Posts Tagged ‘sin’

14 Sep

Humanistic Arguments for Good and Cooking Lessons from Sesame Street

Posted by tyrellh in Apologetics, Christianity, Religion, Social Issues. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

Anthropology… the study of man. The Bible has a very specific anthropology; it defines and describes people in no uncertain terms. What you believe about man and his problem will greatly influence what you do to help man, if indeed you think he has any problem at all.

The Bible identifies man’s main problem as sin, since the fall in the garden of Eden, every ill that has plagued mankind is a result or consequence of sin; including the natural disasters as the earth groans longing for the return of Christ (Romans 8:22).  The only solution to this problem then is the gospel, since it is God’s power unto Salvation (Romans 1:16). What are the implications then of this simple understanding? Where does it leave the Christian when faced with so many issues calling for his/her attention?

Well, for one thing it should make it clear, that no problem is merely a social, economic or material problem. Abortion is not at its root a social problem, it is a heart problem- thus to deal with it apart from a gospel stance is dishonest and a mere treatment of symptoms. If I convince someone not to kill unborn babies based purely on humanistic reasoning what will happen when that individual is themselves put in the frying pan of human turmoil? Will not their over-reaching desire to please self, rage against their intellectual commitments? And say, even for conscience sake, that they do what is correct, what will the fruit be for their eternity? Apart from Christ, they will experience the full wickedness of abortion for eternity.

Or consider the issue of racism, if it were possible to humanisticly argue convincingly against hatred based on skin colour, will that conviction override the natural leanings of the heart, especially in situations that aggravate such feelings? What will happen when the reformed racist meets the Maker of all races, and the one Who made mankind in His image?

To take it a step further, apart from admission that the Holy God of the Bible is the God Who is there, how can one talk about right and wrong? Now often people know that there is right and wrong, but they don’t know why; their worldview doesn’t allow for consistency. Are you content to convince someone with an argument you know to be defeatable?

To try and convince someone away from a pro-choice position or a racist position with humanistic arguments is like trying to help a leper with cooking lessons from Sesame Street- the ‘cure’ has nothing to do with the problem and the source of the ‘cure’ is not the place to get ‘cures’ from in the first place.

Am I happy every time an unborn baby is given the chance of life? Yes! Am I happy every time someone is treated fairly, and with the value befitting a creature made in the image of God? Yes! We must rejoice in righteousness. But far greater the joy, when someone is transferred from the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of God’s Son. Similarly, far greater the sadness when someone stores up for themselves more wrath for the day of Judgement, as they give in to their sins.

Consider also the greater influence of gospel-centred polemics against abortion. If someone has in sin had an abortion, what does a gospel message give to that person, it gives them hope for forgiveness and peace with God, a humanistic approach though leaves them in guilt and shame. What does a gospel approach do for a young lady who has been raped and is pregnant as a result, it offers hope, that there is a loving Father who cares and will provide and bring healing, whereas a humanistic approach just leaves the lady to deal with cold hard facts, everything left in the arena of a biology book when she needs answers for real life.

In short, let us not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it transforms not just the intellectual commitments, but the deadness of a sinner’s heart. It brings peace not mere conscious appeasement, it grants hope not just dogged determination to an uncertain end.

3 Aug

What We Can Learn From What Restrains Our Sin

Posted by tyrellh in Christianity, Devotional, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , .

How are you dealing with sin in your life? Is it even a concern for you? Is it a lessening concern? As I reflect on this I can help but think of John Owen’s wise words, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you”. I have seen people fall into the most dire situations because they were not prepared to kill sin; the necessary plucking and cutting off was to ‘inconvenient’ for them. In God’s grace however, He restrains sin, he provides us with escapes (1 Cor 10:13).

I can’t even imagine what heinous sins I could have fallen into if it were not for God’s restraint in my life [I can’t imagine, and neither can you since, our hearts are desperately wicked and deceitful above all things Jer 17:9)]. My concern in this post however is to look at what some different restrains to sin are and what they may tell us about where we are.

