This
article is inspired by a reminder God gave me tonight. Hopefully you can be
reminded and encouraged in your walk with God as I was.
Earlier
this evening I was just going about life as usual. Out of nowhere I began to
notice a temptation creeping into my mind. As the enemy so craftily does, he
began whispering lies as to why my sin would be justified. Now, I know we all
know this, but I think it’s good to be reminded that the enemy is going to find
our weak spot and attack there. He will take things we already believe about
God and know to be true and twist them to move us away from God’s plan. The
most notable example of this is found in Genesis at the fall. Satan was crafty
in the way he twisted God’s words and made Adam and Eve believe that God was
withholding something from them.
So
anyways, back to my story. God has been teaching me a lot about living in His
grace lately. I have often struggled with putting pressure on myself to
maintain certain standards I have set. Slipping into this legalistic/moralistic
mindset happens often and I am often having to remind myself of God’s mercy and
grace in my life. With these thoughts prevalent in my mind, I found the enemy
telling me that even if I sinned God would forgive me. This temptation has been
a bit of a gray area for me, but I have come to the point where I know if I
have any doubts I should look at the temptation as sin. Just as Paul discusses
eating food that has been sacrificed to idols in Romans 14 (specifically v. 23)
I want to live in full faith with a clear conscience. If I cannot do that, I
will (at least attempt to) view it as sin.
Between
the doubt the enemy brought about whether or not it was sin and the fake
“reminder” of God’s grace, I stumbled and fell into sin. At that point, I began
struggling to find the proper response to the sin in my life. In the process of
God teaching me to live in His grace, I have struggled to find the balance of
living in His grace without disregarding sin. Even after sinning I still
struggled to not simply dismiss it and move on without a repentant heart. I
didn’t know what to pray, but in seeking the Lord I asked that He would help me
to avoid living with a mindset of cheap grace as I had. I never want a reminder
of God’s grace to lead me into sin (Romans 2:4). As I prayed for a changed
heart towards God’s grace, I was immediately reminded of Jesus’ last words on
the cross. “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried
with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ which
means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Mark15:34). My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Take a minute to think about
that question… stop reading, pause, think.
I
thought about it… I know the answer to that question don’t I? The reason the Father
forsook Jesus on the cross was because of my sin. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For
our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God.” Jesus knew absolutely no sin. He came to this sinful
earth, but He lived a sinless life. Yet, He took our sin upon Himself and
became our sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God. This double
imputation (fancy theology word meaning that our sin was attributed to Christ
and His righteousness was attributed to us) made it so that, as we deserve to
be forsaken by God, Jesus was forsaken by God; and in the same way the Father
looked down on the Son and said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased,” the Father looks down on us and says the same words to His beloved
children. I don’t know about you, but if there was ever anything that reminded
me of the grievance of my sin AND maintained a view of God’s grace towards me,
it is that. Jesus took your sin upon Himself! The reason He said “My God, why
have you forsaken me?” is because of YOUR sin! Yes, even if it is only one
white lie or the pride that so easily creeps into your life, He was forsaken!
And He willingly took upon Himself what we deserve because He loves us! What an
incredible God we serve! And how grateful I am for the mercy and grace He shows
me every day! Thank you Lord for your grace; let me never make it cheap!
