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.

Thinking about a Tattoo?

Yesterday, I saw a mother with her son's name tattooed on her neck. She had two sons, but only one tattoo. Maybe she hadn't gotten around to adding the second one. I wonder what she'll look like if they have four or ...ten kids...

Tattoos are pretty trendy right now. I suppose in 20 years they won't be and all those people who have spent a lot of money scarring their bodies will be out of style.

Today I read about the garments of the high priest. Very ornate and detailed. Elaborate and expensive.

A unique piece of adornment is not a tattoo, but it was very visible and permanent.

"You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet. 'Holy to the LORD.' And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban (Exodus 28:36-37).

A gold plate fastened to the front of the turban with a blue cord. The sign said, "Holy to the LORD."

Set apart for Jehovah.

Dedicated to God.

What would your life look like if you had that on your forehead all the time?

If everyone you met could read on your forehead "Holy to the LORD," what would you do differently?

If everything you said or did was a direct reflection on the character of God, would you act differently?

We may not have it on our foreheads, but it is a reality. We have been set apart for God.

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).

Maybe if we had it tattooed to our foreheads, we might actually live like we are holy to the LORD.

We are.

We are priests and our actions reflect the One who has redeemed us.

What are we reflecting?

Law or Liberality?

"Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God" (1 Peter 2:16).

Peter addresses two extremes in Christianity: legalism and liberality.

The legalist makes a list of rights and wrongs. These are the things a real Christian does. These are the things a real Christian doesn't do.

He's got a checklist of standards by which he measures himself and others to determine spirituality.

On the other end is the liberal. He emphasizes his freedom in Christ.

There is no condemnation.

My sins are forgiven.

The blood of Christ has set me free.

Therefore, I can do whatever I want.

And if anyone tries to stop me, I pull out the "Judge not!" card.

Both extremes are wrong.

Live like a freed man. But don't use your freedom to sin.

After the fall of communism in Romania, chaos broke out. The people had been so oppressed by the government, that they thought all law was wrong. Stop signs were ignored. Anarchy reigned for a time.

Unfortunately, some Christians try to live like that, too. If I'm free from the law, then I don't have to follow any rules.

But if you look at the verses before and after this verse, you'll see a list of rules.

Our freedom is a freedom from sin and from the law. But not a freedom to do whatever we want. We must be careful students of the Word so that our lists don't go beyond what God expects. We must also be careful students of the Word so that we are doing what pleases Him and not ourselves.

Striving to please Christ - not ourselves and not others - must be our goal.

Living as a child of the King and not trying to earn His favor should be our standard. We are free to live, because we are accepted in the beloved.

Rules or No Rules?

Some will claim that freedom in Christ allows them to do whatever they want to do.

"There is therefore no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:1).

"Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath...Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism...If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations...according to human precepts and teachings?" (Colossians 2:16-22).

I'm free in Christ and you can't tell me what I should or shouldn't do!

But then do we have a contradiction in other passages that give commands?

"Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor...Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands..." (Ephesians 4:25-28).

"But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking..." (Ephesians 5:3-4).

"Wives, submit to your own husbands...Husbands, love your wives...Children, obey your parents..." (Ephesians 5:25-6:1).

So are we free, or aren't we? Are there rules to follow or not?

Yes, we are free and yes, there are rules to follow.

As always, read the context of the passages.

We are free from sin. Its power and penalty are broken through the blood of Christ on our behalf (Romans 6-8).

The list of rules that Paul warns the Colossians about concerns temporal things: food, drink, holy days and denial. For some following these rules are what makes them holy. Paul says that those teachers are filled with the empty philosophy of the world. You can't do anything to make yourself holy (Colossians 1-2).

But because we have been made holy through the work of Christ on the cross, we are to live a certain way (Ephesians 4-6). These have to do with attitudes, relationships, communication and responsibilities, not food, drink and holy days.

There are rules for the Christian life. And we need to be very careful how we set up our rules.

The rules that we have need to be based in the Gospel.

Following the rules do not make us holy, but because we are holy, we follow the rules.

Copycats

We are all copycats.

We might think that we are original. Unique. Different.

But in reality, everything that we do, say or think has been taken from someone else.

Granted, you probably have brought together a mixture of imitation that no one else has. But it's just the mixture that is unique.

Think of an newborn.

How does he learn to talk? By copying what he hears.

Take a baby born in the US to English-speaking parents. Put him in a Spanish-speaking family in Argentina. He'll speak Argentinian Spanish, not US English. In fact, he'll probably struggle in English classes in school, like all the others in his class.

He listened to what was around him and learned to shape his mouth and tongue to produce the unique sounds that he was hearing.

Every thought that we have had, has originated in a thought that someone else had. We read a book. We ask a question. We watch TV. We listen to music.

All of that shapes our thoughts.

We are not copying everything that we see or hear. We pick and choose what we want to copy.

Therefore, it is highly important that we choose carefully whom we imitate.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "Be imitators of God as beloved children" (Eph 5:1).

What better standard for the Christian than to be an imitator of God?

Obviously, none of us can part the Red Sea or create the universe, but there are attributes of God which we can copy.

For starters: Holiness. Righteousness. Justice. Mercy. Love. Truth. Patience.

Being an imitator of God gives us a filter for all the other copying that we are doing.

When we listen to a conversation about parenting, we can ask ourselves, "Are these godly methods?"

When we decide what clothes to wear by looking at what everyone else is wearing, we can ask ourselves, "Will these clothes bring honor to God, or to myself?"

When we hear about others cheating on their spouses, we can filter that through the question, "Does God cheat on His bride, the church?"

When we're caught up in a discussion that turns to an argument, we can pause and ask, "Is this how God would respond to this person?"

