2 Ways to Sin
I’m going through Psalms right now in my personal time and first half of Psalm 106 jumped out at me.
The first thing to note is that David sings about how sinful we really are earlier in Psalm 51. Later, in Romans, Paul addresses how we don’t sin because we don’t know the Truth, but we do sin because we do know the Truth and reject Him. Our first and, “natural” default is to reject God.
This leads to the question of,
If we will always choose sin and reject God, then how do we ever choose God reject sin?
Answer: Grace. Jesus answers this in John 15 when He says that you choose God because I (Jesus) choose God and I live in you.
And finally, we come back to Psalm 106. David says that Israel sinned against God stemming from 2 sources. [Their sin actually stemmed from their evil hearts but it expressed itself through 2 "doorways"]
1. They Forgot the Past
21They forgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
They forgot how God had saved them. It is almost funny to me at how Paul, when writing to the christian churches, constantly reminds them of the Gospel. Before Paul gives them ANY practical advise or comment, He always begins with the Gospel – their past and ours.
How often do you forget the Gospel? I forget that Jesus, God, came to earth and lived the perfect life. Jesus fulfilled EVERY command where I had failed miserably. Then, at the cross, Jesus exchanged His perfection for my sinfulness. He exchanged His wholeness for my brokenness. And finally, Jesus rose from the grave, defeating death, so that I never had to be separated from the love of God as He was on the cross. How often I forget this powerful Truth.
When we forget the Gospel, we become self righteous as we try to earn favor with God. Or, we become hopelessly lonely as we forget how near and how much the love of God is for us. This opens the door for our hearts to reject God and lead us to sin.
2. They denied their future
24Then they despised the pleasant land,
having no faith in his promise.
They did not believe that God was a good and loving God. And it is easy not to believe that when you forget how Good and Loving He was at the cross. But anyway, Paul addresses OUR future in Ephesians 1.
When I sin, it is partly because I do not believe in my inheritance that Christ has purchased for me at the cross. I do not believe that God is good and loving and wants my joy to be complete. However, my joy will ONLY be complete once it is founded in Christ. God knows this and I short myself whenever I settle for anything less than Christ for my joy.
So, I encourage you to:
Remember your past & believe your future!
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