No Longer Slaves of Sin

At a family gathering as a kid, I witnessed an interaction between one of my uncles and his grandson.  When my uncle noticed the boy playing with his pack of cigarettes, it prompted a fairly harsh response that left the little one scurrying away crying.  I was surprised by my uncle's violent outburst, and he justified it without apology as being for the best, as the incident would serve to deter the little boy from smoking in the future.  I was not convinced his assessment was accurate even at the time, and upon reflection I am certain it was untrue.  The boy was interested and drawn to the colourful packet and lighter his grandpa always had at his side, and when his uncle sparked up another cigarette it rekindled the curiosity of the lad.

My uncle's thinly veiled hypocrisy was clear to me, that he was adamant smoking was bad for his grandson when he continued to smoke himself.  I assume his motive to protect his grandson from the fangs of addiction was genuine, but at the same time he resigned himself to a slavish relationship with smoking.  Perhaps he had tried in vain to quit smoking.  I don't know.  What I do know from observing my uncle and his grandson is there can be things people see as bad for others which they continue to do themselves.  Based on my uncle's statement, his outburst was not because the boy was not of legal smoking age, but because he thought it was a bad habit his grandson would do well to avoid altogether.

My point in sharing this story is not to decry the evils of addiction or smoking, but it is to sound the alarm over hypocrisy that can be coddled in the hearts of every one of God's people.  Having been born again by faith in Jesus, we have passed from death to life.  Paul wrote in Romans 6:1-4, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."  Our lives should be a testimony of new life through Jesus by freedom from sin.  As God reveals our addictions to sinful ways of thinking, talking and doing, we are to repent and put on the LORD Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.

It is tragic when Christians have been so mentally and physically beaten by a sin they are like my uncle, resigned to addiction as if there was no point trying to quit.  This is where the problem often lies:  we have failed to walk in the victory granted by Jesus because we have tried in strength of our flesh to overcome what Jesus already has.  Content with salvation, people can give up the fight against besetting sins because God will forgive them anyway.  Conviction over their behaviour as sin has been muted because it has been justified so long.  They can see their sin as being bad for others, yet they accept the sin as a regular part of life and have settled for trying to make peace with it by indulging it.  Brothers and sisters, this ought not to be.  We are not to allow sin to rule in our bodies any longer, for we have been made alive to God.  Paul said in Romans 6:18-19:  "And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness."  This is a choice we can make by God's grace.

It can be easier to recognise sin in others we remain blind to in ourselves.  My uncle's irritation in seeing his grandson play with his cigarettes could have been an impetus to examining his own conduct and the example he set for the boy every time he lit a cigarette.  The same reasons he did not want his grandson to start smoking in the future were solid reasons for him to quit right then.  There are aids that exist to help people break the habit of smoking, and there are steps believers can take to avoid sinning and doing what is right instead.  When it comes to sin our aim ought to be to quit "cold turkey" because we are dead to it and it is not our master any more.  We are called to present ourselves as slaves of righteousness and living sacrifices to Jesus, and how blessed we are the Holy Spirit and our fellow Christians help us on our journey of sanctification.

Settling Short of Abundant Life

During the 40 years of being led through the wilderness, the tribes of Ruben and Gad approached Moses with a request.  They had large herds of cattle, and they saw the land on the east side of the Jordan (Jazer and Gilead) was prime land for cattle.  So they asked Moses if they could have permission to settle on the east side of the Jordan as their inheritance--even though God promised to give them land on the west side with everyone else.

Moses was disturbed by their request, as it seemed they were following in their father's footsteps of rebellion against the LORD!  They assured Moses this was not the case, for they would gladly take up arms when the time came and fight with their brethren so they too could receive their promised inheritance of land in Canaan.  Once the people of Ruben and Gad pledged to help everyone else, their request to settle on the east side of the Jordan as their inheritance was granted.  In this allowance I see the grace of God, for He is willing to be entreated by His subjects and heeds the requests of His people.

Since all the Scriptures have been provided for our learning, the decision of the tribes of Ruben and Gad to settle on the east side of the Jordan is relevant to our lives as Christians.  Canaan is not a type of heaven or symbolic of eternal life, for Canaan was full of enemies, conflicts and troubles.  Like the children of Israel, when God brings us out from slavery and saves us by His grace, He has an inheritance presently for every one of us to enter into by His grace.  By faith in Jesus we are born again, are filled with the Holy Spirit, and given spiritual gifts and fruitfulness.  As Canaan was a "land flowing with milk and honey," Christ gives us an inheritance of abundant life as part of the church, members of His body.  There was much land to be possessed by the children of Israel bit by bit, and as we continue living on earth we learn to submit more of our lives to Jesus.

