Top 10 Clues You May Be in Sin

10) You might be in sin if you regularly find yourself saying that what you like to do is not sinful.

9) You might be in sin if you regularly find yourself saying the Bible is wrong on many issues, especially the issue you regularly say is not sinful.

8) You might be in sin if you regularly find yourself saying the people who point out sin are legalists, pharisees, fundies, or hypocrites.

7) You might be in sin if you regularly seek out people who prefer and/or agree with the same ‘questionable’ things that you do.

6) You might be in sin if you regularly point out the sins of others.

5) You might be in sin if you regularly say that ‘regardless’ of your behavior, Jesus loved sinners and hung out with them.

4) You might be in sin if you regularly misquote Bible verses about judging others.

3) You might be in sin if you regularly say that you’re not hurting anyone else.

2) You might be in sin if you regularly hear a still, small voice telling you what you’re doing is sinful.

1) You might be in sin if you respond to this post with an excuse I didn’t think of.

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!  (Isaiah 5:20)

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Judge Finds Boston Bomber Not Guilty

The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works…The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people. (Psalm 145:17, Isaiah 3:13)

Relax

The title of the blog is a hoax, but let me ask you — what if it were true? Would you have an opinion regarding this judge? What if somebody brutally attacked and killed your loved one, and wound up before this same judge, and what if in his ruling he said,

Because the defendant has done a lot of good things in his life, and he said he was really sorry for killing an innocent person, and because I am a loving and forgiving person myself, I find him not guilty.”

We would never condone this behavior from our judiciary, so why do so many of us believe that our Heavenly Judge rules in this manner? Why are there so many people who believe a ‘loving and forgiving’ God would never send anyone to hell. Why do we believe that if we do enough good, we can tip the scales of justice in our favor when we would never stand for it in our society?

Right-ness

If God is perfectly righteous (and He is), He must find every offender guilty. If God makes any exceptions, His perfection goes right out the window. Either our LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works, or He is not. In God’s courtroom, sin is always ruled sin and the verdict is “Guilty!” a million times out of a million times.

But Wait!

The same God who stands to judge the people is the same God who stands to plead our case. How can our Judge and our Defender be one and the same? It’s at times like these, when our very lives hang in the balance, we should not ask too many questions or perhaps more accurately, not allow our lack of perception stand in the way of redemption. If there is an opportunity to appear guiltless before the Creator of the universe and sidestep the penalty of sin, than we should lunge towards it and grasp at it with both hands! This is not the time to hold onto the false notion that our good deeds will get us out of this jam or hope the judge is inconsistent.

Jesus stands before the Father and pleads the case for His brothers and sisters, essentially saying, “Your Honor, I have taken their guilt upon My shoulders, I bore it to the cross, and I paid the penalty.” If justice has been served; if there was a guilty plea and the punishment was paid, and if the defendant believes in his Advocate, then the Judge must dismiss the case.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

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Born This Way

(You) as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5

Ctrl-Alt-Del

I began to write a piece about how Christians are like Legos in God’s hands.

I was going to title it, ‘Christ’s Lego-cy.’

I deleted it after reading this:

And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. 1 Kings 6:7

The Pits

In the final assembly of the temple, there was no sound of hammer or chisel upon stone, because all the noise was being made back at the excavation site. All the smoothing, all the shaping, all the friction was taking place in the quarry pit. In one way it’s a prophetic picture of the sanctification process every Christian willingly submits himself to while on earth.

Bottom line: we’re not Legos.

Legos are a done deal. They come prepackaged: no sharp edges, no rough exteriors, and no ability to accept or desire change. I suspect if Legos were mentioned in the Bible they would likely be associated with the Pharisees.

Living stones on the other hand speak to obedience, surrender, and a valued understanding of a need to be made useable regardless of the process involved. By definition they are submitted. Jagged exteriors, pointy protrusions, and coarse demeanors are dealt with on earth in order that the completed Heavenly structure will be pure, peaceful, and undefiled.

Frankly, Legos would melt under this kind of pressure.

“There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4b

Born This Way?

Like Lady Gaga, Christian’s understand that we were born a particular way, but that’s where the similarities end. We call the condition what it is: sin.  We’ve learned that it wasn’t a part of God’s original plan; Adam messed up.  Because God desires the absolute best for us, He has provided the solution in His Son Jesus.  Accepting the solution means to first accept and acknowledge that perversity in any form is not a life style, it’s a sin.  At this juncture the restoration and reformation can begin.