Being an imitator of God guides us in the multitude of decisions we make each day.

It gives us the opportunity to choose what we do, say or think, not on the grid of what everyone else is doing, but on God's standards.

Abandoned

Abandoned. Rejected. Ignored. Overlooked.

We've all had those experiences.

A spouse leaves. A child turns his back. A friend doesn't write back. A neighbor moves away.

Depending on the length and the intimacy of the relationship, the pain can be deep.

But think of this:

When Jesus was on the cross, He cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?"

God the Father and God the Son had had a perfect relationship for all of eternity. Not just a few decades.

And they had a perfect relationship. Holy. Without sin. Without suspicion. Without guilt. Without secrets.

Unlike any relationship that you or I will ever have.

But as Jesus hung on the cross, His eternally-loving Father forsook Him.

Why?

It wasn't because Jesus all of a sudden sinned and broke that relationship.

It was because of your sins.

As Jesus hung on the cross, He was bearing the sins of the world - which includes all of your sins and all of my sins.

The prophet Habbakkuk wrote, "You are too holy to gaze upon sin." God cannot even look at sin.

So, as His Son with whom He had had a perfect relationship for all of eternity, hung on the cross with all the sins of the world, God turned His back on Him.

The perfect eternal relationship was broken because of something you did.

But it was broken so that it could be restored. It was broken so that you and I could have a loving relationship with God the Father and God the Son.

Think of it this way: Their relationship was broken, so that we could be a part of that relationship!

We can have the love of the Father poured out on us because of what Jesus did.

Wow!

Motivation to do what is right

I remember as a child going to various tourist traps. Before Adventureland in Altoona, there was Riverview Park in Des Moines. It probably wasn't very big, but to a kid from a small town it was great.

In addition to the rides, there were little booths in the park, that probably aren't allowed any more. If you dropped a coin in to this machine, a chicken would come out and play a song on the piano. Not a mechanical chicken. Not a digital chicken on a computer screen. A real live chicken pecking out a tune on a toy piano.

I was amazed at how they could teach a chicken to play the piano. He didn't even have any music to read!

At the end of the song, a hatch would open and corn was dispensed for a reward. The chicken had learned that playing the piano led to a reward.

Like I said, those gizmos probably are illegal in all 50 states now.

But we do the same thing when we're training our children. Do your job and get a sticker.

And we do the same thing with ourselves. If I work hard at a good job, I'll have a good retirement.

And bosses use the same method with their employees. Increase sales this month and you'll get a bonus.

Giving rewards as a motivation to good behavior is not wrong. The New Testament speaks of several crowns that will be rewarded  based on good things that believers have done.

How about this motivation found in Leviticus 19:2?

"You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy."

The rest of the chapter gives a variety of commands about idolatry, honoring parents, sexual behavior, witchcraft and keeping the Sabbath.

Each time the motivation is the same, "For I the LORD your God am holy."

What is your motivation for living a holy life?

Rewards?

Fear of punishment?

Fitting in at church?

Tradition?

The problem with those motivations is that they are easy to excuse. Rewards are so far off. No one will know, so why do I need to fear punishment? Everyone else at church has their sins, too. Tradition needs to be changed anyway.

But God's holiness never changes.

God's desire for us to be like Him never changes.

So when you are tempted to sin, remember God's holiness. Not even a fleck of sin in Him.

And remember that that is God's desire for you. Not even a fleck of sin in you.

And in case you thought maybe this is only for the Old Testament believers, it's repeated in 1 Peter 1:15-16.

"Be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy."

Mardi Gras

Today is Fat Tuesday, which is the translation of the French term, "mardi gras." It is the last day of feasting and frivolity before the time of fasting and solemnity preceding Easter. For some it will be a day of eating donuts, pancakes and other fatty foods, before they give up something for Lent. For many others it's a day of wild parties, where various acts of sinful behavior are committed. Often these acts are committed behind masks, so that there can be no harm done, no guilt credited. Millions around the world will return to their homes in a drunken or doped up stage, having participated in various acts of indecency and sexual perversion.

Followers of Jesus Christ will decry mardi gras activities. They will avoid drunkenness, drugs and debauchery. They will stay away from the activities of carnival (festival of the flesh).

Well, at least the extremes...

How many will fulfill the desires of the works of the flesh listed in Galatians 6?

"Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these..." (Gal 6:19-20)

By the way, you don't get to pick and choose. Not even 99.99% is a passing grade. Not even an occasional event of one of these works gets you off the hook. Even a thought of one makes you as guilty as the one whose life is characterized by all of them.

But that's okay.

We'll get cleaned up before AWANA and prayer meeting on Wednesday.

I'll do my hair up nice and smile real pretty in the choir.

My sermon on Sunday will be so good, that no one will suspect anything.

How is that any different than Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday?

Wallow in sin, but show up sparkly clean at church?

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (vs 22-24).

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness" (Romans 6:12-13).

The Christian life that is a cycle of Fat Tuesdays and Ash Wednesdays is not what God intends. We have been declared to be holy. We are to live holy.

All the time.

Impress God

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer."
Psalm 19:14

It's easy to talk to make ourselves look good in front of others.

Self-justification: "Well, that's not exactly what I did..."

Self-glorification: "Did you notice what a good job I did?"

Self-preservation: "At least I'm not as bad as..."

Telling the truth, but not all of it.

Answering questions carefully so that reality is not being revealed.

Trying to impress others is really just lying.

But we can't lie to God. He knows what we think and what we say. Even before we do.

So it is much more important that our words and thoughts are acceptable to Him. We need to filter our words and thoughts through His character.

Are they holy?

Are they true?

Are they just?

Are they loving?

Are they wise?

Are your thoughts and words pleasing to God?