Author Archives: Dan Lemburg

About Dan Lemburg

Hi I'm Dan, I'll update this bio info soon.

Shame

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Because the problem of sin is so persistent in Christians’ lives—whether it be overt, or the more covert sin of attitudes and motivations of the heart—our most common response is to cover it up. We simply try to appear to be more respectable and holy than we actually are. Do you think pride has something to do with this? I think that’s a foregone conclusion! The really sad thing is that this cover-up unavoidably leads to an oppressive sense of shame.

Shame has a crippling effect in a person’s life. Psychologists tell us that it is often at the heart of emotional disturbance and dysfunction. So it’s not hard to see how Satan—who is called “the accuser of our brethren”(Revelation 12:10)—can use it so effectively as a wedge to bring about our alienation from God.

Our first instinct is to run and hide from God when we sin, isn’t it? The reason we do this is not only because we intuitively sense God’s displeasure, but that we think no one else has these problems. “How could I do something so despicable, so displeasing to God? What inner flaw would provoke me to even think of such a thing?”

The Pestilence of Sin

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Being born again to become that “new creature” in Christ, in no way shields us from being confronted with the power of sin. There it is, even though we are now joined to God in this powerful new relationship. This is a rude awakening for us all once we’ve gotten past the initial exhilaration of being saved.

As we attempt to move forward in our Christian walk, the resurgence of sin is a bewildering source of sorrow. But we shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that sin crops up once again. Rather, we should expect it. 

We yearn mightily to be free once and for all from the power of sin. The Church has wrestled with this issue down through the centuries, most times implementing a regimen of works and sacraments in an attempt to conquer it. But it’s impractical to think that such a strategy might actually work because this merely employs a Band-Aid approach; it treats the symptoms rather than attacking the root of the problem.

Nevertheless, we try and try. Yet just when we begin to believe that it might be possible to gain an upper hand over sin through works or willpower, corruption involving sex or greed is uncovered in another of our prominent leaders, highlighting our own inadequacies and serving to dash our hopes that we can ever truly change. Obviously not all Church leaders are given to the practice of secret sin, but those whose sin has been aired publicly serve as a wake-up call for the rest of us. Somehow we instinctively know that, “but by the grace of God, there go I.”

Dead to Law?

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In the 7th chapter of Romans, Paul lays out in detail the remarkable truth regarding the basis for our freedom from the bondage of sin. Here we find that our liberty hinges on freedom from law—that is, being dead to law. And here the nagging question as to how we can be free from the power of sin, even as we continue to encounter shameful problems with it, is finally answered.

He begins his argument in Romans 7:1-3, where he says that law has jurisdiction over a person’s life only as long as he lives. This reinforces what he had just taught—that we have in fact died to sin. Without question we have, but not in the way we tend to think about it, since our death to sin is not really a personal death at all.

Let’s look a little closer. Paul says that freedom from law is actually the basis for our freedom from sin. He uses the example of a woman being held accountable to the Law by virtue of the fact that she is married. Consequently, she can’t pursue a relationship with another man without being labeled an adulteress. But when her husband dies, she is free from any responsibility the Law placed on her regarding her former husband.

Why is this important? Because although in this instance the wife is the one who has been freed from (dead to) law, she didn’t die at all; her husband did! And so it is with us. By comparison, we’re like the living wife rather than the dead husband when talking about our own death to sin. Just as the commandment concerning adultery now no longer applies to her, in Christ we have also been removed from the realm of jurisdiction of law.

We are in fact just as dead to law in regard to our sin as she is to the commandment which once governed her marriage. But law has lost its jurisdiction over us not because sinful behavior can now be considered legal, permissible or acceptable, but because our sin is no longer punishable. God has acquitted us of wrongdoing because the punishment for sin—that is, separation from Him—is no longer enforced. And this is the key to understanding the true nature of our death to sin.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

Dead to Sin

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The fact of the matter is that God has provided the remedy for all our sin—past, present and future.(Psalm 103:10&14) But even so, it’s obvious in Scripture that He intends for us to be holy, and thus commands us not to sin. How is it, then, that He could willingly overlook the sin which so easily flows from our nature? The answer, of course, is that by grace He forgives our sins, which is indeed absolutely true.

Fortunately, Jesus revealed the full extent of the gospel to Paul, not only that his curiosity might be satisfied but that both his generation and those to follow might also reach a deeper understanding of Christ’s provision. This is vitally important, because a complete awareness both of our human condition and how we now relate to our Creator is the key to walking in the total freedom God always meant for us to experience.

We know from Scripture that God forgives our sin through Christ Jesus as a free gift. Yet even more important to understand is that this free gift of forgiveness and righteousness is rooted in the fact that He has caused us to die to sin altogether.(1 Peter 2:24) But just exactly what does dying to sin mean? I don’t feel very dead to sin!

