Growing

        I once had the opportunity to visit a man in the hospital during my early years in the ministry and we were discussing the matter of sin. He then reminded me that he didn't sin any more. After a little more discussion he then told me that he just made mistakes. To him, the wrong act had been categorized under the heading of “mistakes' and removed from the category of “sin.” He had reached the state of sinless perfection. I think there are still a lot of people who are under this doctrine which seems to be, according to the Scripture, contrary to what God's Word says. Romans 7:19 says, “ For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.”

          The Apostle Paul made a statement about his daily living even as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. We often look at this passage and some may try to use it as an excuse for their current behavior which is not the case at all. We can look at our own lives and realize that we have great intentions to do this or that on each day that we get up but it often turns sour within a few hours or even less. It would lead to a dilemma in a person's life if we thought that Jesus died only for the sins that had been committed up to the point of salvation which is not the case. The sacrifice on the cross at Calvary was sufficient to be the payment, the satisfaction, the propitiation for all sins, past, present and future. Romans 6, 7 and 8 go on to show how the believer is experiencing what we might call “spiritual growth.” The word used in Christian doctrine is “sanctification.” It is a gradual process of spiritual growth that takes place, or at least should be taking place in the life of every believer from the first day of salvation to the day you are called home either by death or by the rapture of the church. Romans 8 goes on to discuss the continual battle between the “flesh” and the “spirit.” It is a real war which is why we need the armor that God has provided that we see in Ephesians six. They always say, “If it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck and acts like a duck, it is probably a duck.” You can't change the category name for sin and make it something else that it is not. By calling sin a “simple mistake” does not change what it really is. We are just fooling ourselves into thinking that we have gotten past sin in our lives and are now walking in a state of sinless perfection. Romans 8:1 is a wonderful verse as it begins with, “There is therefore now no condemnation...” It becomes a bit conditional in the next few words, when it states, “...which are in Christ Jesus...who do not walk after the flesh but after the Spirit.” Paul stated that he did the bad things he didn't want to do and he didn't do the good things that he wanted to do. A lot of us can identify with that statement, but we don't stop trying to do that which is right and not do that which is wrong. You may strike out 9 out of 10 times, but then you hit a home run. That's what growth is all about. Life is a continual battle which is why we need to be in the Word of God each and every day and to make sure the armor is in place and not standing in a corner. Praise God today that He had provided all that we need to live the Christian life and to grow in it from day to day.