| (Copyright 1997) by John R. Bair (Pennsboro, West Virginia) |
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| Introduction: Around 23 years ago I left the Air Force to get “Back to the land”-to a more simple way of life. (Goats, chickens, bees and gardens?) Part of the motivation was also a belief that the economic system was soon going to crash. And I didn’t want to be vulnerable to that- I wanted to be self-sufficient- to meet my own needs, earn as little as possible, to be in the zero tax bracket, thus not paying taxes to support a man-made government- soon to be replaced! I basically didn’t want to be “At the mercy” of things outside my own control. A noble idea? Maybe not so. S. P. S.: Today we’re going to examine “The Battle of Wills”- and the attitude that leads to lawlessness. In short, sin (iniquity)= lawlessness = not wanting to be controlled. (Under the will of God) Body: We learned long ago that sin was the transgression of the law- (1 John 3:4) in specific, violations of the 10 commandments. (Condensed to two great commandments). A closer examination of that text in the Greek reveals that in actuality it reads: “sin is lawlessness”. That is more than just the action of breaking one of the commandments- but the attitude behind it: not wanting to be bound by the rules made by someone else’s will (God’s). This is what our training here in the flesh is all about, because to be made in God’s image, God made us “Free moral agents”. We each have our own individual wills. Yet to become spirit- to be given eternal life, we must demonstrate to God that we will willingly place our wills in submission to God’s. (Unlike Satan, but like Jesus Christ: thy will be done.) This gets back to the same basic problem confronting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden: would they choose their own will, to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil or follow God’s will to not eat of that tree. That tree represents taking to themselves the prerogative to make their own rules, to decide for themselves what is good or evil, right or wrong- to set their own standards, and this is the legacy passed on to us. This same attitude can be expressed in many subtle ways: not wanting to be controlled by others- not wanting to be obliged or beholding to anyone- an independent spirit- thankful to no one- and an ” I can take care of myself” attitude. Is this pleasing to God? We are to look to him to supply all our needs. Note 2nd Corinthians 3:5- “our sufficiency is of Christ” Also, 2nd Corinthians 9:8 “God makes us abound to all sufficiency” This “I can take care of myself” attitude so you don’t have to be beholding to anyone, leads to “I can do what I want”, to “you can’t tell me what to do!” Which gets back to not wanting to be bound by rules made by someone else. But faith is trusting God to supply all our needs. (Matthew 6:33) Faith = obedience is wiser than doing right in our own eyes. Note also Ephesians 3:20- “God will supply exceedingly above our needs.” Philippians 4:19- “God will supply all your needs.” This basic definition of sin (lawlessness), that sin is more than breaking a specific rule, reveals why the rule was broken in the first place: I want to do my will first. It’s the attitude of my will above God’s- It certainly includes the breaking of any of God’s specific commandments- because they define in general God’s will, but it goes beyond. Notice how clear some of Paul’s statements about sin become when the word “lawlessness” or “lawless attitude” is substituted for sin: read Romans 7:7 -23 ” what then should we say? That the law is “lawlessness”? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known a “lawless attitude”. ” Read the rest of this chapter and you will see the true “Battle of Wills ” at work in the mind of Paul. Conclusion: So, let’s expand our view of the definition of sin: it’s more than just breaking a rule on a list- it’s the attitude of not wanting the list to be there in the first place of placing our will before God’s! This is the attitude of lawlessness. What should be our response? Note 2nd Timothy 2:19- “let everyone that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity!” ———————————————————————————————————————- See John R. Bair’s other articles at: Bair, John R. – The “New” Church of God Messenger (church-of-god-bismarck.org) Reprinted with permission from: Church of God Parkersburg Sabbath Fellowship https://www.cogsabbathfellowship.org/home ———————————————————————————————————————- |
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