I have recently been very disheartened by some things I see in the body of Christ, and even ideologies and beliefs that are coming from Christians, even those in full time ministry. I have seen three things come to the forefront that I believe Christians must stop doing immediately in order to be true to the Bible, experience freedom and power over sin, and to lead people into God’s truths.
1. Managing Sin
Too many Christians manage sin like they manage pain. They know it is going to happen, however, rather than developing a strategy to overcome, they line up their spiritual pills to lessen the blow on their life. Their entire faith lives become a chess match on how to effectively minimize failures. It seems noble, but what it is really a sign of weak faith. What it leads to is a degraded self image and a waning belief that God really is what they need.
The proof is simple to see. Just look at the mass exodus of younger generations from church. They aren’t leaving because it is boring. they are leaving because nothing in their lives change. They come in, say a prayer, learn their sin management techniques, and then wonder, years later, why nothing is really different. Most, in fact, end up having a poorer self value than when they came in at the beginning.
Maybe we should see what the Bible teaches about sin and how we should react to it. Take a minute and read Romans 7:18-19
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
Too many Christians are living this life! It is a futile attempt to manage sin! And remember my statement about how trying to manage sin result in a diminished view of self? the proof is straight from Paul’s mouth in verse 24:
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
The good news is that we were never meant to manage sin. We were meant to overcome it! We were not meant to serve sin live a slave serves his master! We were not meant to flirt with sin and try to subdue it, but to destroy its power over our lives, to resist the devil, to be more than conquerors, not just to sing about it.
But too many people have received Jesus Christ yet still serve sin. How in the world is that possible? It is because the of the second thing.
2. Minimizing the Holy Spirit
When you minimize the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, what you get is a powerless theology that has no hope of overcoming. Why do I say that? Because it is biblical.
Read Romans 8:1-11
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
You can’t overcome sin in your flesh. Jesus paid the price for your freedom, but it is the Holy Spirit that keeps you free.
Christians have to stop thinking of the Holy Spirit as Jiminy Cricket, sat on your shoulder being your good conscience. He is not a fuzzy feeling when the music is good. He is not a tickle on your neck when the A/C blows just right. The Holy Spirit is the power of God that Jesus promised to us to lead us, guide us, empower us, infill us, and give us what we need to live the life God has called us to!
The enemy wants us to live in powerless Christianity and he has done an amazing job of convincing Christians and denominations that “the gifts of the Holy Spirit were just for the early church.” Folks, that is a lie, and too many Christians have bought it hook, line, and sinker. Lies like this are what is keeping a huge portion of Christians in a life that is not overcoming, not conquering, but managing sin.
God wants us to be filled with his Holy Spirit. If you have ever sat in a service or laid in your bed and wondered, “God, is this all there is? Moral codes and fellowships? Is this all there is to Christianity?” then I want to answer that for you. YES THERE IS MORE! You need the Holy Spirit to empower you to live the life he has called you to live. Jesus himself not only promised the Holy Spirit, he actually said it would be better if he left so that the Holy Spirit could come (John 16:7). Imagine that! Even Jesus said the Holy Spirit will be better for you than for Jesus to walk on earth with us. That’s amazing!
If you want that, it is as simple as asking Jesus to be Lord of your life. Just ask the Holy Spirit to fill you, empower you, completely overtake you. If you ask in faith, he will fill you, and you will begin to experience that “more” that God has for you.
3. Accepting Cultural Standards as Gospel
Last is a no-no that has overtaken the body of Christ. From old wives tales to homosexuality is inborn to twisted theology and flat-out unbiblical ideologies, the culture has infiltrated the church. But honestly, this was expected. When you minimize the Holy Spirit within the church and in the life of the believer, the Holy Spirit, which is the only thing restraining lawlessness (2 Thess. 2:7), cannot do one of his roles, which is to strengthen the resolve of the church and Christian to stand their ground on godly principles.
We haven’t even resisted cultural standards, to be honest! We’ve embraced them and integrated them with our theology to the point that if you have an actual, from the text, biblical stance on something, you are condemned for a “lack of understanding,” or “an inability to see the big picture.”
We need to be very careful that our theology doesn’t change to make room for the justification of sin. That is what exists in the culture. “How could a loving God send someone to hell? God loves us all, no matter what we do.” God is love, true, but God is also righteous. It is not a lack of love that is willing to address sin, it is, in fact, the proof of how much he loves us.
I am not ignorant to the fact that we need to move with the times and be relevant in our culture, but we need to be sure that our message is not being diluted by unbiblical doctrines that are outsourced from cultural standards. The culture does not dictate theological truths. And when the culture does dictate theological truths, what you have is a faith that no longer has life-changing, sin-overcoming power. It is simply another moralistic code that has no hope of leading people to salvation.
I don’t mean to sound like a ranting old man, and I hope I haven’t. But the truth is these three things are destroying lives. They are more than bad theologies and practices, these things are flat-out unbiblical, and they are actively influencing a world of people who are looking for something real.
I think we should let the Bible speak for itself. In that, you will find a God that is kind and considerate, full of love and grace and compassion. But you will also find a God who is serious about sin, one who is so dedicated to your freedom that he gave his best to die in our place. And just as amazing is that He would give even more in the person of the Holy Spirit, a literal chuck of God deposited in to each one of us, if we would only ask and believe.
There is more to Christianity than managing sin and a muted Holy Spirit, and there is definitely powerful and real truth that comes from the mouth of God, not a cultural trend. It is my prayer that you would allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and help you see if you are doing these things – even if you are doing them unaware.
Would you ask the Holy Spirit to fill you? Empower you? Would you ask him to show you if you are managing sin, or overcoming it? Would you ask him show you how to defeat sin and to lead you into all truths?
Christians, let’s live biblical Christianity. Let’s live lives empowered by the Holy Spirit, demolishing sin in our lives, and actively engaging in seeing God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. These things are essential, not only to us, but to those we reach for Christ.
Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Be blessed,
J