My Dear Grandchildren,
Well, time for another letter. I hope that these are helpful to you. Let me know if you have any questions. I would be happy to do my best to answer them.
In another letter, I had raised this question. ‘How is a Christian, someone whom Jesus has rescued, to live?’ This is how I answered it. ‘There are many good answers to that question. Here’s one: the obedience of faith.’ Well, here is another good answer to that question. A Christian is to work at dying to sin and living to righteousness.
Well, time for another letter. I hope that these are helpful to you. Let me know if you have any questions. I would be happy to do my best to answer them.
In another letter, I had raised this question. ‘How is a Christian, someone whom Jesus has rescued, to live?’ This is how I answered it. ‘There are many good answers to that question. Here’s one: the obedience of faith.’ Well, here is another good answer to that question. A Christian is to work at dying to sin and living to righteousness.
Let’s consider sin for a bit. I wrote a definition of sin in a previous letter.
What is sin? Don’t be fooled into thinking that sin is just about doing wrong things. It’s much worse than that. Sin is hating God. It is rejecting Him and His ways. This hostility to God is an attitude of the heart long before it shows as some behavior. Here’s some Bible that you can look up about this: Romans 8.7; Genesis 6.5.
I’ve already explained that there is a penalty for sin. God should be so very angry at you because of your sin. But, as you know, Jesus has dealt with that. There is, now, no penalty for sin for you because you believe in Jesus.
Sadly, however, you and I still sin. But, because of what Jesus has done, the day will come when there will be no more sin. The presence of sin will be gone.
That leaves one last aspect of sin that you need to understand: the power sin. Yes, you and everyone else still sin. And it’s a fact that people who don’t have Jesus cannot but choose to sin. The power of sin is complete in their lives. To sin is always their natural choice. But what about you? Do you have to sin or do you have a choice? Does sin still have that power over you? Are you stuck in that situation like people who aren’t Christians? No, you’re not. The power of sin over you has been broken.
This is how Paul explained this truth to the saints in Rome.
Sadly, however, you and I still sin. But, because of what Jesus has done, the day will come when there will be no more sin. The presence of sin will be gone.
That leaves one last aspect of sin that you need to understand: the power sin. Yes, you and everyone else still sin. And it’s a fact that people who don’t have Jesus cannot but choose to sin. The power of sin is complete in their lives. To sin is always their natural choice. But what about you? Do you have to sin or do you have a choice? Does sin still have that power over you? Are you stuck in that situation like people who aren’t Christians? No, you’re not. The power of sin over you has been broken.
This is how Paul explained this truth to the saints in Rome.
But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handed over, and having been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. Romans 6:17–18
When someone becomes a Christian, there is a tremendous change in who that person is. He is granted freedom from sin so that he can give himself to a heartfelt devotion to righteousness. So, you see, Christians aren’t just people with a different kind of religion. Christians have been changed into a different kind of person, someone who has been freed to do what is right.
Let me pull this together. Jesus has dealt with the penalty of your sins. He has broken the power that your sins had over you. And He will completely eradicate the presence of sin.
That does raise a problem. You still sin. Yes, that’s true. Your sin is not yet completely eradicated. I’m sure that each of you could write quite a list of sins that you fall into way too often. I can. But here’s the thing. Being freed from the power of sin, you can deal with that list of sins and shorten it. You can turn away from sins that you commit and replace them with attitudes and actions of righteousness. That’s dying to sin and living to righteousness. And it is something that Christians can do because Jesus has changed who we are.
So, how are you to do that? It is so very important that you understand that the Spirit of God is key to this work of replacing sinful attitudes and actions with righteous ones. If you try on your own to put your sins to death and replace them with what is good and right, you will utterly fail. You might be able to make it look like you’re making progress in this, but you won’t be. Your sins will just get more subtle and better hidden from you. It is only the Spirit who can do this work of your dying to sin and living to righteousness.
So, how does He do this? His work starts with this. He points out your sin. That is so very helpful. Can you imagine how stressful it would be if you had to try to find your own sins. Oh, to be sure, there are some sins that are obvious to you. You know that they are just wrong. But what about those subtle sins of the heart? What about attitudes of yours that you think are just fine, but are actually expressions of your refusing to submit to God? There are more of those than you might think. And that is true of all of us. How overwhelming to believe that it would be all up to you to figure out which attitudes of yours are holy and which are sinful. And what about the attitudes that are so hidden in your heart that you aren’t even aware of them? Getting to see into your own heart is impossible.
Let me pull this together. Jesus has dealt with the penalty of your sins. He has broken the power that your sins had over you. And He will completely eradicate the presence of sin.
That does raise a problem. You still sin. Yes, that’s true. Your sin is not yet completely eradicated. I’m sure that each of you could write quite a list of sins that you fall into way too often. I can. But here’s the thing. Being freed from the power of sin, you can deal with that list of sins and shorten it. You can turn away from sins that you commit and replace them with attitudes and actions of righteousness. That’s dying to sin and living to righteousness. And it is something that Christians can do because Jesus has changed who we are.