This passage teaches us God will permit His own people to settle outside of His will for them.  He had plans for the nation of Israel to all settle together on the west side of the Jordan, yet the children of Ruben and Gad did not believe they could find better land for cattle than what they saw in Jazer and Gilead.  They took stock of their herds and their careers as herdsmen, and thus preferred to choose their own inheritance they felt suited them best.  These were not unbelievers or apostates; they were saved from the iron furnace of Egypt like everyone else.  At the same time they made up their minds where their future was brightest, and they believed it was on the east side of the Jordan.  Whilst God gave them permission to settle short of Canaan, it would have been best to enter in by faith in God who had provided and would continue to provide for all their needs.

In applying this to our lives, it is helpful to see our lives as a composite of all the tribes.  Because you have received or operate in a spiritual gift does not mean there is not an area of your life where you may be content to settle outside of God's will and plans.  We can take stock of our lives in regards to a career or ministry and settle where it seems an ideal location, but it may not take into account God's designs for our future.  Jesus chose fishermen, a chief tax collector and zealot to be among His disciples!  In following God by faith, He may lead us in a totally unexpected direction like Amos in Amos 7:14-15:  "Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah: "I was no prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet, but I was a sheepbreeder and a tender of sycamore fruit. ¹⁵ Then the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to My people Israel.'"

God can call a sheepbreeder to be a prophet, and He called Saul of Tarsus to be an apostle to the Gentiles.  He took David from the sheepfold and made him king over the nation of Israel, and who but God knows the inheritance and calling He has for the remainder of your life on earth!  The question remains:  will you settle for what looks good to you now or will you follow God's leading into what is unknown and unfamiliar?  Will you submit and continue to submit to the LORD--not just for a season to help other people enter their inheritance--but to keep climbing mountains like Caleb late in life, who believed God's promises, slew giants, destroyed strongholds, and generously gave to his children of what God had given him?  The life you choose for yourself cannot be as wonderful as the abundant life God has in store for you.

Refined by Reproach

I am encouraged today by these verses found in 1 Peter 4:12-15:  "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; ¹³ but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. ¹⁴ If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified."  The implication of Peter's initial statement is fiery trials can catch us off guard.  We wonder why we are being persecuted, experience trouble or have persistent struggles.  Peter reminded believers we are beloved by God and affirmed trials will most certainly come.  Trials are not allowed by God without good and redemptive purposes, however, for they are intended to test, refine and purify us to be more like Jesus.  While the process can be unexpected and seem unwarranted, by God's grace we can be glad the results are amazingly good.

God established a principle in Israel after God's victorious people plundered the Midianites in Numbers 1:21-23:  "Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to the battle, "This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commanded Moses: ²² only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, ²³ everything that can endure fire, you shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean; and it shall be purified with the water of purification. But all that cannot endure fire you shall put through water."  Items like jewellery, iron tools and weapons could be safely put through the fire, but articles made of linen or leather were not to be put through fire because they would be consumed.  The principle was any spoil plundered from enemies that could endure fire must go through the fire to be purified before it is brought into the camp.  The water of purification that contained ashes of the red heifer, the same water used on the 3rd and 7th day when a person needed purification after touching a dead body under the Mosaic Law, was used to ceremonially cleanse objects.

Under the new covenant established by the shed blood of Jesus, Christians have been purified from all sin and declared righteous by grace through faith.  We are given eternal life and the Holy Spirit resides in our hearts.  While we continue living in these human bodies as disciples, servants and ambassadors for Christ, God chooses to refine us.  We may have sound theology and in a relatively short time grow in spiritual maturity, but we are far from perfection.  Our outlook, attitudes, words, deeds, and habits require continual refinement, and fiery trials are a way God removes the residual impurities of sin He alone is able to expose in our minds and hearts.  Paul pointed out the son of the bondwoman Ishmael mocked the son of promise Isaac, and so those who remain slaves to the Law of Moses, humanist philosophy, atheism, self or anything of this world mock and criticise those who are being saved by the Gospel.  Jesus was perfect and was hated by His fellow Jews, and a servant is not above his master.  If people hated Jesus, those who follow Jesus as LORD will also be hated.

