“Suffering is better than sinning. There is more evil in a drop of sin than in an ocean of affliction. Better to burn for Christ than turn from Christ.” ~ Charles H. Spurgeon
Clear water you can see through, but the moment a drop of ink spills in, something has changed. Maybe the water isn’t as clear, but you can mostly look through it. And then another drop and another, until the water is completely black.
We may like to water down sin and think sin discolors the water little by little. The unfortunate truth is one drop of sin, even the smallest drop imaginable, immediately clouds and taints the water to a thick, black, goo.
Sin transforms what something once was, and no one and nothing except the blood of Christ can renew what sin has come to kill and destroy. In fact, there’s a reason why Christ tells us we must be born-again. The moment sin becomes part of our life, we are killed spiritually, we are spiritually dead and a child of wrath. (See: Spiritually Dead & What Does it Mean to be a Child of the Devil?)
As you can imagine, our perspective is tainted as a sinner. When we are saved in Christ, transformation does happen. We find freedom to do what we cannot as a sinner. One practice we must be active in is putting to death our old behaviors, habits, and old/wrong ways of thinking about God and what He says in His word. We must be challenged with what is true, what is mostly true, and what is completely false. But if we refuse to grow in the Lord, and apply His teachings to our heart, mind, soul, and strength, then we will continue to struggle. (How do we apply the Lord’s teachings? See: Yoke of Christ – Walk By the Way of the Spirit)
When we try to water down sin, we also tend to water down holiness, too. If sin isn’t so bad, than holiness isn’t so pure. God isn’t as good as we think – a watered down theology will teach. And so we have a lot of emotionally fueled thoughts about God, sin, and holiness because we are not looking through a clear lens. Not only are we not looking through a clean lens, but we look with a fickle heart, mind, soul, and strength. We lack, and therefore, we blame because we think we are god – this is the mind of a sinner. If you are in Christ, you need to put on the mind of Christ, and put to death old ways of thinking.
My friends, this is the evil of one drop of sin. To deceive. To kill. To steal. To destroy.
When we suffer, we must make sure we are looking through the right lens, and the only way to do so begins with understanding the holiness of God first. If we suffer, but are looking through a sinful lens, we will suffer more because we are looking at the Lord in a “light” of darkness. There’s no peace in darkness, only in Christ Who is the light of the world. (Please see: What & Who is the Grace of God?)
Today’s quote can be found in: “The Salt-cellars Being a Collection of Proverbs, Together with Homely Notes Thereon” · Volume 2 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 1889
The Gospel Message– The Gospel message is good news, which means there’s bad news. We all are sinners and condemned. We all deserve the just punishment of God’s wrath. Christianity is unlike any other religion because we cannot earn our way into Heaven. God saw the weakness of man and his utter depravity. Yet, He showed us grace. Jesus, God, One Person of the Trinity, became God in the flesh, the God-Man. He was always perfect and sinless. And His humanity was perfected on the cross, living the full sinless life. He became our atonement sacrifice. Dying in our place, taking on the wrath of God upon Himself. He died on the cross, and He was resurrected because death could not hold Him. Jesus is the answer. We, as guilty sinners, need His blood to pay off our debt of sin. For all who put their faith in Him – meaning eyes are opened to the Gospel, we see ourselves as a sinner, we see the need for Christ, we desire our Savior, and we see the ugliness of our sin. Putting our faith in Jesus, we seek HIs forgiveness and repent from our sins, we turn away from our old way of life. We, through the work of the Holy Spirit, continue to become convicted of sin daily. Our eyes will never be the same again. We see things in a different light, and the truth of Christ affects how we live and serve Him. Christ tells us to count the cost. Salvation is a serious topic, it is not to be taken lightly. For a breakdown of this powerful message, understanding how Christ could be God and Man, why God required sacrifices, and more -please see: Why Did A Loving God Kill His Son? (Does God Hate?)
If you think you know the Gospel, check out these questions and see how prepared you are for the day someone might ask you why you believe: The Gospel Challenge (30 Question Quiz) – Are You Ready To Defend Your Faith?
Scripture To Meditate On –(ESV) Psalm 56:08 – You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?
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