So, how are you to do that? It is so very important that you understand that the Spirit of God is key to this work of replacing sinful attitudes and actions with righteous ones. If you try on your own to put your sins to death and replace them with what is good and right, you will utterly fail. You might be able to make it look like you’re making progress in this, but you won’t be. Your sins will just get more subtle and better hidden from you. It is only the Spirit who can do this work of your dying to sin and living to righteousness.
So, how does He do this? His work starts with this. He points out your sin. That is so very helpful. Can you imagine how stressful it would be if you had to try to find your own sins. Oh, to be sure, there are some sins that are obvious to you. You know that they are just wrong. But what about those subtle sins of the heart? What about attitudes of yours that you think are just fine, but are actually expressions of your refusing to submit to God? There are more of those than you might think. And that is true of all of us. How overwhelming to believe that it would be all up to you to figure out which attitudes of yours are holy and which are sinful. And what about the attitudes that are so hidden in your heart that you aren’t even aware of them? Getting to see into your own heart is impossible.
The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable - who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9
Thanks be to God that you don’t have to do that. Revealing the sins of your heart is something that the Spirit does. That is another blessing of the Gospel. He will point them out to you.
Now, what do you do when the Spirit points out some sin of yours? This is a basic of Christian living: repentance. You are to repent of that sin.
To repent of a sin is not complicated. First, you honestly admit to the sin that the Spirit is pointing out. No excuses. No saying that it wasn’t that bad. Agree with the Spirit that that sin, whatever it might be, is terrible and that you are sorry for committing it. After all, it’s not that you just broke some rule. You rejected God and His way to live. That’s what sin always is. The second part is to desire change. And that makes sense. If it’s clear to you that some attitude or action is a terrible sin, you won’t want to do it again.
I hope that you can see the important place of prayer in all of this. First, it’s prayer that asks the Spirit to show you your sin. Here is something that I include in my morning prayers.
Now, what do you do when the Spirit points out some sin of yours? This is a basic of Christian living: repentance. You are to repent of that sin.
To repent of a sin is not complicated. First, you honestly admit to the sin that the Spirit is pointing out. No excuses. No saying that it wasn’t that bad. Agree with the Spirit that that sin, whatever it might be, is terrible and that you are sorry for committing it. After all, it’s not that you just broke some rule. You rejected God and His way to live. That’s what sin always is. The second part is to desire change. And that makes sense. If it’s clear to you that some attitude or action is a terrible sin, you won’t want to do it again.
I hope that you can see the important place of prayer in all of this. First, it’s prayer that asks the Spirit to show you your sin. Here is something that I include in my morning prayers.
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! Psalm 139:23-24
I pray this because I want the Spirit to show me any wicked way that is in me and to change it so that I can walk in the way of life that lasts forever. I would encourage you to include this kind of request in your prayers.
Prayer also fits when the Spirit points out some sin. You pray to express your sorrow and your repentance and your desire for change. This is just one more reason why prayer is so very important.
The Spirit points out sin using different means. It might be something in a sermon. It might be something from family devotions. It might even be the words of a song. But whatever it is, you can know that some sin has been pointed out because of what the Bible has to say about what you felt or did. The Spirit always uses the Bible in one way or another. That’s how you can know what is sinful and what is right.
Now, one last thing. Why should you want to work on this dying to sin and living to righteousness? Two reasons. First, Jesus has saved you so that you will live to honor and please the Father. You can’t do that by living a sinful life. So, doing this dying to sin is to be motivated by the love you have for God. Second, this is the way to a life well lived. Sin always trips up. It always deceives. It always brings death. If you want to live well - to have a life worth living - put your sin to death and develop holy living.
Well, this has gone on a bit longer than the last letter. Who knows? Maybe my letters will get longer and longer until the last one is as long as a book! (I rather doubt that.)
I hope that what I’ve written proves helpful to all of you.
With my love,
Prayer also fits when the Spirit points out some sin. You pray to express your sorrow and your repentance and your desire for change. This is just one more reason why prayer is so very important.
The Spirit points out sin using different means. It might be something in a sermon. It might be something from family devotions. It might even be the words of a song. But whatever it is, you can know that some sin has been pointed out because of what the Bible has to say about what you felt or did. The Spirit always uses the Bible in one way or another. That’s how you can know what is sinful and what is right.
Now, one last thing. Why should you want to work on this dying to sin and living to righteousness? Two reasons. First, Jesus has saved you so that you will live to honor and please the Father. You can’t do that by living a sinful life. So, doing this dying to sin is to be motivated by the love you have for God. Second, this is the way to a life well lived. Sin always trips up. It always deceives. It always brings death. If you want to live well - to have a life worth living - put your sin to death and develop holy living.
Well, this has gone on a bit longer than the last letter. Who knows? Maybe my letters will get longer and longer until the last one is as long as a book! (I rather doubt that.)
I hope that what I’ve written proves helpful to all of you.
With my love,
Grandpa B
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