April 27, 2024
Dear friends, we had another great opportunity to spend time playing board games and chatting. Pat Bull was able to visit us and practice spoken English with my students.
I would also like to touch on one topic. David, after sinning with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, deeply repented of his sin and suffered the enormous consequences. The consequences of sin are the key cause of danger. This is why today even followers of Christ are not afraid to sin. They do not realize the consequences of sin.
We hear many sermons on forgiveness, and God does forgive the sinner out of His mercy. We also often hear about grace, and it actually gives us the right to approach God’s throne, where we can leave our burden of sin. However, it is rare to hear sermons on the dangers and consequences of sin.
How active are we in fighting against that which opposes the will of God? Misunderstandings often arise on this issue among Christians. Some say that we are not at all able to cope with sin and must ask the Lord to make a change in us. Others talk about our active role taking part in struggling against sin, but sometimes it turns into a set of rules where the heart is not applied.
What does the Bible say about this? On the one hand, we read the prayer of David, who utters the following words: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalms 51:10). On the other hand, the Lord gives the following command through the prophet Ezekiel: “Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby you have transgressed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” (Ezekiel 18:31). Then the question arises: Does the Lord give a new heart and a new spirit or do we make them ourselves?
Both statements are correct because God’s truth sets us free. However, obedience to the truth is our choice. Otherwise, we make God look like a liar and powerless, who not only tells lies, but is also so weak to free those who have been struggling with the same sin for years.
In our fierce battle, working out our salvation, fleeing from this corrupt world, we must remember that we sin not against the rule, but against God and our neighbor. Going against the rule creates a legalist and a self-righteous person in us, but when we understand that we are sinning against God and our neighbor, this is a relationship with a Friend whom we grieve.
Let our faith be based on living relationships, rather than tradition. If you’re not afraid to sin, having no fear of grieving God, and thus insulting the Spirit of grace, then your faith is dead, you have fallen from the grace of God. Doing the will of God in a true and living expression of faith and love leads us in the direction of obedience rather than stubbornness of heart.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father be with us all.
Max Volkov in Christ
