1 John 5v17-21 “All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death. We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them. We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.”

As Christian disciples we live in a constant battle of our new inherited nature battling our old sinful nature. Sin is a constant thorn in our sides. But as John wrote in those bible verses I reat out, we are not to continue the “practice of sinning”. How should the Christian disciple deal with sin? In order to deal with it, it is helpful to understand first of all what sin is, then the cycle of sin and then finally, how the Christian disciple deals with sin in their life.

1. The Nature of Sin

All humans are moral beings who have an awareness of what is right and wrong (Romans 2). Sin is an expression of what we are - sinners. We sin because we are sinners. We all sin because we are all sinners! It is the product of our own will being in opposition to God’s will. All humans are by very nature, enslaved to sin and powerless to free him self (John 8:34, Romans 6:19-20). As all humans are sinners (Romans 3:23; 1 Kings 8:46), with the notable exception of the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:15). there is no position of neutrality - we are born sinful and are therefore guilty. Guilty because God is a holy and righteous God, who cannot abide sin!

Sin is lack of conformity to the Moral Law of God, either in deeds, attitudes, or state. Remember Jesus saying the two greatest commands were to love God and love others. Any breakage of those two commandments is sin. There are two kinds of sin: sins of commission and sins of omission. Firstly there are the sins, which are active, or the sins of commission. These are where God’s commands are actively broken! Then there are the passive kinds, which are sins of omission. These are where we are not doing, as we ought (James 4:17)!

2. What Sin does

Now as a Christian disciple and as one who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, sin still has an effect! That should not surprise you! However, unlike unbelievers who are separated from God due to sin, the Christian disciple when they sin, it mars the fellowship they enjoy with Jesus. But separation has not occurred because Jesus still has you firmly by the hand. That does not mean as a Christian disciple that we are to deliberately and wilfully sin, it is not necessary to do so. Sin in the life of the Christian disciple should never be tolerated! So how is sin to be dealt with?

3. Dealing with Sin

As John said in those verses I spoke earlier, we are not to continue sinning! In 1 John 1v7, we are commanded to walk in the light! A lot of people think their eternal life will start when they die. But our eternal life with Christ has already started, so we are to live now as we will then! But we do sin, so what do we do about it? One man who know what to do was King David in the Old Testament, and Psalm 32 typifies his reaction to his sin! In that Psalm he speaks of his confession of sin and his abandonment of it. That is also to be our reaction to when we sin! We are not to just ignore it! We are not to wallow in self-pity! We are to take God’s view of it and call it sin! Nor are we to claim we are without sin, because as John writes in 1 John 1, we are living in self-delusion and we make God out to be a liar! So, when we realise we have sinned, we are to confess it quickly and ask for our Lord’s forgiveness! For as John writes in 1 John 1v9, “he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” That is why it is a very good idea to start the day with a simple prayer of general confession so that your fellowship with Jesus through the day will not be scarred! That is why in a lot of churches, there is a general confession at the start of the services. Jesus wants us to have complete fellowship with him, and by confessing sin, our fellowship with Him is made richer.

For more to think about please do read for your self 1 John 1. Ask yourself the following question and suggestions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them. Then why not share your answers with your spouse or a close friend, so that you can pray over any issues together.

Q1 – As a Christian disciple, what areas of my life do I need to let Christ in?

Q2 – If you have specific sins that entangle you habitually, try to memorise a verse of Scripture concerning it and pray that verse daily and ask that the Holy Spirit will help you avoid the temptation!

23. Partake – The Christian Disciple and Temptation

Photo courtesy of Jan

We know that Jesus’ words are true because we stumble and sin, as we face constant temptation to sin. It’s an undeniable and inevitable fact of the Christian disciple’s life! But it is good to know that temptations are common experiences for all Christian disciples, and not just for us as individuals, no matter what we may think! An important thing to note right at the start is that temptation itself is not sin! Rather it is the giving into temptation that is causes us to sin. So one of the keys to living a righteous life and not sinning is by dealing with temptation the very moment it confronts us. Part of dealing with temptation is to know its strategy to ensnare. The Bible tells us that as Christian disciples we face temptation from three different angles: the world, our old nature and satan.

