SIN IS SIN

Today is as good a day as any to do and to say something we are all much too reluctant to do for fear of giving grave offense. We must admit that our society accepts white lies as an excuse, but as children of the Light, we must embrace the truth. A lie is a lie and sin are a sin.  There is no such thing as big sin and no such thing as a small sin. The inescapable truth is SIN is SIN! You and I need to know that a good thing and a right thing might be different. The world may say choose the good thing, but do not risk give anyone offense. But a good and an inoffensive thing is not always the right thing, yet the right thing is always the best option to choose and the right choice for Holiness with God is a good thing!

When you make the right decision for God, people may not like you and they won’t necessarily be happy about your decision. They will probably take an offense you chose relationship God over relationship with them You might face serious personal doubts and start asking yourself, am I doing what God wants me to do? Was that choice the right choice? People around you may not agree with you, because the correct decision usually does not fit into what society says. But when you choose the path of Holiness with God over the unholiness of the world, you choose to do the right thing, you will feel the peace inside of you.

You may very well lose something or someone or everyone who is significant to you, but you will have a SHALOM inside which no one can take away. SHALOM is God’s reward to us, for doing the right thing, because He is pleased by us.

DECIDE TODAY TO DO THE RIGHT THING

We need to decide today that we will choose to do the right things – that we will strive to live in holiness with our God who created us, redeemed us. Remember, without holiness with God, no one will see the Lord, because God is a holy God.

Choose today to train your mind and your soul to do the right things, so when a harder situation comes and suggests you doing something bad, your mind will be more prone to think of a way out. Do not be afraid; God will 100% empower you to do the right thing through the ministry and works of God’s Holy Spirit. Choose to become sin’s worst enemy! Choose relationship, friendship with God.

Hebrews 12:14-17 J.B. Phillips New Testament

In times of testing be especially on your guard against certain sins

^14-17 Let it be your ambition to live at peace with all men and to achieve holiness “without which no man shall see the Lord”. Be careful that none of you fails to respond to the grace which God gives, for if he does there can very easily spring up in him a bitter spirit which is not only bad in itself but can also poison the lives of many others. Be [exceedingly] careful too, that none of you falls into impurity or loses his reverence for the things of God and then, like Esau, is [fully] ready to sell his birthright to satisfy the momentary hunger of his body. Remember how afterwards, when he wanted to have the blessing which was his birthright, he was refused. He never afterwards found the way of repentance though he sought it desperately and with tears.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

We are all pretty much aware of what the “right thing to do” is. We are pretty much aware of what is the right thing to do and what is the wrong thing to do. For the most part we know right from wrong because our parents have told us and taught us and instilled in us what they are from the first moments of life.

We learn what is hot and not to touch it because there is a substantial risk of our being significantly burned. So, we learn very early on from Mom and Dad about the consequences of playing with matches and things which bring about fires.

We learn about what is cold and to be careful how we touch really cold objects. We learn how to dress for hot weather and how to dress against cold weather. We learn about the relationship between hot and cold and how to stay healthy. We learn about what is the right thing and the wrong things to do to survive. We learn about what and how to safely touch and how to and how not to touch stuff. We learn the life-essential relationships between what is, is not, safe to touch.

We learn what is safe to say and what is not so safe to say. We learn what it is which will promote friendship and what it is which will promote enmity with someone else. We come to know and understand the right thing to say in the right environment and the right moment to say it – not to give offense but to offer the hand of empathy and friendship, peace, understanding and of trust. We want our understanding of genuine friendship to be the very first priority.

Question becomes do we know what friendships ought to take first priority?

James 4:4-6 J.B. Phillips New Testament

^4-6 You are like unfaithful wives, flirting with the glamour of this world, and never realizing that to be the world’s lover means becoming the enemy of God! Anyone who deliberately chooses to love the world is thereby making himself God’s enemy. Do you think what the scriptures have to say about this is a mere formality? Or do you imagine that this spirit of passionate jealousy is the Spirit he has caused to live in us? No, he gives us grace potent enough to meet this and every other evil spirit, if we are humble enough to receive it. That is why he says: ‘God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.’

What is the right choice to make?

What is the “right thing to do?”

What is the “wrong thing to do?”

What is that first and foremost priority?

Friendship with Sin?

Friendship with the World?

Friendship with God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

Enmity with Sin?

Enmity with the World?

Enmity with God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

What is the “right” choice and decision to make?

What is the “wrong” choice and decision to make?

The lines “Right or Wrong” between them are all clearly and severely muddled.

In following the humble, sacrificial, example set forth by the Lord Jesus we are to toss off everything that hinders us, continually, continuously, looking to Him as our example of perseverance and faith (Hebrews 12:1-3). One way to accomplish this is to live at peace with others and to pursue holiness.

Holiness can be defined in two ways. First holiness means consecration and purification, it is the result of being set apart to God (1 Corinthians 1:30, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Peter 1:2). This happens when we choose to enter into a relationship with a good God by faith in Jesus (Acts 26:18, 1 Corinthians 6:11).

Apostle Paul said in Romans, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life” (Romans 6:22). Holiness is a byproduct of our union with Savior Christ, it is the reward of that union. It is not through natural means that we possess this. Sanctification comes only through Savior Christ Jesus as a gift.

Secondly, holiness is also the effect of being consecrated or being set apart. It is sanctification of our heart and what becomes evident in our daily lives through union with God. It is the outgrowth of leaving behind old desires and pursuing the things of God. Sanctification is a process for the believer (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, 7, Romans 6:19, 22, I Timothy 2:15, Hebrews 12:14).

In the New Testament writings, the process of sanctification or holiness can be understood in these ways, first it is God’s will for the believer (I Thessalonians 4:3). Secondly, it is learned by God and taught by His Word (John 17:17-19, Psalm 17:4, 119:9). Next, the Holy Spirit is the agent in sanctification (Romans 15:16, 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2, 1 Corinthians 6:11). And lastly, holiness must be pursued by the believer (Hebrews 12:14). We are to be built up by our obedience to the Word following the example of Christ Jesus according to the Ministry and works of God’s Holy Spirit who enables this change to happen.

Relationship with Christ and attention to His Word will birth holiness into the natural realm. He has already provided this by faith in Him as you were given everything needed to live as Christ in this world (1 John 4:17, Galatians 5:22-25).

This is why, as believers, we must continually, continuously, zealously, pursue holiness; letting His truth and life-giving Spirit change us from the inside out. Letting what is on the inside of us match what the world sees, a life set apart, sanctified and holy. Without it, others will not witness the Lord working in us.

This is an amazing truth! God has sanctified us and set us apart. He has given us everything we need to live a holy life. We respond by pursuing holiness in every aspect of our talk and our walk with Him. By His Word and by His Spirit we are changed, and everyone around will experience the result of our sanctification!

What a Friend We Have in Jesus – Joseph M. Scriven, circa 1855

What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
And what a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer

Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer

Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness
Take it to the Lord in prayer

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us pray,

God my Creator, God, sole Author of my life, You know well my limitations and shortcomings. You know the depth of my heart and soul, yet You love and chose me. I thank You for Your unlimited and unending and unyielding love in my life. Help me, guide me to live according to Your righteousness and teach me to love Your commandments. Strengthen my feet to walk in Your way. In Jesus’ name. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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