"For
whatever does not proceed from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23b). I
encountered this verse last week, not realizing at the time that it
would fall within the text for the sermon I heard this week. What
follows are some of my thoughts, which I believe parallel those we
heard at church.
The
book I was reading at the time was Complete
in Christ
by Bob George. He makes the statement, "Although the visible
evidence of sin in a person's life is expressed in many different
ways, the root of these sins is always the same--a heart of
unbelief." Following that he quotes Romans 14:23 and Hebrews
11:6- "Without faith it is impossible to please God." He
goes on to say, "Realizing that the root of all sin is unbelief
leaves the Christian with only one option: to turn from his unbelief
to Christ in faith. He cannot 'clean up' his unbelief; he can only
begin believing."
In
1 Corinthians 12, Paul reiterates what he wrote in Romans and he
says, "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all
to the glory of God" (12:31). Earlier in 1 Corinthians we read,
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for
you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (1
Cor. 6:19-20). What I hear God saying through these verses is that if
we do anything that is not clearly glorifying to God, it is sin.
As
we've been hearing and talking about the grey areas of faith, and
through other discussions related to sin, some things have come to my
attention as things I need to change in my life. It's not that they
are necessarily sinful in and of themselves, but I know that they are
not bringing glory to God and so for me they are sin and they can
also lead to other sins. One in particular is television. It has
become increasingly clear to me that I've given cable too much
control in my life. Even though I'm usually occupied with reading or
playing computer games, the TV has always been on in the background.
And at times I have sought out programs that I know I don't need to
be watching and I would be embarrassed if others knew what they were.
[A side note- even though I've called the cable company to downgrade
my service, they have failed to physically change my connection and
remove the unwanted channels. So now I have to make the decision to
disconnect completely in order to do what I know is right.]
Television isn't the only area I've needed to make changes, but it is
high on the list. Whatever doesn't glorify God is sin. That can be a
painful truth to accept.
Going
back to Bob George's comments that the root of all sin is unbelief,
that's something I've been wrestling with in recent weeks. I may have
mentioned before that I'd been taught in certain circles that the
Christian life is all about resting in who God says I am and
"reckoning" it to be true (to use Paul's language in Romans
4). While that sounds good, my experience is that it doesn't lead to
a changed life in the here and now. The implication is that if you
just believe hard enough, all sin and temptation will gradually
disappear and leave you holy and perfect in Christ. So if you are
still struggling with sin, you must not have enough faith... And that
makes it even harder to confess! If all it takes is belief, then why
are there so many commands given in the New Testament to those who
are supposedly believers such as:
- Romans 6:12- "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions."
- Colossians 3:5- "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry."
- Hebrews 12:1b- "Let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."
- James 4:7- "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
- 2 Peter 3:14b- "Be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish and at peace."
- Romans 13:12-14- "...Let us cast of the works of darkness and put on the armor of light... put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."
- Ephesians 6:11- "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil."
Why
would we need to be clothed in armor if our only role is to "rest
and reckon"? Obedience is not passive, it is a battle! The flesh
will not easily surrender control of its old territory. It's not that
God requires our obedience in order to make us acceptable to Him, and
we can't earn the salvation and love He has already given us. But we
can certainly miss out on many blessings and joy if we are not
seeking to be conformed to His perfect will. As in Romans 12:1-2,
transformation is an ongoing process of presenting ourselves to God,
seeking His will, and aligning ourselves to it. If we aren't actively
engaged in the process, then we will become conformed to this world.
There
appears to be a circle that repeats over and over in our lives--
abiding in Christ requires knowing His will and obeying it; obedience
requires active participation in eliminating sin and replacing it
with holiness; eliminating sin requires self-control; self-control is
part of the Fruit of the Spirit; the Fruit of the Spirit requires
abiding in Christ; and we're back where we started. Where faith comes
in, and I think what Bob George was getting at, is that we need to
believe: 1) God loves us, 2) God has set us free from the dominion of
sin, and 3) He has given us the power to resist temptation and follow
Him.
As
Paul said in Colossians 2:20-23, just creating a set of laws to
follow does not make us any better at obeying. The whole premise of
Romans is that the law only served to show us what sin is. But in
Christ, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me"
(Philippians 4:13); and "His divine power has granted to us all
things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of
Him who called us to His own glory and excellence" (2 Peter
1:3). These are the things I have to cling to by faith when
temptation assails me. "For I know that nothing good dwells in
me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right,
but not the ability to carry it out" (Romans 7:18). I tried for
years to get by on my own willpower, with very little success. And
even now, it is easy to fall into the trap of relying first and
foremost on my will.
What
is required is a change of heart that only God can give. "Create
in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me...
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing
spirit" (Psalm 51:10,12). I want to obey God fully so that I may
always know the joy that He gives. I take heart that even the
disciples didn't have this down pat. "Watch and pray that you
may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the
flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41). And though I try and fail, I
trust that God still loves me and keeps forgiving me, and that He is
at work in my life in ways that I can't always see or comprehend.
“Now to Him who is able to keep you
from stumbling, and to present you blameless before the presence of
His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus
Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before
all time and now and forever. Amen.” -Jude 24-25
