Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer for freedom from sin and for God to guide and keep you in righteousness is precious to the Lord, and I am grateful you shared it. That desire itself is evidence of His work in your heart, because He is the one who draws us to want what is holy.
Scripture is clear that none of us can make ourselves righteous before God by trying harder to keep the law or by religious effort or good works. The law is good because it shows us what sin is, but it cannot make us righteous. It only reveals where we have fallen short. We have all come under sin, and by nature we are drawn toward it, and the fellowship with God that was lost when sin entered the world through one man can only be restored through another.
That restoration has been made through Jesus Christ. He took our sin upon Himself and died in our place, and God is righteous when He justifies those who put their faith in Jesus, because the judgment for sin has been fully met at the cross. As Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, so our faith in Jesus who was crucified for our offenses and raised for our justification is counted to us as righteousness. God looks upon that faith and declares us righteous, not because of our obedience, but because of Christ.
Through His body we have become dead to the old life so that we may be joined to Him who is risen, and that new union is for the purpose of bearing fruit to God. The old self was crucified with Him so that the power of sin might be rendered inoperative and we should no longer be its servants. To be dead with Christ is to be freed from sin, and to be raised with Him is to walk in new life.
This is why the cry of the heart that feels captive to sin, asking who will deliver me, finds its answer in Jesus Christ our Lord. There is a law of sin and death at work in our fallen nature, warring against what we know is right, but there is a greater law, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which sets us free from that law of sin and death. Sin shall no longer have dominion over you, not because you have become strong enough, but because you now belong to Him and His Spirit dwells in you.
John reminds us that if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, but the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, and if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He was manifested to take away our sin, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him will not go on living in sin as a pattern of life, because to be born of God is to be given a new nature that loves righteousness and loves the brethren, and the Son came to destroy the works of the evil one. If we do stumble, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the payment for our sins.
Freedom in Christ is not freedom to sin, but the glorious freedom not to sin. Jesus said that whoever practices sin is a servant of sin, and a servant does not abide in the house forever, but the Son abides forever, and whom the Son sets free is free indeed. You need not remain under any binding power, for He is able to set you free.
So yield yourself to God as one alive from the dead, and offer the members of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. Where you once yielded to sin, now by His grace yield to Him, and you will find fruit unto holiness growing in your life, with the end which is everlasting life. Living a righteous life bears pleasant fruit, and God gives strength to walk in it.
I pray for you now that the Lord will keep you and guide you in His righteousness. May He deepen your faith in Jesus as your only hope for a right standing before Him, fill you with His Spirit so that the power of sin is broken day by day, and cause your life to bear much fruit to His glory. May He guard your steps, give you assurance that you are cleansed and forgiven through the blood of Christ, and when temptation comes, may He be your refuge and strength to choose what is holy. May He lead you in paths of righteousness for His name's sake and keep you in His love until the day you stand complete in His presence.
Scripture is clear that none of us can make ourselves righteous before God by trying harder to keep the law or by religious effort or good works. The law is good because it shows us what sin is, but it cannot make us righteous. It only reveals where we have fallen short. We have all come under sin, and by nature we are drawn toward it, and the fellowship with God that was lost when sin entered the world through one man can only be restored through another.
That restoration has been made through Jesus Christ. He took our sin upon Himself and died in our place, and God is righteous when He justifies those who put their faith in Jesus, because the judgment for sin has been fully met at the cross. As Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, so our faith in Jesus who was crucified for our offenses and raised for our justification is counted to us as righteousness. God looks upon that faith and declares us righteous, not because of our obedience, but because of Christ.
Through His body we have become dead to the old life so that we may be joined to Him who is risen, and that new union is for the purpose of bearing fruit to God. The old self was crucified with Him so that the power of sin might be rendered inoperative and we should no longer be its servants. To be dead with Christ is to be freed from sin, and to be raised with Him is to walk in new life.
This is why the cry of the heart that feels captive to sin, asking who will deliver me, finds its answer in Jesus Christ our Lord. There is a law of sin and death at work in our fallen nature, warring against what we know is right, but there is a greater law, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which sets us free from that law of sin and death. Sin shall no longer have dominion over you, not because you have become strong enough, but because you now belong to Him and His Spirit dwells in you.
John reminds us that if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, but the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, and if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He was manifested to take away our sin, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him will not go on living in sin as a pattern of life, because to be born of God is to be given a new nature that loves righteousness and loves the brethren, and the Son came to destroy the works of the evil one. If we do stumble, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the payment for our sins.
Freedom in Christ is not freedom to sin, but the glorious freedom not to sin. Jesus said that whoever practices sin is a servant of sin, and a servant does not abide in the house forever, but the Son abides forever, and whom the Son sets free is free indeed. You need not remain under any binding power, for He is able to set you free.
So yield yourself to God as one alive from the dead, and offer the members of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. Where you once yielded to sin, now by His grace yield to Him, and you will find fruit unto holiness growing in your life, with the end which is everlasting life. Living a righteous life bears pleasant fruit, and God gives strength to walk in it.
I pray for you now that the Lord will keep you and guide you in His righteousness. May He deepen your faith in Jesus as your only hope for a right standing before Him, fill you with His Spirit so that the power of sin is broken day by day, and cause your life to bear much fruit to His glory. May He guard your steps, give you assurance that you are cleansed and forgiven through the blood of Christ, and when temptation comes, may He be your refuge and strength to choose what is holy. May He lead you in paths of righteousness for His name's sake and keep you in His love until the day you stand complete in His presence.