Being put through a fiery trial causes us to suffer burns that hurt, but we need to remember trials work for our refinement and greater usefulness--not our destruction.  Rather than being depressed or embittered by suffering for Christ's sake, Peter urged believers to rejoice.  If we are made partakers of Christ's sufferings, when His glory is revealed we can be glad with exceedingly joy.  If we are reproached for Jesus' sake, we are blessed because the Holy Spirit rests upon us.  Jesus said in John 15:19:  "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."  When people blaspheme Jesus it grieves us, yet by our patient and loving response Jesus is glorified.  Beloved, when we face fiery trials that are sure to come, let us rejoice and glorify God in humbling ourselves before our LORD who sanctifies and purifies us.  How truly blessed we are and will ever be!

King in Conflict

By God's grace, Christians can learn from kings and servants alike.  We don't need to be a king or even in a position of authority to observe their lives, aim to emulate their wise decisions, and avoid their foolish ones.  Many kings who began their reigns well by faith in God did not finish their lives strong, and this ought to motivate us to succeed where they failed by increasing dependence on God.  Kings of old cannot go back and change their decisions, but we can make considerable effort to order our future steps according to God's word in His service.

Jeroboam was a man described as an industrious and ambitious worker who got things done, and Solomon promoted him to a position of leadership.  It was then a prophet of God Ahijah came to Jeroboam, and he revealed by the word of the LORD God would take away 10 tribes from Solomon and give them to Jeroboam.  The prophet also explained why God would do this in 1 Kings 11:33:  "...because they have forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David."  Because Solomon had been unfaithful to God and embraced idolatry, God would rend a large portion of the kingdom from the house of David.  One would think seeing this clear cause and effect would make a serious impression upon Jeroboam to avoid the pitfalls of idolatry--seeing the disaster it brought upon Israel and Solomon's house.

Through Ahijah, God also made a promise to Jeroboam in 1 Kings 11:38:  "Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you."  Over the course of time the word of God came to pass, and Jeroboam was made king over the 10 tribes of Israel referred to as the northern kingdom.  Being a receiver of God's blessings and fulfilled promises did not impart faith in God to Jeroboam.  Though he was made king by God's sovereign choice and grace, he felt the kingdom would slip from his grasp if the people continued to worship God at the temple in Jerusalem.  1 Kings 12:26-27 reads, "And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: ²⁷ if these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah."  Lack of faith in God and His promise led to Jeroboam fearing he would lose his kingdom and his life!  This unbelief led him to do the unthinkable.

Jeroboam sought counsel--not of God but with men he trusted--and he set up idols in Bethel and Dan as more convenient places to worship the God of Israel.  He appointed whomever he desired to be priests at these shrines (including himself) and led the people into grave sin (1 Kings 14:3).  Though God sent a prophet to warn Jeroboam judgment from God was coming for his sins, he did not repent or cease his abominable practices.  There came a time when his son was sick, and what did Jeroboam do?  He directed his wife to go to Ahijah the prophet of God, the same man who accurately foretold he would be made king.  Jeroboam had all confidence the prophet would speak the truth concerning his ill son.  Unbelief blinded Jeroboam to his hypocrisy of effort to worship the God of Israel according to the dictates of his own heart rather than by obedience to God.  Fear and anxiety about his future and that of his son brought him into conflict with God only stern judgment would resolve.

Proverbs 31:3 says, "Do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to that which destroys kings."  The Bible is full of examples of ways kings destroyed themselves:  King Saul was lifted up with pride, Solomon's heart was led astray by his many wives and he was ensnared in idolatry, and Jeroboam was stricken with unbelief and worry.  Kings destroyed themselves with alcohol, disobedience to God, by foolish wars, seeking counsel of men and ignoring God's wisdom, by choosing what seemed expedient or convenient rather than reliance upon God.  Kings who enjoyed peace and prosperity for a long season were thrust into terrible conflicts with many adversaries because they departed from the LORD who chose and called them to be king.  God who gives kingdoms can also take them away, and let not our receiving of good things from God deter us from seeking, trusting and relying upon Him always.  Jesus is our peace, and a life built by faith in Him will endure and enjoy His eternal kingdom.