Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
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Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

• Romans 5:13-14, 18-19

Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

• Romans 6:13-14

“When I am born again my human nature is not different, it is the same as before, I am related to life in the same way, I have the same bodily organs, but the mainspring is different, and I have to see now that all my members are dominated by the new disposition (see Romans 5:13, 19). There is only one kind of human nature, and that is the human nature we have all got; and there is only one kind of holiness, the holiness of Jesus Christ. Give Him ‘elbow-room’, and He will manifest Himself in you, and other people will recognize Him. Human beings know human beings too well to mistake where goodness comes from; when they see certain characteristics they will know they come only from the indwelling of Jesus. It is not the manifestation of noble human traits, but of a real family likeness of Jesus. It is His gentleness, His patience, His purity, never mine. The whole art of spirituality is that my human nature should retire and let the new disposition have its way.”

• Oswald Chambers, Daily Thoughts for Disciples (November 24, from Conformed to His Image)

The tests of faith in 1 John can be comforting, convicting, and confronting, to keep a “co” theme.  Comforting in that we can rest assured of our salvation when we pass the test.  But we can also be confronted with the sin in our lives and see that we fall short of certain goals.  But then, if we do fall short, we should be convicted to allow God to clean up our act.  As Rev. Chambers spells out, God has the power to change us, but do we allow Him to do so?  And that comes from whether we have totally committed ourselves in our belief and trust that God’s path is the best one.

But, this is one of the few devotions that I have ever read from Oswald Chambers that gives a middle ground, a little wiggle room.  He usually states that true Christians will not sin (period).  I think his definition of sanctification is different than what is used today.  Thus he talks of our sanctification being complete, while theologians like the late R.C. Sproul say that the greatest amount of sanctification comes when we pass away.  We are always striving to be better, but we still have our human nature.

But there is a difference, as I applied when our Sunday school class was studying 1 John.  The difference is between a momentary slip from the path.  You brush yourself off.  You confess your wrong doing.  You get back on the path.  And the other side of that is living in sin.  You do not recognize that you are in sin.  You reject what the Bible says because what you are doing does not harm anyone or all involved are consenting.  And you choose what you think is a parallel path, but truly it is a path to oblivion.

Do we sin? Yes, and when others are harmed by our sin, we need to set the record straight and correct the wrong.

But when we give God elbow room to do His wonders within us, God can clean up even the most pesky of bad habits or secret sins that we think harm no one else.  And others will notice that we are different as a result.  We have put away part of the human nature and put on the armor of God.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.