We live in a church era that is heavy on grace.
It’s hard to say, “Hey, guys, we need to work on getting rid of the sin in our lives,” without being accused of being a legalist or having a works-based salvation.
Yet Paul was constantly telling the church to shape up. And so was Jesus. Just look at the things He said in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).
The truth is, God wants us to get rid of our sin. The question is, “What are we going to do about it?”
The first thing we need to do is throw off the lies that get in the way of working on transformation in a helpful way.
5 Lies That Keep Us Stuck in Our Sin
1. I’m good enough.
Sometimes, we have a hard time seeing our sin. We look at ourselves and think, “I can’t see anything I really need to work on.”
The truth is, we can find plenty of sin if we go looking for it. Just think of the verses that say things like, “Don’t worry. Don’t hold a grudge. Don’t be so self-absorbed. Don’t judge.”
Our sin might not be on the current Christian no-no list, but that doesn’t mean it’s not sin.
2. It’s not a big deal.
With this approach, we do nothing other than the basics: go to church, pray, and maybe have a quiet time.
We don’t work on our sin because: 1) It doesn’t seem all that important. 2) No one is expecting us to work on it. 3) We don’t think we have time. 4) We’re planning to get to that tomorrow.
The lie that’s fueling this approach is that it’s not a big deal if we don’t work on our sin. This isn’t Scriptural. Jesus wouldn’t have given the Sermon on the Mount if He didn’t think sin was a big deal.
He would have just said, “Don’t worry, guys. I’ll be dying for you soon anyway, and then you won’t have to worry about sin anymore.”
The truth is, He wants us to be holy.
3. I need to earn God’s approval.
With this approach, we say, “Oh no! I’ll never measure up! I need to do something great for God to make up for all this sin so He’ll accept me!”
Then we try to do great things for Him. Or we just try to be perfect.
The lie of this approach is that we can do enough to make up for our sin. We can’t. That’s why Jesus died on the cross. He loves us already in our “as is” condition.
And while you would think this approach would help us get rid of our sin, it doesn’t–because we’re so busy beating ourselves up that we don’t have time to renew our mind.
4. My job is to obey.
Although technically, yes, our job is to obey, the truth is, we don’t always have enough will power to obey.
That’s why we have to abide in the Word. That’s why we have to renew our mind. That’s why we have to fight with spiritual weapons. Because we’ve tried a million times to obey and it’s not working.
“Just obey” only works in the areas we already have enough will power to obey. In those other areas, our only hope is to walk daily in the power of the Holy Spirit.
5. It’s all about grace.
With this approach, we think it’s God’s job to change us. We can’t do anything. We just have to rely on His grace. The truth is that although God is the One who transforms us, He asks us to be involved in our own transformation.
He’s given us a list of things to do: Abide in Him. Renew our minds. Make our thoughts obedient to Jesus Christ. Fight temptation with the Word of God. Engage in spiritual battle.
This is active, hard work. It’s not a “sit back and wait for God to change you” approach to sin.
God is the One who changes us, but He doesn’t usually do it until we get heavily involved in the process. And He expects us to be involved.
Other posts on this topic:
- Breaking a Habit
- Idolatry series
- If you’d like Scripture references for today’s post, click on the highlighted words in the post.
Question: Can you think of any other lies that keep us from working on our sin?
Good post. I just re-read the sermon on the mount as I got sidetracked doing my Bible study. It hit me that of all the times I’ve read it, it really comes down to being humble. Humility is the key to following our Savior. It also hit me last week that even when I think I’m doing okay, it’s the little even almost innocent thoughts of the mind that betray us and make me realize that I need to seek Him constantly in humility… My thoughts for the day!
My Interlinear Bible defines humility as “thinking of others and not yourself.” When I think of that definition and what you said, I can see how so many of my sin problems would be taken care of if I could get that mindset of always thinking of others and not myself. Thanks for your thoughts for the day, Floyd. As always, they are very helpful!
So many great points Barb. We love to put God in a small box of our personal design. If we’re not doing the “to dos” we will foolishly mold Him into an idol rather than allowing Him to mold us into newness of life.
“Allowing Him to mold us into newness of life.” Love that Deb. And since He gives us free will, usually we do have a choice whether or not to let Him mold us. The molding process is painful, but the end result is so much better. I’m thinking of Hebrews 12:11 – the discipline (molding) isn’t pleasant, but AFTERWARDS, we get to experience the peaceful fruit of righteousness. It’s always worth it.
