Our sins separate us from the Lord. He has reconciled us to Himself through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross yet our sins remain a barrier. If we fail to confess our sins and to have every intention of repenting of them, turning away and going in a different direction in the future, we continue to have a barrier of separation between us and the Lord. The relationship is not all it could be and consequently we are not all we can be in His service. Due to the Holy Spirit living is us we should have a heightened sensitivity to sin and often we hide behind the cross in order not to deal with sin. We have been given a great gift, the assurance of God’s love and desire to forgive us, we come to Him as children through the blood of Jesus, to one whose desire it is to have relationship restored and yet we sometimes take for granted that offer and fail to allow our lives to be changed through conviction of sin. Sanctification is an important issue. If we would see righteousness, justice and peace in our lives we must allow Him to work His life into us.
Jesus tells us to take sin seriously and to rid our lives of sin. Too many Christians have forgotten about sanctification and thereby diminished the work of Jesus on the cross. I know myself to be guilty of failing to constantly pursue righteousness and to be too tolerant of sin. We become weak and ineffective when we fail to ruthlessly deal with sin. We lose our moral authority and we lose the power of living by the Spirit. We regain that authority and reconnect with the power by identifying sin, hating it and asking for forgiveness. Our attitude towards sin in our lives makes all the difference.
Paul says that Timothy (and us) have the spirit of power, love and self-control. Do we see that last one working out in our lives? He also tells Timothy to guard the good deposit entrusted to him. We are to guard that good deposit in both word and deed. In our worship, when we pray for the clergy we pray, “they may, both by their life and doctrine, set forth thy true and lively Word…” We pray for the congregation that “they may hear and receive thy holy Word, truly serving thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life.” Our denomination exists primarily because we believe that right doctrine or belief matters ultimately. We need to be concerned also that right action in concert with our right doctrine matters just as much.
You are the potter
I am the clay
Mold me and make me
This is what I pray
Change my heart oh God
Make it ever true
Change my heart oh God
May I be like You
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