Discovery

There is a firm appreciation when we realize that everything we are going through in this life is for a specific purpose in the next life. Change is good. The shaping, the forming, the molding is being divinely orchestrated and knowing that gives us the capacity to not just tolerate it, but to welcome and cherish it as well.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God…For we are His workmanship…Ephesians 2:8 + 10a

Are You…

1. Submitted to God’s plan?
2. Seeing the bigger picture?
3. Struggling with change?

~ ~ ~

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The Lie Men Hide Behind

Why are we counted as beasts, And regarded as stupid in your sight? Job 18:3

All Men Are Bozos

That of course is a lie; men are not Bozos. You will not find Bozo-theology offered as truth anywhere in the Bible. What you will find are sinful people (like Job’s friend Bildad) saying foolish things, as he does in Job 18:3. The truth is that God does not count men as beasts, nor does he regard us as stupid. The concept is a lie from the pit of hell.

What the Bible Has to Say on the Subject

Two Bible verse jump out at me:

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” Psalm 14:1a

He who trusts in his own heart is a fool. Proverbs 28:26

On the surface, those are pretty incriminating passages, but when we sort through the rhetoric it’s plain to see that sin-nature is the true culprit. We should also take note that the passages are not gender specific—human beings are foolish when they are ensnared by their own sin, men and women alike.

So What’s My Point?

My point is that men are not Bozos, despite the fact it’s a lie perpetuated in almost every single TV sitcom.  The truth be told, men are sinners, and we have discovered a convenient lie to hide behind so that we may continue in our sin. In other words, we often pretend to be stupid so we can continue to be selfish and lazy. There, I said it. Let the fireworks begin.

I’ll give you one example from my own life: doing laundry. I use to do my wife’s laundry, that is until I ‘accidentally’ shrunk a few things in the drier and turned a few white things ‘pink’ in the washing machine. My wife took back the chore when we both agreed I was an idiot.

Now let’s examine the facts. First, I am not an idiot—I know how to do laundry. Any moron can figure out and recall the basic steps of separating colors and whites, the use of hot and cold water, and what can and cannot go into the drier. The problem is not that I am stupid, the problem is that I’m lazy (aka: a sinner). 99% of the time you can get away with being a lazy launderer, but every so often your sin will find you out.

Here’s what really happened: I could have a) objected to being called an idiot and defended my laundering skills, or b) accept the idiot moniker and never have to do my wife’s laundry again. Hmm…tough choice huh? While choosing ‘plan b’ seemed like the wise, manly thing to do it, was also the sinful thing to do. “Yup, I’m a bozo honey; couldn’t agree with you more (have fun washing your own clothes)!”

The Spiritual Fork in the Road

I’m rocking a very sacred boat and I suspect this is where I am going to lose a lot of the men. Why would I even dare to raise the issue? I bring it up in the light of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians’, particularly this passage in chapter 5:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. Ephesians 5:25-27

Men, if we are hiding behind a lie in our marital relationships, we are not loving our wives as Christ loved the church nor are we cleansing them with the washing of the word. What we are doing is deceiving our wives and giving them a sinful example to emulate. Men, we are not Bozos…we are sinners. As painful as it is for us, we must reject the notion of the world that we inane and accept that truth that are hearts are deceptively wicked. Change that is pleasing to God cannot come until we confess our sin and repent.

 

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What’s a Twenty-Four Letter Word for Forgiveness?

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.” Romans 4:7-8

Salvation as we know, is about the forgiveness of sins. Around 1739 the Moravians were in Alaska sharing the Gospel when they stumbled upon a problem—in the native Alaskan language there was no word for forgiveness, which made it kind of hard to talk about the subject matter. Not a problem. After pondering the issue for a little while, they made up a word.

Issumagijoujungnainermik

That word ‘issu-magijou-jung-nainer-mik’ is currently the longest word in the native Alaskan language and it literally means, “Not being able to think about it any more.” Isn’t that beautiful? It almost perfectly describes how God the Father views the sin of His children—He isn’t able to think about it anymore. Why? Because we’re justified by Christ’s blood and God sees us as if we have never sinned.

In other words, the Father does not look at us; see our sin and say, “Lucky for you My Son died for those sins.” No! He sees us robed in His Son’s righteous and sinless! That’s like going to court with a speeding ticket and the judge saying, “Sir, the charge you are talking about does not exist.”

God isn’t winking at our sin…it’s completely gone! Incredible, isn’t it? The only work the believer must do (which really isn’t any effort) is to accept delivery of the free gift.