Great points. The enemy loves to plant seeds of doubt in our mind that we are not good enough to receive God’s forgiveness. This keeps many of us living in sin that God wants to forgive and help us overcome the sin.
So true, Bernard. I think of the things David did in the Bible even though God still called him a man after his own heart, and I think of Peter denying Jesus and Jonah refusing to do what God wanted him to do – there are so many examples of people sinning in the Bible and God forgiving them. Those guys are always so comforting to me. :)
I think a big one is blaming others for my sinful reactions. “If only they hadn’t treated me like that, I wouldn’t be acting like this.” I meet a lot of people with attitudes like that and I can fall into this pattern. I must take full responsibility for MY reactions regardless of how I”m treated.
That’s a good one, Kathy. I used to be heavily into the blame game. Through renewing my mind countless times in that area of my life, God began to show me my own sin and my own part in the relationship difficulties I was having. your advice is so good. Thanks for bringing up that lie.
So much truth here, Barb. It seems that once we attempt to get involved in getting rid of sin, that we can sin in new ways! For example, if I stop gossiping, I can then sin by judging other people who gossip and by telling them that the way I did it is the only way to be free. There was a monk (I forget his name) who would go to the Lord every time he sinned saying, “Lord, you know that without you, I will do this every single time!”
I am reading a book that suggests we live as though we already have victory in this area through the promises of God. I like that approach because it recognizes what Christ did for us and are responsibility to live as new creatures. Great topic!
Great point, Melanie. We never run out of opportunities to sin, do we? I’ve also noticed that once I get the top layer of sin off, I find other sins underneath that I hadn’t ever noticed before because that top layer was so glaring and all encompassing. It’s like peeling an onion. Only the fragrance gets sweeter as the layers come off.
#3 was a HUGE struggle for me…sometimes it still is. For me, I fell into the lie that says “if I give up MORE then He will love me more”. That caused me to fall into a world of hyper legalism. He is so kind and gentle even when we totally screw things up :). It took several years, but for the most part, that is behind me {and my family} now.
That’s so great that it’s mostly behind you, Donna. Do you remember what brought about the change? I always take comfort in looking at God’s responses to the people in the Old Testament – and new – who kept messing up. He’s usually pretty calm and loving unless they are totally ignoring Him in favor of their idols. And even then, His anger doesn’t last forever, and His overall desire and plan is to bring them back into fellowship with Him.
What brought about the change? It would take a LONG reply to give all the amazing things God, in His mercy, did for our family. In short, He showed us where we were idolizing religion and not yielding to His Spirit of Love. It was a painful and long lesson…I am very thick headed and sometimes even hard-hearted especially when pride interferes! I blogged about it all here: http://www.citychickinthecountry.com/crazy-church/
Thanks, Donna. Isn’t it crazy that we can make an idol of anything? Including religion – and including ministry. Thanks for sharing the link. Church is difficult at times, isn’t it?
Hi Barb – you really hit the nail with number 3. I have lived under the deception that I need to obtain God’s approval. Only in the last several years have I truly understood the full breadth of God’s grace and how I can’t earn approval through good works, but by grace and faith alone. This was a very good reminder. Thanks for sharing.
I think a lot of people struggle with that one, Paul. One of the things I love about God is that He know us inside and out – and still loves us. Plus it’s nice to know that He never misunderstands us like people do, cuz He knows us so well. It’s comforting.
Bqrb, you just have a gift of hitting the nail on the head…this post is right on! I’ve been getting discouraged with the battle for the mind, in particular, and these points give me the courage to keep going, not grow weary, and give up. If you ever feel like your words are not effective, or your writing is in vain, don’t believe it. Thank you for obeying our Lord!
And thank you for being so encouraging! I appreciate it. And needed it today! Thanks :)
I think truly grasping grace and loving the law – while not going into license or legalism – is the pursuit that takes a lifetime. It’s a continual battle in my heart.
A fine line to walk, isn’t it?
Thank you for sharing these truths Barb. I’ve been thinking along these lines, how as a church we so forget that Christ takes us on “as is” basis, but He doesn’t leave us there. He wants to grow and transform us. Transformation is a process and we’ll never be perfect on this side of the eternity, but we must be looking more like Jesus everyday of our lives and less like our former selves. I
I think transformation can also be a good testimony to others. Even if they think, “Wow – she’s so messed up,” hopefully they’ll be thinking, “but at least she’s not as messed up as she was a year ago. God must be working in her.” :) It’s good to remember that God is always loving when He brings or allows trials into our lives to help us grow.
