Is There Really Any Hope?

At the end of Romans 7, Paul describes his personal struggle with sinfulness and holiness:

"For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within 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.

"For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

"So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

"Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (v 15-25a).

Anyone who is struggling to live a holy life will be able to understand this. We know what God expects. We even delight in His Word. We want to do what is right and pleasing to God.

But the battle is constant. We want to do right, but we don't always do it.

Paul gives us the victory point: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

Victory in Jesus!

But then the verse ends, "So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin."

So there's victory, but the battle continues. Is there really any hope?

Look at the next verse: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (8:1).

The real hope is in eternity.

We will fall into sin. We will live in victory. We will fall again. We will be victorious. Then we'll fall again.

But, for those who are in Christ Jesus, there will be no condemnation.

When we come into the throne room of God, He is not going to condemn us. He is not going to beat us for our sins. He is not going to send us to hell, because our times of sin were greater than our times of holiness.

Because we stand in Christ, we are cleansed, whole, holy, forgiven, justified, redeemed, complete, sanctified, and set free.

Even in this life of ups and downs, struggling between holiness and sinfulness, at the end of our lives on earth, we will stand before God without condemnation.

Jesus paid it all!
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow.

Rejection is Hard!

It starts in elementary school - or at least it was like this when I was in elementary school. Kickball teams get picked at recess. And someone is always the last one picked.

Sports career is ruined.

Then maybe through high school you get rejected from the star roles in the plays and musicals.

Drama career? Not likely.

And how many applications did you go through to get that job?

Rejection is pretty much a part of life. And we learn to deal with it. We learn that there are activities like sports and drama that you leave for others to do. And you learn that there are other things to do besides sports and drama.

But as an adult it seems that rejection keeps coming and keeps getting harder.

Maybe you got fired from a job.

Maybe you got served divorce papers.

Maybe an adult child tells you that he wants nothing to do with you ever again.

Maybe you've been abandoned and left in a nursing home with no one to visit you.

Rejection is hard. It causes pain. It causes awkward situations. It leads to sleepless nights.

It's a part of life. It hurts.

But let's turn that around and look at it from God's perspective.

Do we ever stop to think that every time we choose to disobey, we are rejecting God?

Does it even cross our minds when facing temptation, that to surrender to self is a rejection of God?

How it must hurt God, who is holy, loving and kind - all the time - and therefore does not deserve to be rejected!

Yet, He remains holy, loving and kind. Forgiving. Merciful. Gracious.

If we reject Him through our disobedience, He is ready to accept us back into fellowship. He hasn't turned His back on us; we have turned from Him.

The remedy for the broken relationship is repentance: turning from our sin and turning toward God.

"If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of His Son cleanses us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:7-9).

God has not rejected you. If the relationship with Him is broken, you can turn to Him.

You and Me are a lot like Gomer

I read through the first two chapters of Hosea this evening, preparing for our small group study.

I've read it before. I've taught it. I've preached through it.

But something struck me tonight.

You'll remember that God commanded Hosea to marry a whore, Gomer, and have children with her. Each child's name was a prophecy against Israel. It appears that the last two ("No Mercy" and "Not my people" - how'd you like to hear your mama holler that from the front porch?), were not Hosea's children.

Hosea had married a prostitute and as soon as she had weaned their first child, she was back to her ways.

Their marriage is a picture of Israel. Gomer is Israel and Hosea is God. God choose Israel to be His bride, but Israel continued the life of a hooker, chasing after other lords and masters.

And all along, God was providing for Israel's needs. She thought it was her lovers who were bringing her food and clothing. But it was God.

Then I thought about you and me (mostly me). How I am a lot like Gomer. God has rescued me. Chosen me to be the object of His love. Provides for me. Meets my needs. Longs to satisfy me.

Yet I so often choose to find my satisfaction in other things. I choose to submit to other masters.

And I think that they are the ones meeting my needs.

But all the time, God is there. Putting food on my table. Paying the rent. He even gives me the money to squander on my own idolatry!

Like Gomer and Israel, the path away from God is not a pleasant one. And God will not let me continue running from Him. Like Hosea did with Gomer. Like God did with Israel.

God will intervene.

So you and I can choose to keep running until God intervenes. Or we can come to Him willingly. Confessing and repenting. Being thankful and satisfied.

I'd like to choose God. How about you?

God's Plan for Victory

In his book, Sexual Sanity for Men, David White has stirred my thinking to a variety of new concepts related to victory over sin. It's a book that every man should read, even if sexual sins are not the current struggle. The principles are the same whether you are struggling with pornography or gluttony or bitterness - besides, I don't think God makes a distinction.

The "new idea" of this past week has been the teaching that confession to others is part of God's plan for victory over sin. And he's not talking about confession to those whom we have offended through our sinful actions, although that topic comes up in other sections.

1 John 1:9 is a common verse which talks about confession: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Usually, we read it, "If we confess our sins to God, He is faithful..." But that is not what the verse says.

If you look at the context of 1 John 1:5-10, John is talking about walking in the light, which includes fellowship with other believers.

Look at verse 7 :"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 cleanses us from all sin."

Consider also Proverbs 28:13, "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." We can't hide our sins from God who sees everything. We can, however, keep them hidden from others.

And James 5:16 states, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."

When we choose to sin, we not only wish that God would not see us, but we work very hard to keep it hidden from others. We keep our distance. We lie. We make excuses. We talk about other problems, but not the temptations that are keeping us from obedience and joy. We do good things to compensate for the bad. We are extremely creative in covering up sin.

Think of the freedom that can be had when you confess your sins to others!

You now longer have to hide from them. You may have driven some away from you, but you will know which people are truly brothers and sisters who are praying and encouraging you.

The hunger that you have for close fellowship and help will be there. God created us to have fellowship with Him and with others. If our fellowship with others is just fun and food, we might as well join the golf club.

But our hidden sin builds a barricade to that kind of brotherhood.

As the sin that has been weighing you down for years is exposed, you will experience a release from the pressure of hiding. You will be able to cry out to others for help. You will gain a team of prayer warriors.

Part of God's plan for healing, restoration and victory over sin includes other people. But YOU have to make the first step, confessing sin and crying out for help.

God Allows What He Hates

"Sometimes God allows what He hates to accomplish what He loves" (Joni Eareckson Tada)

I read this quote this morning and it got me to thinking of many biblical examples.

The flood led to the rescue of Noah and his family.

The confusion of languages caused the spread of the peoples around the world.

Joseph being sold into slavery led to the survival of the nation of Israel.

Four-hundred years of slavery fostered the growth of the nation from 70 to over a million.

Daniel being taken captive to Babylon led to his ministry in the royal court.

David being hunted by Saul prepared him for battles and ruling.

The crucifixion led to our salvation.

You can probably think of more.

And since God hasn't changed, He still may work in the same way in our lives today.

That cancer that you're fighting might give you opportunities to witness, opportunities to grow in dependence on the Lord, or more.

The divorce might draw you closer to the Lord in dependence on Him and develop compassion for others.

The rebellious child will help you understand that heartbreak that you cause God when you rebel against Him, making you more sensitive to the gravity of sin in your life.

So often we think of the trials of life to be a punishment, or just fate. When we begin to think of how God can use those trials to bring glory to Himself and growth to us, then we can make progress.