Have you received God’s free gift?

Are you going to Heaven?

“I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” Jeremiah 31:34

These ramblings are typically (but not always) a byproduct inspired by God through my personal Bible study at SearchLight with Pastor Jon Courson and with my pastor at my home church, Calvary Chapel Coastlands

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God Does Speak!

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish. Psalm 1

I typically do my Bible study in front of the computer. I cut and paste the text (NKJV) I am going to study into a word document, pull up a couple Bible resource sites (usually BlueLetterBible.org and BibleStudyTools.com), log onto my favorite online Bible study (SearchLight with Jon Courson), and then dive right in. With this method I have discovered that I can pause the study at any given point to further investigate or better document what is being shared by the Holy Spirit by way of the teacher. What should take about one hour (if I merely listen to the teaching), more often than not, takes two to three. I take pleasure in taking a key component from the session and sharing it in a blog. That might add another two hours. Needless to say, this is time well spent. Bible study is not something I have to do; it’s something that I get to do. I thoroughly enjoy it because the Lord blesses me in the process.

Today was different. My Bible study lasted about eight minutes.

The sun was shining and I thought it would be nice to just grab my Bible and go sit out on the deck. I soon found that while the rays were glorious, they were too bright to read by. I suppose I could have turned my chair so the light came over my shoulder, but I was way too comfy to do that. So I closed my squints and began to pray, resting the Bible on my warm belly.

I began to prayerfully replay some of the events of the last few days before the Lord. In no less than three conversations I had alienated and/or otherwise annoyed the people I was chatting with, despite the fact I was hyper-vigilant to the doctrine of tolerance; i.e., the right for others to say and/or believe whatever it is they want. And for the most part they tolerated me and my faith in Jesus Christ, but nevertheless, they were either angered or appalled by my Biblical views. God reminded me that I shouldn’t take it personally..

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” John 15:18-19

That helped.

In one of these discussions I cited that we, as per God’s word, should avoid interacting with nonbelievers as they engage in their sinful activities. That raised the ire of one disputant who quickly turned my words around so as to say I was suggesting sinners should be avoided at all costs. That notion would of course be anti-biblical. The exchange left me exasperated. He ended the dialogue soon after. Was my Biblical interpretation correct or was I just playing the legalist? What happened next was pretty cool.

“Father,” I prayed, “I need a verse that will let me know that I am on the right (or wrong) path.”

God spoke to my heart. “Open your Bible,” He said.

“Father,” I objected, “I was just taught last night that randomly opening our Bibles as a technique to studying the Word is not the best method.”

God continued, “Open it to where the book mark is.”

So I did and a marker fell out in Numbers. “Not that book mark,” He said, “keep going.”

I chuckled to myself, closed and opened the Bible again, and it opened to where a friend’s business card marked the last page of Job. “Oh no,” I thought, “not Job!”

“The other page,” He said.

Oh, Psalm One! Much better! As I began to read I felt a smile come across my sun-taunted face.

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish. Psalm 1

“Thanks Father,” was about all I could say. My Bible study was over.

These ramblings are typically (but not always) a byproduct inspired by God through my personal Bible study at SearchLight with Pastor Jon Courson and with my pastor at my home church, Calvary Chapel Coastlands

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The Corrosive Christian

For now you are nothing, You see terror and are afraid. Did I ever say, ‘Bring something to me’? Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth’? Or, ‘Deliver me from the enemy’s hand’? Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of oppressors’? “Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; Cause me to understand wherein I have erred. How forceful are right words! But what does your arguing prove? Job 6-21-25

The longer I walk with Jesus Christ, the more I recognize that some of our vilest foes can often be other Christians. For instance, I recently had an alleged Christian tell me that I was a lukewarm believer. Why? Because I openly confessed that my burning passion for Christ was not a bonfire one hundred percent of the time. Citing Revelation 3:16 he decreed that I was in danger of being spewed-out of my Saviors mouth.

Really?

This person (we’ll call him Tim because that was his name), had never spoken to me before and the comment I made was the first he had ever heard me say, but yet this Christian felt he knew God and me well enough to make such a pronouncement. I ended the discussion politely.

That incident caused me to ask of myself, “Why do other Christians say [and do] such mean, horrible things.” Well before I even prayed for an answer, the Holy Spirit convicted me, “Dave, you’ve done the same thing a million times before.”

Ouch

God was right, I am guilty of doing the same thing. So I rephrased my question, “Why do WE do these things to other Christians.”