Temptation by the world

In the Bible the term world does not always refer to the universe. It is often used to describe the community of sinful men and women that possesses a spirit of rebellion against God (1 John 5:19). Because of its opposition to God, the world values those things God hates (1 John 2:16). It’s temptations to the believer are twofold: lust for the sensual and pride in life.

Love of the world produces in Christian disciples

To overcome the love of the world we need to love God with a greater love (1 John 2:15).

Temptation by the sinful nature or the flesh

Flesh in the Bible refers to the carnal, sinful nature within people that is opposed to God (Romans 8:7). The actions produced by the flesh are given in detail in Galatians 5:19-21. a person whose life is characterized by these sins cannot be a true Christian and is under the wrath of God (Galatians 5:21; Ephesians 2:3). Though the flesh is not destroyed for the Christian, he or she does not need to obey it (Romans 7:15-25). They possess a new nature empowered by the Holy Spirit. Since the flesh and the Spirit are totally opposed to each other, the one whom the believer allows to dominate will take charge in his life and produce its own fruit.

The solution to the urges of the flesh lies in acknowledging and remembering that the power of sin was nullified by Jesus’ death on the cross (Romans 6:11) and in living under the control of the Spirit’s power (Galatians 5:16). It is a moment-by-moment dependence in faith on the Spirit’s power. We must choose by an act of the will to benefit from the Spirit’s power and assistance.

Temptation By satan

Now I am not going to go into detail now about satan but just to say something about his role in temptation of the Christian disciple.

With the Christian satan will

The Christian’s response to satan is

Probably the best way to oppose him is to grow as a Christian disciple and submit all to God. We must remember that our love for God must always be stronger than our love for the world. If we love somebody, we do not want to hurt that person. When we go against God and sin, we are hurting our relationship with Him. He is a holy God and cannot abide any sin! Therefore, as we grow as Christian disciples we grow more in love with God, and therefore our desire to sin grows less.

As I read earlier from 1 Corinthians 10v12-13, all of us are tempted but God will provide a way out so that we do not succumb to temptation. Remember that as the Holy Spirit indwells you, greater is He that is in you than anything else in the world (1 John 4v4). Now that is a comforting thought, that we don’t face these temptations alone! So next time you are faced with temptation, pray and ask for God’s help! If you have specific sins that entangle you habitually, try to memorise a verse of Scripture concerning it and pray that verse daily and ask that the Holy Spirit will help you avoid the temptation! It may also mean that you are to avoid the situation or circumstance where you are being tempted. After all, if you are on a diet, you don’t spend lunchtime in a candy store!

For more to think about please do read for yourself 1 Corinthians 10v12-13. Ask yourself the following question and suggestions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them. Then why not share your answers with your spouse or a close friend, so that you can pray over any issues together.

The next time I am hoping to start talking about God Himself, so we can see just how the life of a Christian disciple is shaped by what we believe about the God we are to enjoy in our earthly life! As ever, if you have any comments to make on this, please do contact me at partake(at)hotmail.co.uk. I would love to hear from you and if these are making any difference at all to your continual Christian discipleship! Thank you.

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Photo courtesy of Georgy

After the Creation, and mankind had rebelled against God, Genesis 3v17-18 “God told the Woman: "I'll multiply your pains in childbirth; you'll give birth to your babies in pain. You'll want to please your husband, but he'll lord it over you." He told the Man: "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from, 'Don't eat from this tree,' the very ground is cursed because of you; getting food from the ground will be as painful as having babies is for your wife;"

Perhaps no relationship epitomises the entrance of sin into the world, as that of marriage, as we have just seen in the short bible passage I have just read! I realise of course that is a very sensitive area for some people and it is my aim to be as sensitive towards you as I can be whilst remaining faithful to Scripture. What does the rest of the Bible have to say about marital relationships?

