Chapter 9 – The Artist and Sin – Notes from Pastor J

How common is the opening story?  I’ll bet just about everyone who has been a Christian for a length of time can recall a true story just like this one.  Even the congregation’s reaction is common!  How hard or easy is it for us to find ourselves in a similar sin?  Do you think the people in the story started out in ministry with good hearts, attitudes and the calling of God etc?

•  The Seriousness of Sin

Hopefully this chapter will allow God to bring some new revelations to each one of us about sin.  First, we need to take sin seriously and realize how close we are to it!  We take sin too lightly in different ways.

Most can be broken down into three basic excuses.

-It’s not a “BIG” sin.  Some might have the attitude that because their sin is not a “BIG” sin like the opening story of adultery, they can just continue in it.

-Everyone sins.  Others might accept sin (even the “BIG”) because everyone sins, and this is just their sin of choice.  They’re good in other areas.

-There are uncontrollable circumstances.  Some might believe they can continue in sin even though they know it’s sin, because of the bad circumstances surrounding them.

We can justify anything – We might even be able to take some scripture out of context to back it up!  But don’t be fooled.  Sin is serious! It Separates us from God.

No matter how big or little, no matter how many others are sinning, and no matter how you can justify it, it still separates us from  God.  Who wants to be separate from God?  We would never choose to walk through life, be married, have kids, go to work, or even minister to others WITHOUT God, but that’s exactly what we do.

On top of that, Jesus died so that we can be forgiven of our sins and once again be with God.  So, when we continue to sin in disobedience it’s a slap in the face to Jesus, because we are rejecting His sacrifice.  We can fool ourselves, but not God.

• Accountable Relationships

I never knew how important an accountable relationship is until I was in one.  Everything in my life is better because of it, especially my relationship with the Lord and dealing with sin.  It’s not always easy, but we need others to help us recognize sin and then deal with it.  Just knowing that someone else knows I’m struggling with something and that they’re going to ask me about it helps me avoid the sin itself.

Even just hearing that someone else is struggling with it, or better yet has dealt with a similar issue in the past and overcome it is a great help to me.  It gives me hope and confidence in the Lord and His mercy.

• Learn How to do Spiritual Battle

Every sin starts as a thought.  With every thought there’s a spiritual battle as we decide what to do with that thought.  The Bible says “Renew your mind and bring every thought captive in Christ”.  “Resist the Devil and he will flee”.

Jesus gave us a perfect example of how to battle spiritually when he was tempted in the desert.  Each time the Devil put a thought in His mind that might lead to sin, Jesus countered quickly.  He countered it with truth and renounced sin.

-Counter sin quickly.  Don’t allow any sinful thought time to grow.  The longer we wait, the harder it is to stop.

-Counter sin with truth-the truth of God’s Word.  Memorize passages that you need to help resist temptation.

-Renounce sin.  Don’t allow yourself to live in the gray area.  Call sin – sin and forsake it.  Distance yourself from it.

• Real Life Examples

-Are the examples in the book realistic to you?

-Do you think the three responses above would really work to resist the sin?

-Are all these thoughts really from the Devil, or is it just our nature?

-How can we start to put these principles into practice?

• What happens if I Fail?

We all fail.  Just as it says in Romans “We’ve all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.  All we can do is turn back to God and repent.  We want to run from God, but we must run to Him.  It’s really a matter of attitude.  God is looking for those who seek Him, who desire to be obedient to Him.  If you’re focused on serving God everyday, there will be less and less sin in your life, and when we do sin, we’ll be quick to return to Him.  As we do, He will be full of grace and loving kindness and will forgive us in Jesus’ name.  It’s the way of the cross.

• Why Do We Obey Christ?

Sometimes we can be fooled by all the Christian language we hear at church.  Why do you serve the Lord?  Is it because it’s the way you were raised?  Because you like the church culture or the clique you’re in?  Is it because you have a place to perform, preach, or share your political views?  Are you really obedient to God or just aligning yourself with Christianity when it works for you?  These are all touchy questions, but what’s your answer – be honest with yourself.

The bigger payoff is a relationship with Jesus and our almighty God, our creator.  When se put that relationship first in our lives, to serve God with all our heart, to seek after Him first, to love Him more and more everyday, obedience is the fruit.

You can’t have the desire to seek after God with all your heart and not want to obey His Word, His Spirit and His direction for you life.  The hardest times and the most important times to obey the Lord are the not the big life changing decisions we might make a few times in our lives, it’s the day to day decisions of the small things (seemingly at least), each small thought that enters our mind.  How will you respond to those thoughts?  What will you decide?  Who will you obey?