Holiness - The Battle Against Sin
Please stand with me as we go over our current memory Scripture:
Matthew 5:3-5
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
And our memory Scripture “refresher” verse is:
2 Timothy 2:15
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the Word of Truth.”
Today we will be reading from 1 John 1:5-10
Last week we took a look at two doctrines that are on the opposite ends of the Christian spiritual spectrum.
First we looked at a doctrine called the “carnal Christian”. This condition is defined as a case where a person places his faith and trust in Jesus for salvation and yet there is no change in his behavior. He continues to live in the grip sin just as he did before and yet it is believed that he is still saved.
I must state once again that no one in true Christianity believes that a born again person should live that way; they only believe that it is possible.
The other condition we looked at is what we would refer to as Christian holiness. This would be the case when a person places his faith and trust in Jesus for salvation and he becomes a “new creation” in Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
This person who is a new creation becomes more and more transformed into the image of Christ and no longer lives in slavery to sin. (Romans 6:22 - Now that you have been set free from …)
Last week we also defined what the Biblical meaning of sin is.
Sin is disobedience of the known will of God by a morally responsible person.
- The person understands the difference between right and wrong
- The person knows what the Lord wants him to do or not to do
- The person does the opposite of the Lord’s will in an act of rebellion
We also talked about the difference between a sin and a mistake.
Illustration:
There are two teens at a summer camp. They are being instructed on how to use a bow and arrows. They have also been instructed on the safe usage of these bows and arrows.
One of the teens is listening to the instructor and trying his best to hit the bullseye of his target. Sometimes he does and sometimes he doesn’t. When he doesn’t hit the bullseye it is a mistake. He is trying his best and he is diligently listening to his instructor but sometimes he just misses. Yet, he constantly tries to improve. He will never be perfect in his execution of hitting the bullseye every time but his intent is perfect.
The other teen seems to be paying attention to the instructor but as soon as the instructor turns away the teen turns around a releases his arrow towards the area of the camp where all of the cabins are located. This is not a mistake. This is a sin.
Is this illustration something that can be applied to our struggle against sin in this world?
Is there no escape from the clutches of sin???
Let’s see what the Word of God has to say in … 1 John 1:5-10
(Prayer for help)
First let’s look at verses 8 and 10 …
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the Truth is not in us … if we claim we have not sinned, we make [God] out to be a liar and His Word is not in us.”
If we claim that we have never sinned in our entire lives we make God out to be a liar.
Also, if we claim that have never sinned since we have come to know Jesus as our Savior we deceive ourselves.
None of us are perfect before we come to Jesus for salvation and we are slaves to sin and are rightly identified as sinners.
Also, none of us are perfect after we come to Jesus for salvation and even though we are now slaves of Christ and no longer slaves to sin we will almost inevitably sin at one time or another.
This regrettable but we do sin and we faithfully repent of that sin we are no longer identified as sinners but as sons and daughters of God.
But … God HAS called us to be holy as He is holy, right?
Would God demand something from us that is impossible?
Leviticus 11:14a says,
“I Am (Yahweh), the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I Am holy.”
So, when God spoke to Adam and said in Genesis 2:17
“…but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil …” did He mean, “OK, you can take a few bites but don’t overdo it.” Or, did the Lord mean, “YOU MUST NOT EAT!”
When Yahweh told the Israelites, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” did He mean EVERY Sabbath or just once or twice a month? (Exodus 20:8)
When Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel said, “Do not bow down before (foreign) gods or worship them.” Did He mean “don’t bow down to ALL of them” or “don’t bow down to ANY of them?”
When the apostle John wrote in 1 John 1:5-7 he said,
“This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.”
Listen to the same verses from the Amplified Translation
“This is the message [of God’s promised revelation] which we have heard from Him and now announce to you, that God is Light [He is holy, His message is truthful, He is perfect in righteousness], and in Him there is no darkness at all [no sin, no wickedness, no imperfection].
“IF WE SAY THAT WE HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM AND YET WALK IN THE DARKNESS [OF SIN], WE LIE AND DO NOT PRACTICE THE TRUTH;
“but if we [really] walk in the Light [that is, live each and every day in conformity with the precepts of God], as He Himself is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another [He with us, and we with Him], and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin [by erasing the stain of sin, keeping us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].”
There are many passages that can be found showing that the Lord requires His people to walk in holiness, but, how can we do it???
The wickedness of the world surrounds us.
Each of us has something that seems to draw at us, something that seems like a sin-magnet to our souls. Does it have to control us?
Is there no escape even for the person who is saved?
