“Ten
Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health,” Donald S. Whitney. 2001. NavPress*
Questions 8 & 10: Do You Still
Grieve Over Sin? & Do You Yearn for Heaven and to Be with Jesus? (excerpts
and highlights from Chapters 8 & 10, with references to “Respectable Sins –
Confronting the Sins We Tolerate,” Jerry Bridges, NavPress. 2007.)
In this paper I have reflected on both Questions 8 and 10, as they complement each other.
Do You Still Grieve Over Sin?
God Hates Sin. Put that on a street sign, and I guarantee you that each reader will come up with their own definition of sin. We readily do so because we have a warped view of sin; we often compare our righteousness as favorable over another’s. We find it hard to see ourselves as sinners. We are good people who do good things. We characterize sinners as persons who commit wicked and evil acts against people – especially children. We take offense at being called a sinner; a person, when a Bible teacher quoted to the group Psalm 51:5, “we are all born in sin” -- she defensively responded, “I wasn’t! my mother and father were married!” The apostle Paul, the one hand-picked by Christ to be sent to the Gentiles with the good news and to whom was given much power and grace, who was also given a glimpse of heaven, even he admits to his own sin estate, which makes his Spirit-led writings on sin more compelling.
What does God call sin? Lawbreaking. Any just law, but especially God's law. When Adam and Eve broke the law in the Garden of Eden, going against God’s command not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, acting on pride and desire to be equal to God, sin was imprinted on and inside humankind. We all inherited Adam’s “sin DNA” so that every human born carries that “DNA”. We all are sinners, born to die, since Adam’s sin carried a death penalty. Therefore, everyone born, regardless of their character and conduct, are reckoned by God as sinners even in the womb.
God grieves over sin. He hates it. He sees the damage and destruction it causes in those who were created in His image. It separates us from Him. Inherited sin causes spiritual darkness and results in spiritual death. Sin mars God’s image in us; the character of God, the mind of Christ – all parts of that image were once in Adam and Eve. Their descendants’ God-image reflects something like a mirror into our souls that has been smeared over with a liquid haze in which a very faint and distorted reflection of God is seen. Sadly, there are some mirrors into souls that have shadowed and dark imperceptible reflections – more akin to the impact of the prince of darkness on such souls.
We often think of the impact of the sin DNA as affecting our conduct and behaviors. However, the impact of man’s sin on humankind has been devastating to the human body. Over the thousands of years, the human body has broken down from total perfection to a flesh and blood frame in which diseases and conditions of many kinds inhabit - some curable and many uncurable. This is a universal consequence of the inherited sin condition from Adam. Sin’s effects have caused every generation since Adam and Eve to suffer with divers degenerations: e.g., the number of births of children with deformed body parts, missing chromosomes or other gene-related issues, born intersex, blind, deaf, unable to speak, with predispositions to cancers, juvenile diabetes, and the list goes on. These traits of inherited sin continue to increase despite medical and scientific breakthroughs.
In
addition to its impact on humankind physically, mentally, and spiritually, all of creation has
suffered from the influence of humankind’s fall due to intentional sin - going against the law of God. When Adam was placed in the
Garden, to be joined by Eve, they were given dominion over creation as God’s appointed
stewards; they were co-regents of the earthly kingdom; they were the 'earthly management' placed by God to steward His earthly creation - everything with life on the earth, even the earth itself. Both humans and animals – “everything that has the breath of life” –
were created to be
plant and vegetation eaters. That was God’s original plan for a
world of peaceful coexistence between man and beast. But
when sin came, this peace was damaged, and within time humans and animals
became carnivores.
Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, delivered a set of beatitudes to the listening crowd. One of them is: “Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.” We more often than not feel this beatitude at a time of loss, during a funeral service, or when mourning over the death of a loved one. The Lord My Shepherd who comforts Jesus' listeners knew, but Jesus wanted His hearers to understand the deeper meaning of the mourning He spoke about. He wanted them to know that the legal standards of the Mosaic Law were more than just laws; they were a bridge to relationship with God, an opportunity to reflect His character and holiness and grow in intimacy with Him. The people felt righteous because they obeyed the laws, and saw that as a bridge to blessings from God. The righteous teachers took pride in exacting strict adherence to law. Jesus notes in His Sermon, however, that it is a merciful heart that yearns for God – that is what God desires. Jesus, on the mount, would further clarify the foundation of the Law, that even in our so-called righteousness from obeying the law, we are still sinners in our thoughts, desires, in our DNA. We are still lawbreakers. Thus, His message exhorts us to mourn over such sins – feeling deepest sorrow that we have grieved our Heavenly Father. Genesis 6, linked to above, plainly states that our sin grieves God. Knowing that, we ought to feel a sorrow that leads to a change of heart, a repentance – a sorrow that seeks and gives forgiveness. To return to a right standing before God. Do we really mourn our sinful thoughts and actions?
In his book, “Respectable Sins – Confronting the Sins We Tolerate,” Dr. Jerry Bridges asks that while we mourn or are grieved about the “big sins” – sexual sins and idol worship within the Church, “why do we not also mourn over our selfishness, our critical spirit, our impatience, and our anger? It is easy to let ourselves off the hook by saying that these sins are not as bad as the flagrant ones of society. But God has not given us authority to establish values for different sins. Instead, He says through James, ‘Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for [is guilty of] all of it.’…When a person commits murder, he breaks God’s law. When a Christian lets corrupting speech (that is, speech which tends to tear down another person) come out of his/her mouth (Ephesians 4:29), he/she breaks God’s law.” All sin is lawlessness. He further notes that “In our human values of civil laws, we draw a huge distinction between an otherwise ‘law-abiding citizen’ who gets an occasional traffic ticket and a person who lives a ‘lawless’ life in contempt and utter disregard for all laws. But the Bible does not seem to make that distinction. It simply says sin – that is, all sin without distinction – is lawlessness.” “Sin is sin.” Dr. Bridges continues, “even those sins I call ‘the acceptable sins of the saints,’ those sins we tolerate in our lives – are serious in God’s eyes. Our religious pride, our critical attitudes, our unkind speech about others, our impatience and anger, even our anxiety; all of these are serious in the sight of God.” In his book, Dr. Bridges exposits on other so-called ‘respectable’ sins: ungodliness, anxiety and frustration, discontentment, unthankfulness, pride, selfishness, lack of self-control, impatience and irritability, anger, judgmentalism, envy, jealousy, and related sins, sins of the tongue, and worldliness.
