We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; there’s no denying that fact. It’s stated explicitly in Romans 3:23. That verse is sure to give any self-righteous Christian a healthy reality check, or at least I hope it would. However, lately I’ve been noticing that many Christians like to use verses like Romans 3:23 to justify staying in a perpetual state of sin. Even I have been guilty of this. While I am fully aware of the grace we have been granted through Christ’s sacrifice, I am a firm believer in Luke 24:8, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” So no, I do not believe that grace give us license to live however we feel because forgiveness is only a hand clasp away. I actually resent the idea of people using grace as an excuse to not live according to the standard God has set for us in His word. I also don’t care to debate with other self-proclaimed Christians about what constitutes sin, because I believe that as long as you read the word of God and have a relationship with Him, you should know what His precepts are. The issue many of us have is not really being ignorant to what God wants from us; it’s the obedience part that we tend to have a problem with.
If you are any at all a Christian, you have experienced the uncomfortable yet beautiful feeling of conviction, when you’re not walking in accordance to God’s will. But what you do with that conviction speaks volumes about your relationship with Him. Merely acknowledging that you “feel some type of way” about what you’re doing, or not doing, is not enough if you’re not taking the necessary steps to correct that area of your life. I am a Christian who likes to keep it real. My days of feigning perfection left me about 5 years ago. However, there’s a difference between being transparent about your imperfections as a person, and blatantly and shamelessly broadcasting your sins. We should never be so comfortable in a state of sin that we proudly share it as everyday news with others. The moment we no longer feel convicted about something we know is wrong, we need to be very concerned.
Recently a brother asked me if I could see myself being with a “struggling Christian man.” I kind of laughed to myself when I read the text, because now a days the word struggle is used very very loosely among Christians. Struggling now a days could mean, “I can’t control my sexual urges and I have sex from time to time, but God knows my heart, and He knows I WANT to do better.” Struggling can also mean, “Lately I’ve been feeling convicted about my drinking, but when I’m in a social setting I just can’t be the only one not sipping, so I’m going to sip, but only on occasions.” Struggling now a days seems to mean acknowledging that what you’re doing is wrong, but continuing to do it, because it’s much easier to “repent,” and possibly deal with the guilt, than to really make an effort to curb whatever your sin happens to be. That’s not struggle, that’s disobedience. Let’s get technical for a second; the word struggle according to dictionary.com means: “to contend RESOLUTELY with a task, problem, etc.” and the word disobedience is defined as: “lack of obedience or refusal to comply; disregard or transgression.” So if you’re not resolute in your decision to refrain from a particular sin, you are not struggling; you are disregarding your conviction and simply refusing to comply with God’s precepts.
When Christ died for us, He did not die just to give us forgiveness for the sins He anticipated us committing; He died to give us POWER over those sins, so we would not become slaves to them.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Roman 6:1-4As Christians we should not accommodate sin in our lives by making excuses or justifications for it, or living in anticipation of committing them. Instead of just being sinners who are probably going to sin again, we should live every day resolved to walk in the newness of life that grace has afforded us. And in those moments of falling short, we should allow our convictions to kill our sinful vibes, rather than basking in them. Our lack of effort to walk circumspectly is disrespectful to Christ; He did not die an extraordinary death for us to live mediocre Christian lives.
– Written by Ashley Wisdom (UrbanCusp.com Contributor)
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