In a country as prosperous as ours there is always the temptation to want more or better or bigger or just different because we are bored with what we have or someone else has something better!
Is it prosperity and materialism that you struggle with?
Can there really be such a thing as “Godliness with contentment is great gain?” 1 Timothy 6:6
Will we go on spending the money God has given us to provide for His kingdom on ourselves?
Will we go on trying to find satisfaction in something new or better?
The churches have just gone through, and many are still going through, a phase of sinfulness where the size of the church seems to have replaced faithfulness to God. Preaching on sin and the need for salvation leading to a life dedicated to God is avoided because some people might become uncomfortable and not come back.
Someone might say …
“Don’t preach on that verse, it’ll be too convicting.”
“Let’s shorten up the prayer time, people are going to sleep!”
“Can you get more jokes into the sermon? That Bible stuff is BORING!”
“That subject is too controversial nowadays.”
I even remember reading a book that instructed pastors to, “Find out what your CUSTOMERS want and give it to them.”
That is sin! Can we escape from it?
Alcohol and other drugs tear at people.
Watch an advertisement about going on a cruise, booze is a centerpiece.
Want to have a new pool put in? You can sit around it and have some beer or wine to help you relax.
Watch a football game and you can come away feeling like a tidal wave of alcohol has washed over you from nearly every advertisement.
And, they don’t show it yet, but the “enjoyment” of pot and other drugs has become a national pastime that is coming more and more out into the open.
Our Governor recently stated that he wants to legalize the sale of pot in so that the government can tax it to keep the state from going into bankruptcy.
And, what about the god of politics! People have ended long friendships over politics. Some families can’t have dinner together because their person won or lost.
How can we live a life of holiness in this sin-saturated world?
It all comes down to love.
Do you love the big-G God or do you love some other little-g god?
Inevitably the little-g god ends up being “me” and my wants and my wishes.
And there it is. Love.
Love for the big-G God or love for the little-g god.
How do we know this? We know it from the Bible just as we know every spiritual truth from the Bible.
What is the first and greatest commandment?
Matthew 22:37-38
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”
Yes, we can see that love is involved with loving God but how is love involved with sin?
I know that we have all heard the following in sermons or in SS class or we have read it in the Bible, but, just listen to this.
This is coming directly from the mouth of Jesus our Savior.
As we read this remember that Jesus is the Light of the world and that darkness is the domain of sinfulness and rebellion.
John 3:19-20 NASB
“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”
“Men loved darkness rather than the Light … for everyone who does evil (everyone who lives an intentionally sinful life) HATES THE LIGHT!”
So, if “the Light” is God and those enslaved to sin are God haters what hope is there?
The Bible says that when we come to know Christ as our Savior we become a new creation! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
When God makes us into a new creation He helps us to shift from self-love to God-love.
He helps us to transition from rebellious disobedience to willing obedience.
And what happens when we obey God’s commands?
Jesus says in John 14:24
“He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching.”
Well, we already know that, right? That only identifies the problem, it doesn’t help solve the problem, does it?
But Jesus says in John 14:23
“If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him.”
If we love Jesus, I mean truly love Jesus as the big-G God in our lives we will obey His teaching. But, we can’t do that in our own strength. It will be just failure after failure after failure just like that poor fellow in the second half of Romans 7.
Here’s the thing, we cannot obey Jesus’ teaching without the second part of that verse …
“My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him!”
God Himself, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will come to us and make His home in us! Talk about calling in the reinforcements!
But, what about when temptation comes?
1 Corinthians 10:13 (ISV)
“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. But when you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
So, if we are on the end of the spiritual continuum where we are serving the little-g god of “me” of course we will always sin. It’s no contest.
But … if we are living end of the spiritual continuum where we are fully and completely loving the big-g God of the Bible then actual sin will be an extremely rare occurrence in our lives.
The problem comes in when we try to live somewhere in the middle between the two. God won’t have that.
When we stand before Jesus at the time of judgment it won’t matter how many times you said the “sinner’s prayer” or how “good” of a life you have lived in your own strength.
If the big-G God is not the Lord of your life, if you are not driven by a love for Him and if you are not empowered by His presence in your life you probably are not really saved and you need to
2 Corinthians 13:5-6 says,
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test.”
What if you HAVE failed the test?
Surrender to God! Ask Him to help you love Him and obey Him and then the Father will love you and will come and make His home with you.
As it says in the song we will sing in closing,
“Take me - mold me - Use me - fill me
I give my life to the Potter's hand
Call me - guide me - Lead me - walk beside me
I give my life to the Potter's hand.”
Final thoughts and prayer …
