The grace of God is not there to
hide our sin but rather to destroy it and until we settle upon this truth we
will always be looking for a way to mask it. God is omnipresent, he is
ever-present and regardless of all the feeble attempts we may have made through
our lifetimes looking to cover the darkness that separates us from true
fellowship with our heavenly Father, that annoying voice condemning our actions
and the other, thankful that no one else is privy to our behaviour, or so we
would like to believe.
However there is only one way
forward for a Christian soldier and that is to confront the darkness head-on,
it’s time to face our fears and seek out the grace needed to overcome. We
needn’t stand on our strength that would be an impossible task, we stand upon
the finished work of Calvary. But we also do not act as if all is well, if in
fact that is far from the truth. Yes a Christian will always have his sins
covered, past, present and future. The Lord Jesus Christ our beloved brother
has taken care of that. But where the fox looks to destroy the vine in our minds
is the sin that so easily besets.
I have witnessed the reaction we
have to this chink in our armour; we look for justification to continue, a justification
to excuse our behaviour, normally looking to pass the buck. A hot-headed
European man would say, it’s not my fault I was born Italian, I can’t help it
that I lose my temper. Wrong! A Christian is a new creature in Christ, we have
armour to push on through the clash, but unless we dress for battle we will
always fall. Shoot a bullet at a man’s chest and what happens? He will probably
die. But slip on a bulletproof vest and he will live. We have been commissioned
to put on the breastplate of righteousness. It’s only the born again Christian
that has this arsenal in his closet. But we all have it, whether we wear it or
not is up to us. A masochist loves pain, the drug addict loves the high, an
alcoholic loves the escape, a sex addict loves the chase, a madman loves to
vent, and a rich man loves the power. The list is endless, but these actions
are linked to darkness and are fruits of the flesh, initiated by sin. The very
thing that caused a cruel death for our beloved Saviour. How then can we as
Christians continue down this path as if it is our right, God forbid! For such
a long time I could never get my head around this truth, but God who is rich in
mercy is able to bring his children around, praise His name, Amen! He is not
only able, He will bring you around.
The next question that springs to
mind would be why do I struggle so? Although we are righteous because of what
Jesus has done we will never be perfect while we are in our earthen vessels.
Yes we have been justified, but the war rages on. It’s how we view the war that
is critical. A good soldiers must not entangle themselves with the sin that so
easily besets. But to pretend that it isn’t real would be a mistake. What now?
We must confront our sin, whatever they may be, although there be many, we
press on to the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus our Lord. Although we
will continuously slip and fall is some area of our lives, we never excuse our
actions but are quick to confess our faults and to seek our forgiveness. This
is the day in the life of a Christian. However when we get to heaven this will
all change and we will be like our glorious Saviour. We will receive a body
like His. But until then the warfare must rage and it will persist until we
breathe our last.
“If a person were free from all
tendency to sin, he would not be liable to temptation any longer. He would not
need to guard against it. There is an evil inside us that makes us exclaim from
day to day, “O wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this body of
death?”” Romans 7; 24. (Charles Spurgeon)
To those who believe and stand
upon the doctrine that this verse refers to us prior to salvation I echo
Charles Spurgeon’s sentiment, which is; “If a person were free from all
tendency to sin. He would not need to guard against it.” Does an unbeliever
guard against sin as the Christian does? The answer is an obvious one, No! How
could he? He does not have God the Holy Spirit living within him.
What are we to do with this
information on a practical level? We are to use the grace of God available to
every believer, to squash any sin that looks to rob us of the peace of God that
is our privilege to enjoy. We will never be totally free from this conflict
until we are changed, the day we receive our new bodies, but fight we must and we know what is expected of us, so we are without excuse. To God be the
glory now and forever more.
I am convinced that God will
bring all those around who has not yet made this their own, He is capable, able
and He will do it. His desire for all His children is for us to find a liberty to
serve Him without distraction. This is where the His brilliance comes into play,
the trial of life working together for the good of all those called according
to His plan and purposes. Without it we would never learn much.
It’s all about understanding a
truth and them making it our own. “For whenever we encounter truth, it is both our
duty and our privilege to lay hold of it.” (Spurgeon)
Signing off
Tyrone
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