Jesus spoke of love for Him as being a restraint from sin, “If you love me you will obey what I command you” (John 14:15), and what more noble restrain on my heart’s sin could there be, then that I love my Saviour too much to sin against Him.

Romans 3:18 touches on another restrain, and that is the ‘fear of God’, in this passage the lack of this quality causes people to sin. This ‘fear’ though is a display of wisdom on our part (Proverbs 9:10).

The above two restrains are good restrains, we see them exemplified by godly people in Scripture (Exodus 1:21 for example). However some other restrains, while they are good and we praise God for them, should concern us when they are restraining our sin more often, and the above less often…

God sometimes restrains our sins by using our own self-love since no one has not loved themselves (Eph 5:29) Possibly God restrains your sin through the fear of physical consequences, this is not really the fear of God it’s just the fear that something may go wrong as a result of the ‘wages of sin’ which is death (Romans 6:23). You have a fear of catching a disease perhaps, or maybe getting physically injured, or losing your home, or certain conveniences. This should be a high alert time for you, if this is restraining your more and more.

Worse though than the fear of physical injury is the fear of society, and by that I mean the expectation of family and friends, “What if they found out about this?” you think to yourself. What I find so scary about this is that it could become a situation where pride actually prevents you from sinning, so in essence, a sin is keeping you from other sins. You don’t care about the smiles and frowns of God, you care more about the smiles and frowns of other people; the only thing that keeps you from rushing headlong into sin is the fear that people may think less of you if you are caught. Government is also graciously used by God to restrain sin at this level (Romans 13:5)

It may be that the final warning bells that go off is when it is not even fear of man that restrains you any longer, but when it is merely that you lack the means to sin. Consider the people ruled by Nimrod in Genesis 11:1-9, if it were not for God confusing their languages they would have continued to commit their sin, thus they were deprived of the means. Or consider the people of Sodom, when they were about to take Lot, and the angel blinded their eyes, it was merely that the means, the ability to perform their sin due to some limiting factor, had been removed. This may take the form of a lack of money, and lack of mobility, a lack of opportunity etc.  Dear Friend if this is what restrains your sin most of the time, I should think you have reason to be concerned!

It may well be that the thing that restrains our sin is indicative of our spiritual well-being. Notice how the first two restraints are God-focused (love for God and fear of God), but the latter two mentioned are man-focused (myself and other people). We need to always be fighting sin with the utmost tenacity, but if you have progressed down this slope, at first it was love to God that restrained you, and then fear, then you saw yourself siding into fear of man and love of self, and now you see that the only thing that restrains you from a particular sin is the lack of the means, what do you think will come next? The slope doesn’t end there, if you don’t kill sin conceived in the heart, it will bring forth fruit (James 1). What characterizes more your fight against sin? If you find yourself near the bottom of the slope, seek help from the body of Christ, your elders or an older Christian in your fellowship (James 5:16), but don’t let sin deceive you into thinking you can be a lone ranger and survive this fallen world.

Christ is the answer to all sin problems, Him and His righteousness, speak to someone who will point you to Him.

18 Apr

Does God Repent?

Posted by tyrellh in Apologetics, Christianity, Devotional, Doctrine, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

I was inspired to write this as a result of some reading I have been doing, I hope you find it as helpful as I did.

Following Saul disobedience, God says, “I regret (repent) that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands” (1 Samuel 15:11). I have heard people say that since God “repents” of things, he could not have foreseen what was coming. Otherwise why would he repent or regret, if he knew in advance the consequence of his decision?

However, this is not a convincing argument against God’s foreknowledge. First of all, the argument assumes that God could not, or would not, grieve over a situation he himself chose to bring about. That not true to human experience; and more importantly, God’s heart is capable of complex combinations of emotions infinitely more extraordinary that ours. He may well be capable of lamenting over something he chose to bring about.