The Lord provided a partial answer in today’s text. Job, in responding to Eliphaz’s dreadful chiding says to him, “For now you are nothing, You see terror and are afraid,” and thus gives Eliphaz a clue for the reason why he was so cruel—FEAR.

Job is essentially saying, that if what he said in his defense was true, ‘that his sin had not brought about these awful things,’ and that there was no reasonable explanation for them, then Eliphaz was fearful because his rationalization (that Job sinned and brought about God’s curse) was without merit, and therefore he was susceptible to them as well. In other words, Eliphaz was standing on his un-contextual doctrine because in it he felt safe and secure.

It’s the same thing as telling someone, “God didn’t cure you of cancer because you don’t have enough faith.” By definition, that is a fear-driven statement.

How do we change our behavior?

There are two ways to change and God is in both of them. The first way is the easiest way: read God’s word and learn from the mistakes others have made—this is one of the reasons all these blunders are included in the Bible! Like I said that’s the easy way, but sadly, most, including myself, rarely take the easy way.

The other method is to hold our doctrinal ground and allow the Lord to knock us off our high horses. What might that look like? Suddenly that so-called, faith-filled person gets cancer. On these occasions we (hopefully) realize that our ideologies are not applicable in every situation, especially when we don’t know anything about the other person(s) we supposedly ministering to.

The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9

So how do we know when to speak?

Certainly there are times the Holy Spirit moves us to be the voice of Christian reason. The question is how do we know when it’s God’s time for us to speak? The simple answer is God will tell us. How well we hear God is directly proportionate to how consistently we are in His Word and in prayer. Even then we should compare what we’re about to say (and how we intend to say it) against James 3:12-18. If our reproof does not line-up perfectly with this passage, then we need to retreat, revise, and maybe reject what we were going to say.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:12-18

These ramblings are typically (but not always) a byproduct inspired by God through my personal Bible study at SearchLight with Pastor Jon Courson and with my pastor at Calvary Chapel Coastlands.

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The Sin Behind Excessiveness

And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt David with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem. 1 Chronicles 20:3 King James Version

King James vs. New King James

I need to digress a bit before we start. I typically study from both the King James and the New King James versions of the Bible simultaneously. I do this because on occasion the two texts disagree on the translations of the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. While I have yet to find an instance where one contradicts the other on critical doctrine, reading them together does serve to gain an improved comprehension of God’s message. I raise the issue now because today’s versions clash ever-so-slightly.

You have the KJV above. In it where it is recorded that King David ‘cut’ the enemy, the NKJV cites that he ‘put them to work.’ I’m not going to be (overly) dogmatic about it, but I believe the Hebrew translation jives more with these people being done-in rather then put to work, which is good because that position lends itself well to the rest of today’s devotion. : )

Excessive Cruelty

The killing of people by saw, pick, and ax is a cruel overreaction on King David’s part and it prompts us to ask, “Why so cruel Dave?” It would help us to recall that David did this deed right after he committed adultery with Bathsheba (and murdered her husband Uriah) and before he confessed those sins to the Lord. The realty is that these un-confessed sins caused David to react excessively. In other words, his secret transgressions facilitated brutality that exceeded that which was deemed appropriate for mortal combat.

How Can We Make Such a Claim?

We can take David’s own actions to make our case. Do you remember when Nathan the prophet confronted David with the tale (an allegory actually) regarding a man who stole another man’s lamb? What was David’s reaction?

So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.” 2 Samuel 12:5-7

“Um, David, the penalty for ‘lamb-theft’ is not capital punishment.”

Isn’t it ironic that the penalty for David’s sin was death?

The excessive behavior David displayed is the exact same thing we do when we are in sin. Essentially it’s the act of turning the spotlight off of ourselves and onto another for the purpose of gaining an appearance of righteousness and of course for concealing the thing(s) we are guilty of. Nobody ever sees the man behind the spotlight, but the sinner will risk stepping from behind the light to proclaim, “I am the one who identified and dealt judiciously with this scoundrel!” Truly, a light should go on when we witness such behavior.

What’s Our Recourse?

Confession. That’s what David did. It didn’t mean that there weren’t consequences for his actions, but it did mean that God forgave him. If we find ourselves behaving excessively in any manner, it is a good indication that we are concealing a sin. Ask the Lord to help you identify that sin and own up to it. Confess it and you will be forgiven.

The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. Jeremiah 17:9-10

 

These ramblings are typically (but not always) a byproduct inspired by God through my personal Bible study at SearchLight with Pastor Jon Courson and with my pastor at Calvary Chapel Coastlands.