Melanie Wilson at Christian Bloggers Conversation pointed me in your direction. So glad to read this post.
Re: “other lies”: My husband/pastor is preaching on the gospel at the moment. So what comes to mind is how believers think the gospel is all about salvation. Indeed it is – but that’s not all. It’s also about transformation and living as Christ lived. So while evangelism is important, so are all the other areas of the gospel.
http://inthemidstof.wordpress.com/
It sounds like we think along the same lines – thanks for the link. Will check it out!
P.S. I was checking out your study for weight loss and noticed how similar your thoughts are to what I have written about in the past on this blogsite: http://foodliesandtruth.blogspot.com/. Love a kindred spirit!
Thanks for the link, Barb. Will be fun to see what you wrote! I have a bunch of kids coming over here for a speech class shortly, but will check it out later. I’ve been wanting to find some other bloggers who write on similar subjects. I also love a kindred spirit – that makes me think of Anne of Green Gables. :)
Great thoughts, Barb! We have to remember that sin is sin no matter how small or large. God calls us to work alongside Him to move away and break free of our sins.
So true, Dan. Hope you are doing well and enjoying your new job!
Yes, it’s going great! Thank you:)
Good list, Barb. I thought about Hebrews 12:1-2 which says we are to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” Sin does entangle us so easily, huh? Sometimes even in subtle ways. Thanks for this reminder today. Blessings!
I love that passage, Dave. It’s one of the ones I meditate on sometimes in the middle of the night – then I think of all the guys in Hebrews 11 and think about what an easy life I have in comparison.
The Back-Slidden Baptist’s Salvation Check List
Just as there are many orthodox Christians, including Lutherans, who, to their eternal damnation, rely on their infant Baptism as their “Get-into-heaven Free Card”, I believe that there are many Baptists and evangelicals who rely on their one time “Decision for Christ” as their automatic ticket into heaven.
Just to be clear, I am sure that there are many, many Baptists and evangelicals who are much better Christians than I am. As Paul, I am the first among sinners. But I believe that the teaching of Decision Theology accompanied with the horrific teaching of “Once Saved, Always Saved”, has damned just as many Baptists and evangelicals to hell as “Once Baptized, Always Saved” has damned many poorly catechized orthodox Christians.
I was taught growing up fundamentalist Baptist that a born-again Christian who stops going to church, reading the Bible, praying, etc. is a “back-slider”. He has back-slidden into sin.
So let’s review the “Back-Slidden” Baptist’s and (Baptistic) Evangelical’s Salvation Check-list:
1. Have I attended church in the last twenty years: No.
2. Have I partaken of the Lord’s Supper in the last twenty years: No.
3. Have I read my Bible in the last twenty years: No.
4. Have I prayed (other than, “Lord please help me win the Powerball!”) in the last twenty years? No.
5. Have I shared the Gospel with a non-believer in the last twenty years. No.
6. Did I pray the Sinner’s Prayer twenty-one years ago in a Baptist altar call. Yes.
Conclusion: SAVED!
Now, if you present this to a Baptist or evangelical of the Baptist persuasion, he or she will say that the person above was never saved. That is why we do not see any “fruit of the Spirit”.
They have a much harder time, however, using that explanation when the “back-slider” is a prominent conservative Baptist or evangelical pastor or evangelist who has “won many souls to Christ” and has preached great moving sermons for years. “How could the person who led me to Christ have been a non-believer??” Situations such as these really rattle these “Once Saved, Always Saved” Christians.
Listen to this Southern Baptist pastor light the pants on fire of back-slidden Baptists who believe their recitation of the Sinner’s Prayer twenty years ago is their “ticket” into heaven:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wftJVYoORug
Gary
Luther, Baptists, and Evangelicals
an orthodox Lutheran blog
Hi Gary, Not sure if this is just a form letter sort of comment or a real one. At any rate, I agree with you. :)
Hi Barb,
Just getting the Word out to people who feel they can sit back and coast into heaven, whether on the assurance of their infant baptism or the assurance of their “decision for Christ”.
We are saved by faith…abiding faith, not just a one time emotional plea to God for a free ticket into heaven.
Thanks, Gary – appreciate it.