Not only that, God may also be able of looking back on the very act of bringing something about and lamenting that act in one sense, while affirming it as best in another sense. For example, if a father spanks his son for obvious disobedience and he runs away from home because he got spanked, the dad may feel some sorrow over the spanking – not in the sense that he disapproves of what he did, but in the sense that he feels some sorrow that spanking was a necessary part of a wise way of dealing with this situation, and that it led to the running away. If he had it to do over again, he would still spank the son. It was the right thing to do. Even knowing that one result would be hostility for a time, one can approve the spanking, and at the same time regret the spanking. If such a combination of emotions can accompany our own decisions, it is not hard to imagine that God’s infinite mind may be capable of something similar.

Now the question is: Does the Bible teach that God laments some of his decisions in the sense that I have described above (which does not imply that He is ignorant of their future consequences), or does the Bible teach that God laments some of his decisions because he did not see what was coming?

The answer is given later in 1 Samuel 15. After God says in verse 11, “I repent that I have made Saul king,” Samuel says in verse 29, as if to clarify, “The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent” (KJV). The point of this verse seems to be that, even though there is a sense in which God does repent (verse 11), there is another sense in which he does not repent (verse 29). The difference would naturally be that God’s repentance happens in spite of perfect foreknowledge, while most human repentance happens because we lack foreknowledge. God’s way of “repenting” is unique to God: “God is not a man that he should repent” (the way a man repents in his ignorance of the future).

For God to say, “I feel sorrow that I made Saul king,” is not the same as saying, “I would not make him king if I could do over.” God is able to feel sorrow for an act in view of foreknown evil and pain, and yet go ahead and will to do it for wise reasons. And so later, when he looks back on the act, he can feel the sorrow for the act that was leading to the sad conditions, such as Saul’s disobedience.

Hence we have Numbers 23:19 – “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” This is a precious verse, because here God’s commitment to his promises hangs on his not repenting like a man. In other words, God’s promises are not in jeopardy, because God can foresee all circumstances, he knows that nothing will occur that will cause him to take them back.

7 Jun

A Response to Rising Islam- Pt 2 (Better Titled: What’s Wrong with the Church Today)

Posted by tyrellh in Christianity, Devotional, Doctrine. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

What is the problem with the church of this generation? I posed this question in my post responding to the rise of Islam. If you read that post, you will notice that Islam does not so much concern me. However, it did raise for me, the question, of the Church? Why are we not having as much of an impact as previous generations? Where are the dvtnSpurgeons, Whitefields, Luthers, Calvins, men like the apostles? Now granted, we are plagued by much heresy today, the emergent church is striking away at an entire generation, those who are a generation above are still bewildered by and getting up from the failure of the seeker-sensitive movement. Arminianism is rife, liberalism is still going. But this is no excuse, when God used men in the past, there were also many heresies and evils about.

For argument sake, let us consider, a doctrinally pure and sound church. Accurate to the letter. Why do they not experience such impact? Why do the preachers, who have all their theology worked out and their Greek Grammar down, not rock the country? Friends, I write this to myself as well. The problem is not theological (while if we let that slide, it will be a problem too, some kind of ‘holiness’ without the ground of good theology would be just as useless), the issue is holiness.

