Put Into Practice
There is a belief among Christians that often leads to frustrating results. It is the idea that since we are Christian’s we should not struggle with sin any longer, which when we do sin, it leads to many to doubt their salvation or just become frustrated with themselves. There is another belief about Christian’s that leads to the same frustrating results, and this is the idea that we should immediately know how to imitate Christ and put aside the sin we struggle with. Then when we are placed beside someone who has the same issues as us but does not react sinfully, we become frustrated that we are not at the same level.
Let us look first at the belief that we should not struggle with sin once we become a born again believer. One answer to this belief can be found in 1 John 3:7-8.
Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
This may seem like a strange place to go when battling this mistaken belief, outwardly it does appears to say that if you still struggle with sin then you are a follower of unrighteousness. However, this could not be farther from the truth. The key word in this passage is the word “practice”. To practice something means to willingly, put thought and intent into something. If you have ever practiced for a sport or instrument you understand that in order to get better you willingly have to put the time into whatever it is that you practice. This is the same when it comes to sin. If you are willingly going out with the intent to do something sinful, then you would be a follower of unrighteousness. However, those who are born again, while they do still sin, do not make it a practice. They desire to be more like Christ and avoid sin. The difference is that being a follower of Christ means that we are quicker to repent for our sin and slower to repeat it because we do not wish to grieve the Holy Spirit. Those who are followers of Christ practice righteousness.
This then leads into the second misplaced belief. Since someone who desires to be like Christ would clearly wish to behave like Him in all circumstances, it becomes frustrating when we are placed in a situation that causes us to sin. Now a born again believer should know that Christ died for all of our sins, and there is nothing that will separate Him from us, it does become frustrating when we know we should have responded better to a situation. Proverbs 4:18 gives us the answer to this belief.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
Again, this may seem like a strange place to start. This passage in Proverbs almost seems vague, however, if you take another look you will see that it answers this belief perfectly. The path of the righteous is like the dawn. Has there ever been a time when mankind has been able to stop the sun from rising? The rising of the dawn is an unstoppable force that brings light to the world. This is the same for the Christian who wishes to be like Jesus Christ. When we desire and put into practice the willful intent to follow Him, there is nothing that can stop us from growing. We become an unstoppable force. And just like there are days when it seems like the sun is slowly rising or days where it rises in the blink of an eye, each Christian’s walk is different. We each grow at our own pace, but regardless, it is still unstoppable. The more we study God’s word and put into practice what the Bible teaches us, the more we become like Christ!
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex