As a Christian, we live in a reality where we are not sinners, yet we have sin.  When God looks at us, He sees only the perfect righteousness of Jesus because we are in Christ by faith.  At the same time, although the bondage to our sin nature has been broken, we still carry sin with us, being called to continually put it to death.  So at any point in time we are being controlled, either by Christ which puts to death sin and brings lasting joy, or by our sin, which pushes us further from God and leads to brokenness, guilt, shame, and destruction.

The Lord is above (Psalm 113:4).  In Him we have victory over all sin (1 Cor 15:57).  In Him there is a fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11).  We are called to self-control, but the self-control is not the type of self-control where we are white-knuckling obedience.  We are called to exercise control by remembering the promises of God – that all the promises of God find their Yes in Jesus (2 Cor 1:20), and so we choose joy over sin.  God, are you my comforter? Yes.  God, do you love me?  Yes.  God, will you always be with me and for me?  Yes.  God, will you sustain me?  Yes.  God, do you affirm me fully?  Yes.  God, do you accept me now and always?  Yes.  Every Yes of God to us is found in Jesus, and so we are controlled by the love of God to pursue God in love.  We are controlled by the love of God to love others, rather than using them to try to meet some emotional or felt need within us.  We love people towards Jesus, because in Him true life and fulfillment is found, and in so doing we remind ourselves of all that Jesus is towards us.

With that in mind, God has a word for us from Thessalonians 4 today.

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 – “Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. ² For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;⁴ that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, ⁵ not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶ that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. ⁸ Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”

For most, this call above is one of the more difficult callings of God on Christians.  I believe that’s why God uses it as an example as often as He does.  It gets to our hearts in a way that we cannot escape – we have to do business with God as His children.  Will we love Him, and trust Him, or not?  My encouragement as you consider the application of the above scripture in your own life is three fold 1) Do not beat yourself up over the past.  God has dealt with past sin, He is after your heart now.  What does your heart say now about God’s promises over sins promises?  2)  When you sin in this way, you are not only sinning against God but another person, and often persons.  Sin always leads to destruction in the long run, and it creates barriers to your relationship with God.  The same destruction would be true of the person on the other side.  In this way, not only are you failing to love God, but you’re also failing to love others.  3)  We are not to fight this battle, we are to entrust ourselves to God who fights for us.  That may seem counter-intuitive, but ultimately, the only way you will conquer sin is with a changed heart by the Truth dwelling inside us.  The Truth that God is all glorious, all powerful, the source of eternal, infinite, joy, and He is with you and for you.  This is what the Holy Spirit of God in us will remind us of as we walk day in and day out this life.  We have God in us – there is nothing we cannot accomplish through Him.

Stay encouraged.  We are all in this daily walk of faith together, and God is faithful to continue His work in us wherever we are today.  God has grace for you today, and grace for the rest of your days.  He loves you, and is for you, and for your fullness of joy in Him.

 

Grace and Peace,

Adam