Word for Wednesday: Word

Word.

HAHAHA!!!! Only kidding! Actually, for this week’s WFW, I decided to post a very summarized version of my previous series, Saved From Sin. “Summarized?” you say? Um, okay, so it’s almost 2,000 words long. Let’s say it’s summarized compared to the New Testament.

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One of the many topics discussed by Christian teachers and lay men alike is the Christian life, how one under the New Covenant is to conduct himself in this world as he awaits the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the controversies over the centuries has been whether or not it is possible, or even necessary, for the Christian to live life void of sin. Some say that it is not possible, for no man could ever be perfect like God or His Son Jesus, while others argue that it is indeed possible, for God never lies, and He stated, “Be perfect, for I am perfect.” Thus, the question has arisen, “What does ‘perfect’ mean?” Is a man regarded perfect in God’s eyes because he asked Jesus into his heart and therefore God sees Jesus’ works, not the man’s? But surely the written Word of God’s truth is the authority. Therefore, one must not ask, “What do leading scholars say on this subject?” but rather, “What does the Word of God say?” Having searched the Scriptures, I have come to believe that it is indeed possible for the Christian to live a sinless life.

A very simple way to understand what a Christian’s conduct should be is to first understand what a Christian is; the literal meaning is “a Christ-follower.” A Christian is one who has been saved by Christ. But what is it that he has been saved from? Romans 6:18 clearly states, “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” We believe that Jesus was the Son of God and the Son of Man, and that He lived a sinless life. We also believe that He died for our sins. What does that mean? He took the punishment for our sins, yes. But it was an act of reconciliation between God and man. Why was that reconciliation necessary? What had separated man and God in the first place? The answer to these questions is the gospel itself. God, the Creator, is all-mighty, all-knowing, and all-holy; He cannot look upon sin, that is, the breaking of His commands: anything contrary to His nature is evil. However, the first man Adam, and every man succeeding him, sinned, falling short of the glory of God, that is, the splendor of His presence and His goodness (Romans 3:23). In our filthy state called human nature, we cannot enter into that glory. Many tend to think that we deserve Hell and need a Savior because we did not do enough good works. However, the true reason we deserve Hell is because we sinned. We may try to make amends and keep God’s law, but we always fall into sin again, especially in our minds. Under the Old Covenant, the Hebrews offered up annual sacrifices, not to appease God, but to pay for their sins. Yet Jesus Christ, who came in the flesh and lived completely sinless, became our sacrifice once for all; He paid our legal debt. Then He rose from the grave, conquering death and therefore conquering sin. He “was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25). Jesus, the Lamb of God, saved us from our sins, from our human nature, restoring our communication with God. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2). The very purpose of Christ’s coming was not to hand out free tickets to heaven, but to wash us and save us from sin, that we might behold the glory of God; this understanding is absolutely essential to anyone who truly seeks to understand the Christian life.

One very prominent truth is that without holiness, no one shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). We already understand that in our previous state, we could not attain to holiness; but now, in our saved state, how exactly do we have holiness? Is is that Jesus’ holiness covers for us no matter what we do wrong? Or do we need to bear holy works? Isn’t the latter justification by works? But what does the Scripture say? “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life” (Romans 6:20). “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’ ” (1 Peter 1:13-16). The Scriptures tell us that faith must be manifested by works; faith without works is dead. When Abraham was told by God to sacrifice his only son, he believed that God was able to raise his son from the dead. But he was not justified by this belief alone; he obeyed God, and was ready to slay his son; but God intervened and saved him. Because of this obedience, Abraham was called the friend of God. Faith and works go together as a body and spirit (James 2:14-26). Christians, unlike those of all other religions, are not subject to keeping regulations or traditions, but their lives do bear the fruits of their faith. In the language of John the Baptist, we must “bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:8). The Lord God desires not sacrifice, but obedience: a heart that seeks to do His will. “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all…[but] if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:10, 26-27). This fruit of holiness in our lives leaves absolutely no room for sin, for the rejection of God’s commands. By doing so we would be returning to our previous state, trampling the precious blood by which we were saved. (Hebrews 10:28)

Finally, a Christian has no excuse for sin because he who is in Christ Jesus walks no longer according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1). “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:5-6). The Spirit of God gives us the power to overcome sin, and thus to be free from eternal death, for “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:2, 6:23). Romans 8 continues to tell us that Jesus “condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (verses 3-4). The Spirit of God and the flesh cannot coexist, for they are at enmity with one another; those who walk according to the Spirit must crucify the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5). After all, why would the apostle John write, “I write these things to you, so that you may not sin” (1 John 2:1)? Many Christians know Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” but do they stop and consider that this means that through Christ we can overcome sin? What freedom it is indeed, to be able to live above the power of temptation, and that not of one’s own strength, but by the grace of God!

The Scriptures make it perfectly clear that Christians are called to live life free from sin, because we who have been made right with God by the blood of Jesus cannot return to the corruptness from which we were saved. We do not start our walk with the Lord perfectly, but our goal is to attain to what the Word of God calls the “perfect man… the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Some say that to sin is just human; in this regard they are right, but God calls us to deny our human nature, to crucify our flesh and follow Him (Luke 9:23). God showed us the way when He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to earth; Jesus “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). We have the Lord’s promise that He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to resist (1 Corinthians 10:14). As many of us know, Christians do make mistakes, and sometimes we sin. But what matters is that when we sin, we must repent quickly, and God will forgive us and give us a fresh start (1 John 1:9). By faith in Jesus Christ, we are saved from sin and thus from eternal punishment; and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are being sanctified and transformed into the image of that perfect man, though we might see that image dimly at first (2 Corinthians 3:18). Until the Lord calls us to our eternal home, we are to live in holy conduct on this earth. To put it succinctly, salvation is a one-time occurrence, but sanctification is a life-long process. When we entrust our souls wholly to Jesus, and rely on His righteousness, not on our own works, for salvation, He will empower us to live in His righteousness forever. Truly, when one understands this wonderful gospel, this marvelous freedom of a sinless life, there is no desire to make excuses for sin any longer. Whom the Son has set free is free indeed (John 8:36)!

I think this is the most professional Word for Wednesday I have written thus far (wow). And a great song to sum it all up is the timeless classic, “Amazing Grace.”