Friday, February 12, 2010

Becoming Holy

As I grow spiritually, I learn more and more about the consequences of sin. Sin is what separates me from God. Sin is what blinds me from the truth. Sin brings confusion. Sin is a constant battle.

While reading the book “The Pursuit of Holiness” by Jerry Bridges, I learned a little bit about my problem with sin.

Bridges says:

“Our first problem is that our attitude toward sin is more self-centered that God-centered. We are more concerned about our own ‘victory’ over sin than we are about the fact that our sins grieve the heart of God. We cannot tolerate failure in our struggle with sin chiefly because we are success-oriented, not because we know it is offensive to God.

W.S. Plumer said “We never see sin aright until we see it as against God…All sin is against God in this sense: that it is His law that is broken, His authority that is despised, His government that is set at naught…”

God wants us to walk in obedience – not victory. Obedience is oriented toward God; victory is oriented toward self. This may seem to be merely splitting hairs over semantics, but there is a subtle, self-centered attitude at the root of many of our difficulties with sin. Until we face this attitude and deal with it we will not consistently walk in holiness.

This is not to say God doesn’t want us to experience victory, but rather to emphasize that victory is a byproduct of obedience. As we concentrate on living an obedient, holy life, we will certainly the joy of victory over sin.”

Wow. This is so true.

The journey toward overcoming sin can be so difficult and frustrating – and VERY discouraging at times. However, God call us to obey Him. As we grow more used to following His ways, sin become less of an issue.

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