine. God impressed on me to go back to Romans, specifically chapters 6 through 8. And I'm on a mission. I think for me the problem is I've HEARD things all my life so I know them, but I don't REALLY know them. I just know it because I've heard it...but it's not ALIVE in me. It's not something that I really have a grasp of.
ReplyDeleteLM, that is such a great and honest comment. What you are saying is something I hear echoed by many in their twenties who grew up in the church - were always at services on Sunday morning, and youth services and camp and so on. But for many it seemed to be a third-person experience, often something associated with the faith of their parents. Many struggle to come to terms with the whole issue of a what it really means to have a relationship with God through Christ. You are not alone. I think the relevance of the gospel message is a hard sell outside the context of our lives as individuals. In other words, it has to mean something to US, to MEAN something to us. But be sure of this, God has created each of us to be unique, desiring with each of us a uniquely personal relationship. BTW, the small group environment is a great place to work that out.
ReplyDeleteThat's it exactly...I reached a point (I believe it was during my senior year of college...) where I found myself questioning my faith. I sat there and said, "Do I believe this because it's what I've been told my whole life? Or do I believe it because I CHOOSE to?" I could sense I was at a crossroad, and I was leaning toward giving it all up. But then I thought back to things in my past that I knew were true, and I knew in that moment that God was true and NOT a liar.
ReplyDeleteThis morning I read Romans 4. I've read it before, but today was different. I saw things I'd never seen before. I think the truth is starting to get through so that it's NOT just something I've heard.
Good for you. I'm a big fan of Romans 4:5. Much love from Enterprise! Come and see us some time.
ReplyDelete