As
we enter our journey of transformation and sanctification through the Holy
Spirit, Dr. Bridges reminds us that in collaboration with God’s Spirit, we are
to put to death the various expressions of sin in our lives. (Romans
8:13;
Colossians
3:5)
In chapter six, he offers seven general directions for dealing with sins. Not
enough space to fully explain here, but I will list them.
First
– we should always address our sin in the context of the gospel; our sins
are forgiven and we are accepted as righteous by God because
of both the sinless life and sin-bearing death of our Lord Jesus Christ – both
together are the greatest motivations.
Second
– we must learn to rely on the enabling
power of the Holy Spirit. We can never get beyond our need
for the Spirit, and should cultivate an attitude of continual dependence.
Third
– while depending on the Holy Spirit, we must also recognize our responsibility
to diligently pursue all practical steps for dealing with our sins. This is the
meaning of Philippians
2:12-13.
Fourth
– identify specific areas of ‘acceptable’ sins. (covered in the book’s chapters
on specific sins) As we read each chapter, humbly
ask the Holy Spirit to help us see if there is a pattern of
that sin in our life, which will enable us to better put it to death.
Fifth
– find specific applicable
Scriptures to each of our subtle sins, (use concordance) memorizing
them, reflecting on them, applying and praying over them as we ask God to use
those God-breathed words to help us deal with those sins.
Sixth –
cultivate the practice
of prayer over the sins we tolerate. Prayer is one of our
major directions for dealing with sin; through prayer we consciously
acknowledge our need of the Holy Spirit for dealing with our sin and stay aware
of the presence of them.
Seventh
– we should involve one or two other believers with us in our struggles against
our subtle sins in a mutual
relationship as we seek to exhort, encourage, and pray for one another.
…The
biggest motivator in our spiritual battles against sin is in Chapter 10 of Mr.
Whitney’s book: Do You Yearn For Heaven And To Be With Jesus?
Mr. Whitney states that “those who have been on a long pilgrimage increasingly desire to reach their destination, especially one as glorious and excellent as Heaven. Those who have spent decades loving and living for Jesus naturally long to see Him.” That is the message of Romans 8:22-23. Paul makes a similar statement in 2 Corinthians 5:2. “These longings for the coming great change in body and place are simply part of a normal, healthy, growing Christian life.” Does our yearning for heaven in and of itself confirm that we know the very one with whom we wish to be, or is our yearning focused on getting relief from this hard life?
Mr. Whitney offers that “the question is not merely, ‘Do you yearn for Heaven and to be with Jesus?’ but also, ‘For which Heaven and Jesus do you yearn?’” Do we yearn for a place of holiness? If being holy as God is holy is off-putting for us in our earthly existence, then we will hate heaven. Are we longing for and looking forward to a heart without sin? To have a pure heart to see the Lord? To being clothed in righteousness? That is what growing Christians increasingly long for – not just a “rest” from troubles and difficulties, but a holy heaven, holy relationships in heaven, a Holy Jesus, a holy joy, where we will be able to gaze and gaze upon the Lamb of God, on Jesus our Savior. Is that the thing we want above everything else? Is our groaning for that kind of heaven?
I confess that at one time my “heaven” was a place of green valleys, of beautiful sunsets, of peace all around me, of a Garden of Eden. The more I grow in Christ, the more I know Him personally, I find my desire for Him is growing more than a desire for a heavenly geography.
We
have the Spirit of the Living God moving in us, motivating us, energizing us,
developing joy into a once burdened heart. We are riddled by sin’s woes, and we
work with that same Spirit to put off those things displeasing to God. But, let
us not forget that this struggle is not forever:
· “You
are from God, little children, and have overcome [the spirit of the evil one];
because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4
· 4For whoever
has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory
that has overcome the world: our faith. 5 Who is the one
who overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of
God? 1 John 5:4-5
· The
one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the
one who overcomes, I will grant to eat from the tree of life, which is in
the Paradise of God.’ Revelation 2:7
· The
one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes
will not be hurt by the second death.’ Revelation
2:11
· The
one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the
one who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I
will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one
knows except the one who receives it.’ Revelation 2:17
· The
one who overcomes, and the one who keeps My deeds until the end, I will
give him authority over the nations; Revelation
2:26
· The
one who overcomes will be clothed the same way, in white garments; and I
will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name
before My Father and before His angels.
Revelation 3:5
· The
one who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and
he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God,
and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of
heaven from My God, and My new name. Revelation
3:12
· The
one who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with Me on My throne, as I
also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne. Revelation 3:21
For
these things we fight
the good fight of faith; we do spiritual
battle against sin and the evil one everyday. We know that we
have the power
to be faithful to the end, because Jesus has given us that
kind of power that raises
us up to life with Him. We are victors
who will see the one for whom we yearn, Jesus Christ, in all of His glory and
splendor, and we shall be clothed with His righteousness.
Now
to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or
think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in
the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
- Ephesians 3:20-21
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