The Song of Solomon is a book which tells of a love story between a woman (the Beloved) and a man, the man probably being Solomon. It proceeds through a courtship and culminates in the union between the man and woman!

Wives, you are to submit and respect your husbands (Col.3:18ff; 1Pet.3ff)! However, submit in this context means how authority is given and received. It does not mean slavery, as has been used by males, to their shame, down through the centuries and today!! Just as the word authority does not mean authoritarian, but rather headship. Why is this so? It is so, because of the overwhelming lordship of Christ over all and His headship over the man (Ephesians 5:22-3).

I know that some men out there will be rubbing their hands with glee, goading their wife about “Submit to me!” However, Husbands, you are to love and respect your wives (Colossians 3:18ff; 1 Peter 3ff). So that does not mean bossing and domineering. Rather, the love of the husband must contain three aspects according to Ephesians 5: Love is sacrificial - a giving unselfish love as Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25); Love is sanctifying love - a love set apart from all others (Ephesians 5:26-27); Love is satisfying love - a love that satisfies both people (Ephesians 5:28-30). If the husband’s love is sacrificial, sanctifying and satisfying, then submission by the wife will be natural!

Photo courtesy of Jan

So wives and husbands have mutual roles to play in a marriage. But why did God institute marriage? Well, He established it for at least 4 reasons. Firstly for emotional needs (Genesis 2:18). Then for mutual fulfilment of physical & sexual needs (1Corinthians 7:1-3). Thirdly, for the reason of procreation, whereby the birth of children populates and spreads humanity across the earth (Genesis 1:28). Fourth and finally, to fulfil spiritual needs. Just as the husband and wife experience intimacy and life together, they also share in the submission to, and love of, Jesus Christ.

As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, husbands are to love their wives as Jesus loves His church. How did and does Jesus love the church? We have seen already that this love involves sacrifice, sanctification and satisfaction. But what other symbols of Jesus' relationship with His church do we have in the New Testament?

Jesus Himself began the wonderful relationship that exists between Himself and the church. The tremendous intimacies of this relationship are described 7 times in the New Testament.

· The shepherd and his sheep, emphasizes both the warm leadership and protection given by Jesus to a helpless and dependent church. (John 10:1-18)

· The vine and the branches, points out the necessity of all Christians to depend on Jesus' for strength to grow. (John 15:1-8)

· Jesus as high priest and the church as a kingdom of priests, stresses the joyful worship, fellowship and service which the church gives to God through Jesus (Hebrews 5:1-10; 1 Peter 2:5-8; Revelation 1:6)

· The cornerstone and the building stones, accentuates Jesus as the foundation of the church (1 Corinthians 3:9, 13:1-13; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1Peter 2:5)

· The head and many member body, is often used in the Bible to show the Church as a living thing, drawing its life from Jesus the head, and each believer is unique and necessary to the growth of the whole church (1Corinthians 12:12,13,27; Ephesians 4:4)

· The last Adam and the new creation presents Jesus Christ as the beginning of a new creation of believers as Adam was of the old creation (1Corinthians 15:22; 2 Corinthians 5:17)

· The bridegroom and the bride showing the intimate fellowship and co-ownership between Jesus and the church (Ephesians 5:25-33; Revelation 19:7-8, 21:9)

For more to think about please do read 1 Peter 3v1-7. Ask yourself the following questions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them. Why not share your answers with your spouse or a close friend, so that you can pray over any issues together.

Photo courtesy of Janeice

Q1 – What areas of my marriage in can I improve upon, particularly in relation to the needs of my wife or husband?

Q2 – If Jesus loves the church so much, how much more should I love my partner?

Q3 – How can I help and support others to improve their marriages?

If you find these resources helpful to you, please do prayerfully consider making a donation. Thank you