I heard a sermon recently, and these words struck me, it went something like this, “The power of the preaching of a man, will be directly proportional to the holiness of that man.” Think of it friends, Paul wrote to Timothy and said two things he should watch, “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:16). To your teaching (KJV

has it ‘doctrine’) and to yourself. Is it any wonder that the qualifications for pastors in both passages where the qualifications are listed, starts with holiness and its practical manifestation? Titus 1:6 and 1 Timothy 3:2 both start off with the qualification ‘above reproach’ or ‘blameless’, not doctrine or theology. Wiersbe explains, “This word literally means “nothing to take hold upon”; that is, there must be nothing in his life that Satan or the unsaved can take hold of to criticize or attack the church. No man living is sinless, but we must strive to be blameless, or “above reproach”[i]”

In both of those passages Paul goes on in the same verse quoted to talk about the external manifestation of holiness. How a man runs his life, and rules his family, and controls himself. I could go on writing for hours, but I feel this is already getting to long. How long do we pray for? Or do we feel it is pointless and we can do without God’s power? How long do we read the Holy Scriptures for? Or are we wise enough and equipped in and of ourselves to deal with all life should throw our way? Do we cut off our hand, and pluck out our eye when they cause us to sin? Or do we whimper in the closet and scratch a bit at our hand, keep our eye lid closed for awhile? If we truly hated sin, we would destroy that means whereby we sin, we would go without, and in want, but by no means make provision for the flesh. How often do our thoughts wonder onto senseless and futile things? As if there were no treasures above, no glories to think in Christ, but ah, we cannot think of these things since we have not been in the Word to find the jewels.

The words also struck me, that you cannot be a clown, and a prophet. Now Spurgeon was a man who had quiet a sense of humour, he was even criticized for making too many jokes, but this is not what I mean. Al Matrin points, that it is the man who always wants to make people laugh, always wants to be a joker, how can someone then take you seriously, when you want to tell them of the fires of hell, and the depravity of their nature, and the glories of the only true God, and the pre-eminence of Christ?

lbrtyI am not here hoping to solve the problem, but merely make it known, if you wish to have an impact for the world around you, then you best not worship the same idols it does. Money, riches, wealth, reputation, class, stuff, security, safety etc. Oh that we would have a tenacious fight for holiness, then we will see the world take notice, then we would ‘…save ourselves and others’

[i]Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. 1 Ti 3:1

22 Mar

Sorrow and Sin

Posted by tyrellh in Christianity. Tagged: , , , , .

One of the fascinating and sometimes rather painful aspects of the Christian life is that of ‘defeat through triumph’. It is something I am learning more and more. In times of utter defeat against the lusts of my flesh and the assaults of the enemy it is helpful for one to run to Scripture, especially portions like Psalm 51. When we sin, and feel far from God we often foolishly feel like doing something to impress God- maybe I should fast to show God I am sorry, maybe I should read more Scripture to demonstrate my desire to change, maybe I should cry when I repent and work myself up emotionally a bit more… you name it… None of these things are wrong in and of themselves.

Surly fasting is good and right, and a spiritual discipline to be used in praying more earnestly and seeking the Lord’s face, and Scripture is vital to our sanctification (John17:17), and clearly tears of genuine repentance are good to see so long as they are a sign of what is happening inwardly (2 Cor 7:8-11). Notice though these things are all good in their place, but they do not earn favor with God. Listen to David as he Prays in Psalm 51:16, “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering”… David realized that these things are pointless in trying to manipulate God into thinking we are ‘really really sorry this time’. But notice what David goes on to say in v17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise”. It is this attitude that shows a real sorrow over sin, and I don’t think it is something that is temporal, by that I mean, we don’t just feel this way for a moment, but the Christian life is one of contrition and brokenness. Blessed are the poor in spirit said Christ, blessed are those who mourn (Matthew 5:3-4)… I could go on.

