2 Timothy 2.19 Nevertheless,
God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord
knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord
must turn away from wickedness.” – St. Paul
I meet with a group of guys every Thursday when schedule
permits, and we talk. And talk. And talk. Sometimes, it’s just about hunting
and fishing (two things I don’t do, so I simply smile and nod); and sometimes
it’s just about life. Often, it’s about church, and often, it’s about theology.
We spar.
Now, sparring
is not fighting, it’s contending one’s
point over the objections of another. Men spar. Women relate.
One of the biggest topics of our sparring is what God does with sin, and what the Christian’s
responsibility is with sin, and daily behavior. Typically (in a group of 5 to 8
guys) sides are formed and the sparring gets heated. For the most part we agree
to disagree, and always we part as friends. But the sin issue is something we
wrangle over. Not whether to sin or not sin, but what is our responsibility is with
sin, before God.
Sin is not degrees of evil before God; to Him, sin is
sin. But we mortals only have St. Paul’s commentary on sin. (Other commentaries
are just commentaries on Paul’s commentary.) And in 2 Timothy 2, Paul says the
above: “Everyone who confesses the name
of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” (Because of the quotation marks,
Paul is obviously quoting someone.)
Turning away from wickedness (or, sinful self-rule) is
not because of rule-keeping, but because of the reality of confessing the Name
of the Lord. The Bible is pretty clear about the responsibilities of life when
it comes to confessing the Name of the Lord. We should not live in sin while confessing
the Lord. But we do and that is precisely where the rub comes in our sparring.
One says, we’re only human, and the
other says, you cannot have it both ways.
They’re both right.
The emphasis here is: confessing
the Name of the Lord. We shouldn’t
sin or live in wickedness if we confess Jesus’ Name. But we do and it leads me to think that the upshot of all this is recognizing
the reality of sin, and learning through relationship with Jesus, to mitigate
its effect on our lives by both learning what not to do, and all that we’re to
become, by confessing Jesus’ Name. It’s a lifelong process.
I think where our issue really stems from is we all want
flawless perfection so that we can prove to God how good we are, not realizing
the sinfulness of sin, and how we’re to live in faith in Jesus to overcome its
influence on us as we live out our lives on this earth. Some seem to be better
at this than others, but in Christ we all should be making progress; and verses
like this one are pretty emphatic: “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord
must turn away from wickedness.” Evidence that demands a verdict…
Father in Heaven,
it seems to me that in my behavior, if I think I can confess Jesus whilst doing
something I know I shouldn’t, there’s either a misunderstanding in me of who
Jesus is, or a misunderstanding in me of what sin is. All I want is to grow in
my relationship with You so that the things I know I shouldn’t do diminish. May
there be evidence of Your presence in me so that others can see You in me, not
just my avoidance of wickedness. You are worth far more than that! Amen
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