Today's scripture focus passage: 1 John 3:7-8 ~ "Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work."
Accompanying MacArthur sermon: The Christian's Incompatibility with Sin, Part 1 and Part 2
I always struggle with verses like this because I don't always do what's right! In fact, I don't come anywhere CLOSE to always doing what's right!! I almost always do, think, and say things that are sinful. That's why it's always such a relief to read the Apostle Paul's confession in Romans 7! We're in good company when we love God and do our best to serve Him, and yet continually fall to temptation, doing the very things we know are not pleasing to God. (not that that's an excuse, of course, but still a consolation!)
That last sentence ~ "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." ~ is clearly a "bigger picture" claim. The devil's eternal work has indeed been destroyed, even though his power to temporarily deceive and control us in this life has not. He can seduce us for a time, yes, and cause us to sin in and/or with our earthly bodies, but he cannot have our souls in eternity. Those belong to God through the work of His Son on the cross. (Can I get a HALLELUJAH?!!)
I love how MacArthur explains it: What was absolutely impossible to the sinner, that is righteousness ~ Romans chapter 3, "There is none righteous, no not one. There's none that does good, they're all evil," ~ what was absolutely impossible to the sinner, namely righteousness, is now the truest expression of the saints inner person. We are manifestly righteous, we who are truly regenerated.
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year reading: Leviticus 3-4
Monday's scripture focus passage: 1 John 3:9-10
4 comments:
I am feeling very, very unrighteous and definitely not like a "new creature" right now. I won't go into specifics, but there are issues with my brother-in-law's wife and kids following his death that make me so mad, I want to call people bad names, and curse them and swear at them. I want them to get what's coming to them and see their selfishness and greediness come back to bite them in the rear. Very un-Christ-like attitude, I know. Sigh. Going to go work on my attitude now. Going to remind myself that I AM, in fact, regenerated and righteous, and adjust my internal dialogue accordingly. :)
Have a great weekend.
OK, I feel better now. :)
Yeah, I very rarely FEEL free from the bondage of sin either. SO relieved it doesn't depend on my feelings, but unfortunately that doesn't make it any easier to "choose the high road!!" But I guess it's nice to know that there IS an alternative to society's normal response to any given situation. If we didn't know God, we wouldn't even know we had an option to make Him happy and make Him look good to others. (conversely, we wouldn't know we were doomed to eternity in hell either! I'm not sure ignorance really is bliss in this case!!!)
I love how MacArthur phrased it in his commentary...
those truly born again have replaced the habit of sin with the habit of righteous living
I, too, am glad that my imputed righteousness does not depend on my feelings! And that the Holy Spirit does His work within us to remind us of our regenerated status and that our living needs to line up with that.
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