Someone may say to me, ‘But Tyrell, look this spirit of brokenness and contrition is a work, it is something we are expected to do.” That is an interesting point and in answering it gives us some wonderful and terrible (in the sense of terror inspiring, I wanted to write ‘terrorful’) insights: Notice the words of Hebrews 12v17, “For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.” Notice how even with an appearance of contrition, that being tears, there is no genuine repentance. This is because ‘repentance’ is a gift from God (Acts11:17). Perhaps you find yourself not mourning over sin, one reason may be that like Esau, you have not been granted repentance, you wish to flee from the fire to come like the Pharisees who ran to John the Baptist, but you do not wish to have your evil nature changed, it is God’s wrath you fear, not your wicked nature you hate. Oh that you would throw yourself on the mercy of God and beg Him to remove the mask of your sin and show you how abhorable it truly is.< But perhaps you are a believer and thus have been granted repentance, well to you, know that to be in such a state that one is not wounded to the heart by sin, is a very serious place to be, a place where security of Salvation may be a fact, but assurance of Salvation cannot be had. Mortify the flesh by the Spirit (Romans 8:13). Set your mind on heavenly things, be meditating day and night on the Lord, be sure that you are fighting all sins in your life, and not just those that trouble you. Know that He will complete that good work which He began in you because you are Christ’s (Phil 1:6).
brokeness

15 Apr

God Even Works Sin For Our Good

Posted by tyrellh in Christianity, Devotional, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

Oh sin, how the believer in time comes to hate it, and how I hate the time that I do not hate it. I do not want to sound in anyway in favor of sinning or sin, it is a most evil and disgusting thing, it destroys lives, it nailed the purest and holiest, the very Son of God to a tree- He that knew no sin became sin for those who are saved. Sin is so evil, so exceedingly sinful that is so corrupts man that he will never be free from it until he dies, it even brings about that death, for the wages of sin are death….

However, for the Christian, there is a blessedness in sin, for we know that God works all things together to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). Can it be that God can even use sin? Well the apostle says, ‘all things’ now, this is not to say we should then sin that God may use it, no, for if we say God uses our sicknesses and suffering, do we go out and make ourselves sick, do we hurt our own body and thus not look after the temple of the Holy Spirit, certainly not. Likewise with sin.

Sin troubles me so much, I often cry out like the apostle in Romans 7:24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”… Christian listen to the apostle’s sweet answer, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”(v25a). I have noticed within me, when I fall, and I fall so hard, I am moved I am compelled, either to give-up or to fight! How easy it is to give up, the flesh indeed is weak. Christian don’t waste your sin!

If you have played soccer/football you will know what I am talking about, when you are tackled, you can sometimes feel a fire inside of you that says NO, and you turn and run to get the ball back from the one who took it from you, before he passes it and you are the one who is to blame for the subsequent goal. Or you could just give up and say, “I’m to tired, we will just have to make it up. Or you can wonder what you did wrong, and blame the ball, or the uneven ground.

Christian brothers and sister, it is the flesh, sin within you…. But there is one answer to it. And so when you sin, do not be weary, though I know it is easy, do not blame others, for James tells us when we sin we are led away by our own desires (James 1). Say rather the truth, “Woe is me, who will deliver me from the body of death!!!!

Let me tell you who will deliver you, it is the one who chose you, not because you are attractive, it is the one who saved you to make you glorified, not because you are glorious, it is the one Who became sin for you, Christ Jesus the righteous. So pure and holy, compassionate, tender, meek, merciful to those who come with a broken and contrite spirit. Oh may we Christians ever live with broken and contrite spirits, a spirit that will never trust itself.

Why do I then say sin is blessed?

Look at this list, and I am sure there are more then these, but these are what I have thought up in this short time.

  1. My sin causes me to throw myself again at the feet of Christ, and shows me my utter need for Him
  2. My sin cause me to love and cling to Jesus my savior so much more, for there is nothing good within me, but if I can just touch the hem of His garment I will be made well.
  3. My sin crushes my pride and self-righteousness; it shows me my need for Christ and my lack in myself.
  4. My sin reminds me of what grace and mercy is, and what a truly great gift Salvation is
  5. My sin moves me more to hate it as I see it wickedness, it becomes a fuel to fight it with more and more
  6. My sin makes me love my brothers, for I am the chief of sinners and the least of the saints

Christian fight sin, and let Micah 7:7-9 be your chant of war or your cry for victory as you press on

But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.

I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.

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