July 25, 2008
A close friend of mine and I spent some time together recently in which we had the opportunity to share things that we had been discovering in God’s Word. In the course of our conversation, my friend, whose name is Scott, reflected sadly on how frequently he runs across Christians who fall prey to temptation. And then, having fallen, wear the weight of condemnation so heavily that they essentially throw in the towel, despairing of God’s capacity to forgive them, cleanse them, and restore them.
Many people, when born again, are filled with fiery zeal and are beaming with the radiant glow of gratitude and hope. But then, if they’ve stumbled, they find that the lies of the great deceiver are whispered into their ears. And what are the lies that they hear? That they are failures. That since they gave in to temptation that God can’t love them anymore.
Some say that if you give in to any sin then you must not truly be a Christian or that you somehow lose assurance that God will receive you when this earthly life is over. They cite Revelation 21:8 in which we are taught that, “…the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
But there is a profound difference between the one whose heart has never yielded to the lordship of Jesus Christ as he or she attempts to hold on to a life of sin (such as the ones mentioned above), and the one who through weakness gives in to temptation… even repetitiously.
The difference is this. A man or woman, though having become a Christian, is still housed in a body of flesh. The Word of God, the Bible, teaches us that His Holy Spirit helps us, but there are times when we are beset by pangs of fearfulness, waves of anger, surges of pride, or assaults of physical impulses and therefore choose to not yield to His Spirit’s promptings.
But consider the Apostle Paul’s words of encouragement who himself professed that there were times when he wasn’t perfect and even may have struggled with temptation. “I have a desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good that I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:18b-19 NIV). The Bible doesn’t record the nature of his struggles, whether he struggled with fearfulness, pride, or just liked to eat too many doughnuts at the synagogue. But then again, it doesn’t really matter what it was for we each also find ourselves struggling with our own unique temptations, failures, and fears.
But the hope that he then goes on to share is for all of us. His words of incredible encouragement in Romans chapter 8 tell us how a Christian may begin to cultivate a lifetime of victory over sin because of the new identity that he or she has in Jesus Christ, finding enablement by God’s Spirit to break free from sin’s bondage.
So in reading these Scriptures, if we can agree that we “grow” and “increase” in victory over sin, then we must also recognize that such victories and changes aren’t necessarily instantaneous. No Christian is going to suddenly be a perfect person. She must be “transformed by the renewing of her mind” (Romans 12:2) and that happens through the process of prayerfully reading and learning His Word, and then obeying it.
In other words, stop worrying about whether or not you’re “righteous enough” to stand before God. You aren’t. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
However, “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… for what the Law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the Law might be fully met in us…” (Romans 8:1, 3-4a NIV).
You aren’t righteous enough to go to heaven, but Jesus is… and if you have placed your faith in Him, then His righteousness is credited to you. “… Righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (placing their complete trust in Him). There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood” (Romans 3:22-25a NIV).
If you’re walking around thinking what a miserable failure you are, then think again. You were not saved by your own righteousness and are therefore not kept for God by your own righteousness. Know that God’s grace is big enough to pick you up again and again, dust you off, and put you back on your feet. And if you’ll let Him do that for you, then you can put into practice some wisdom you’ve learned from your experience. If, for example, you’ve struggled with alcohol, then you know to set up boundaries that help you to keep from slipping into situations in which there is alcohol present and consequently tempt you (the same goes for drugs). If you’ve had a terrible time with your anger, learn the technique of walking away and praying so that you can cool down and manage your anger before it manages you. Or if you find yourself falling prey to immorality, then change your lifestyle so that you do not find yourself in compromising situations. And in all cases, seek out a trusted Christian friend who can lovingly (and courageously) hold you accountable. If you don’t know of any, look around in your church. If you don’t go to church… well, you’re in for some trouble. Get in church and find that someone.
So take heart, weary one. Stop carrying around that load of condemnation and shame. It’s all been arranged. You can start all over again with God: He’s ready for you to give Him your struggles.
“… Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2 NIV).
(Thom Mollohan and his family have ministered in southern Ohio the past thirteen years and is the author of The Fairy Tale Parables: Classic Fairy Tales Pointing to God's Love and Truth. He is the pastor of Pathway Community Church and may be reached for comments or questions by email at pastorthom@pathwaygallipolis.com).
