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Sounds like a plan
No matter who we are or what assets we have
by way of this world's goods or our personal appearance, God has a
plan for each one of us. His plan is not a
technical one, nor does it have a complicated set of rules for us to
follow in order to fulfill that plan, because He has everything we
need by which to carry it out.
At the very moment a person takes his
first breath, God puts a soul into that biologically formed life, and
it becomes a living, human being. Nothing about the person is pleasing
to God, because he inherits a sinful nature from Adam.
In Romans 3:23, we are told, "For all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God." Psalm 14:31 says, ''There is not one
who does good and sins not."
Romans 6:23 tells us, ''The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God
is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." |
Therefore, as a sinner, man is totally helpless to
please God, but God provided a solution to man's problem by sending
His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to become a man and die on a
cross as a substitute for us. When a person believes in the work of
Jesus Christ, he is said to be "born again, not of corruptible seed,
but by the incorruptible Word of God that lives and remains forever."
(1 Peter 1 :23)
At the very moment of faith in Christ, the individual
is given a human spirit that enables him to understand God's Word and
to have fellowship with the Lord. The newborn child of God must then
"desire the pure milk of the Word of God so that he may grow into a
mature believer." (1 Peter 2:2)
Why is God's Word so important? Hebrews 4:12 says,
''The Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and
spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a critic of the thoughts
and intents of the heart." Through a
consistent intake of God's thoughts, we can begin to recognize our
sinful thoughts and ways. Then we can name our sin to the Lord and be
restored to fellowship with Him. One of the verses that teach this
principle is 1 John 1 :9: "If we confess (name) our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse (purify) us from
all unrighteousness. (unknown sin in our life)"
You can have a positive desire for Bible
doctrine and still get into interlocking systems of arrogance if you
fail to name your sins to God. Even a mature believer like David,
became a hypocrite and degenerate because he refused to name his sins
of adultery and murder.
Using David as an example in 2 Samuel
chapters 11 and 12, let's take a look at what a hypocrite is like:
(1) A hypocrite pretends to be something he is not
(2) A hypocrite hides what he is thinking in his heart and says
something else
(3) A hypocrite respects a depraved person and pays no attention to
integrity
(4) When a hypocrite plays the part long enough, it becomes no longer
just a role, but he becomes that person
While he was out of fellowship with the Lord for more
than a year, David actually became physically ill and was even in the
process of dying until he was confronted with his sin by God's prophet
Nathan. Then David admitted his sin to God the Father and was restored
to fellowship with the Lord.
2 Samuel 12:13 records David's admission of sin: "David
said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord." (his sin affected
others, but ALL sin is against the Lord)
Then Nathan answered, 'The Lord also has forgiven you of your sin, and
you will not die. However, because by your actions, you have given the
Lord's enemies great reason to blaspheme the name of the Lord, so
there will be consequences as a result of your actions."
David was restored to fellowship with the
Lord when he admitted his sin, but no one gets away with sin, and
there was a fourfold result that involved members of his family.
It pays for each one of us as believers to
keep short accounts with God by naming our known sins to Him and
getting back into fellowship with our Lord and Savior.
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