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Why You Suffer

So David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, for his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of His people Israel…Now when the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went out against them…And David inquired of God, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up, for I will deliver them into your hand.” So they went up to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there…Then the Philistines once again made a raid on the valley. Therefore David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. And it shall be, when you hear a sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” 1 Chronicles 14:8, 10-11a, 13-15

Four Reasons Why Christians Suffer

Generally speaking there are four fundamental reasons why born-again Christians experience suffering. First and foremost we’re afflicted because we live in a fallen condition brought about by Adam’s indiscretion in the Garden. As a result we sin against others and they sin against us; God does not routinely interfere lest He deny us our free will.

A subsequent (and obviously interrelated) cause is based not on what other sinners do to us, but rather upon what we do to ourselves; i.e., the things we suffer because of our own foolishness. The reality is God is not mocked and we will reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7-8).

Thirdly, there is the sanctification process the Christian willingly submits himself to. Followers of Christ choose submission over disdain because the trying course consistently proves to be a blessing rather than a curse. The truth be told, believers know that those who are without God’s chastening are considered to be illegitimate children (Hebrews 12:5-8).

The final reason is subtly revealed in the 1 Chronicles 14 passage (above) and fortified by this New Testament canon:

In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33b

When David knew that God had established and ordained him ~and~ when the Philistines heard about it, they attacked. This satanic policy holds true for us as well, for when the enemy learns of our anointing, he too will attack. How the enemy manifests himself varies and I submit that they range from flat tires to martyrdom. I know of one brother in the faith who had a deer jump through his car window as he traveled to a ministry conference. The naysayer rolls his eyes and screams, “Coincidence! Hardly. Christians know better.

Our Response

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4

Our first response is birthed in our hope, for we know that, ‘All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.’ (Romans 8:28). We have our rest in the assurance that God is orchestrating a picture beyond the scope of both our suffering and our imagination. However, in light of that hope, we have spiritual responsibility.

WWDD

That responsibility is revealed in what David did. In an act of Godly dependence, he inquired of the Lord, not once, but each time the enemy was on the attack. How God answered David teaches us that our responses can be as varied as the attacks themselves. Like David, we might be called to mount up a frontal assault one time and a rear offensive another. The significant point is that we cannot be confident in anything until we ask for His input. For all we know, we might be called to ignore the enemy entirely. Important things to glean from David’s story are to never suppose God’s methodology runs consecutively and to never assume (based on history) we can leave God out of the equation. To become dependant upon what God has given rather than upon God Himself, we effectively open the door of victory to our adversary.

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These ramblings are typically (but not always) a byproduct inspired by God through my personal Bible study at SearchLight with Pastor Jon Courson and my pastor at Calvary Chapel Coastlands

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Abortion is Not Okay

Then Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!” When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. 2 Samuel 12:15-20

Today’s blog is not about abortion, but I need to say up front that abortion is wrong. I need to say that because today’s blog is on the matter of letting your perversion die, and considering the text, somebody’s liable to come away with the erroneous conclusion that abortion is okay when it is not. As a matter of fact ~and~ as it pertains to the baby in this story, we must take note that God took him and that he was not brutally murdered by the hands of men.

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:13

The deeds of our body refers of course to our sinful nature and the byproducts of our aberrant existence. Our Father has taken this historical event and used it to effectively illustrate that these things must be put away, as if dead and this dying child is a picture of David’s perverted lifestyle. The text is not suggesting that children born out of wedlock are evil things that must be destroyed, but rather that this baby is a type representing the evil deeds we do. I hope this is clear.

And they said, “He is dead.” So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. 2 Samuel 12:20

Prior to the baby’s death, David was emotionally distressed and his heartache is a picture of our grief when we struggled to give up our favorite sin(s). Now that the child has died, many are perplexed to see this turn around in David’s life, but hopefully not those who have reckoned their own flesh dead. Formerly, David was pleading to hold onto his sinful past, but now he’s worshipping. How come? Because when sin dies there is freedom! Perhaps you remember when this happened to you; when you finally realized that perverted thing in your life was dead. Remember the cleansing, the anointing, and the changed life? Remember how you went into the house of the Lord and worshiped?

Letting Go

That’s the message of the text. With David as our example we can see how difficult and painful a process it can be, but more importantly we can see that it doesn’t have to be that way. Example is the best teacher, but God has not mandated that it be our example; we can learn from others and in so doing bring honor, and glory, and blessing to Jesus Christ.

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