Strategy of Deceit

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In his endeavor to bring us down, Satan wields a two-edged sword: “It only makes sense that God would expect you to perform for your salvation,” he says. And on the flip side, “Give it up! You’re a failure! You’ll never be able to overcome that sin. You can’t please God unless you work at this thing a little harder.” His devices really shouldn’t surprise us, though. He is unambiguously described in Scripture both as the deceiver and the accuser of God’s people.(Revelation 12:9-10)

Satan’s tactic of accusation is always rooted in lies. Jesus said it well in John 8:44, “…Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”  The devil is a master of manipulation, having perfected his methods of deceit and accusation through the combined experience of thousands of years of both observation and application.  

But Paul knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that we cannot earn our way into good standing with God. Through Christ, God made provision for our righteousness in spite of our sin, and in so doing He also chose to override the necessity of performing good works in order to satisfy Him. So it’s not hard to see why the utmost desire of Paul’s heart, both for himself and for others, was to be found in Christ—having a righteousness anchored in God’s provision rather than our own efforts.(Philippians 3:9)

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

Clinging to Grace

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As Christians, it’s easy to become a bit confused when setting our minds to do right. Why? Because in attempting to rid our life of sin, we often turn to good works in the hope that they will somehow offset the sin demerits we instinctively sense accumulating against us. So it’s not hard to slip somewhat effortlessly into the very thing true faith should avoid at all costs—works righteousness.

Understanding this link between good works and sin is extremely important because Satan focuses his efforts to destroy us at this very juncture. He uses it as his primary strategy to rob us of all God has to offer.

If the devil can convince us to earn our way rather than simply receiving and walking in God’s free gift of grace, he will have succeeded in handcuffing us to the extent of “defrauding us of our prize”of freedom in Christ.(Colossians 2:18) And if he can accomplish that, he just may be successful in getting us to walk away altogether from the truth of the redemption God freely offers. His ultimate goal for all believers is apostasy—the abandonment and renunciation of our faith.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

 

 

Righteousness through Law

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Man’s motivation to be righteous before God is the product of his conscience. And the bedrock of man’s conscience is God’s law. Law has reached its pinnacle of perfection in the Law and Prophets of the Old Testament. The Law is indeed the epitome of God’s will for man prior to His revelation of what Paul calls God’s mystery—Christ Jesus Himself.(Colossians 2:2)

The truths of God’s law have filtered into all cultures in varying degrees to become the cornerstone of man’s attempt to gain acceptability in the eyes of whoever he perceives to be his god. Such law is the “elementary principles of the world” identified in Scripture. (Colossians 2:20) 

There are two basic elements of man’s attempt to be righteous before God: doing good (in an attempt to please Him), and restraining ourselves from doing evil (to keep from displeasing Him). These elements are at the heart of the activities of all religious systems, and may be thought of as the positive and negative aspects of man’s attempt at righteousness—the opposite sides of the same coin. But all this effort boils down to just one thing: earning one’s own way in an attempt at self-justification.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

God’s Guidepost to Life

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We are inherently self-interested creature in this sin-riddled world, and our sin is blatantly exposed by the presence of law. This fact is undeniable: “the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” (1 Corinthians 15:56)

What’s really sad about God’s law is not that it had to be imposed, but that it was so quickly interpreted as a means by which a person might earn his own righteousness—becoming the framework for man’s attempt to work his way to heaven. From the very beginning God had something far different in mind; law was to be a guidepost to His gift of life.(Romans 7:10)

Law was never intended to be the vehicle to bring us into right standing with Him, because ultimately God wanted to freely impart His own righteousness—and thus His life—to man.(Galatians 3:21) Consequently, man’s attempt to earn his own righteousness through works (what is commonly called works righteousness) can result in little else but pitting us head-on against God’s plan.

Paul talks about God’s people being held in custody under law—like children under a tutor—until the fullness of time came when Christ was to justify those who believe.(Galatians 3:22-24) Law had its purpose then, and still does now. But since freedom from law is the very essence of our freedom from the power of sin, we need to better understand the manner in which law relates to our righteousness in Christ now that He has come.

Law was a Must!

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Prior to his sin being exposed by God’s commandment, Adam didn’t realize that he harbored rebellion in his heart, since there was no standard by which it could have been measured. But there is no doubt that this weakness was there, because as soon as law arrived, sin was right there on its heels.(Romans 7:7)

God most likely wanted Adam to stay away from that tree well before He ever gave the commandment, but Adam couldn’t be blamed if he didn’t know it was wrong to eat of its fruit. So had he eaten it prior to God’s command, he would not have been held guilty of any offence.(Romans 4:15)

Still, had law never been given, Adam’s self-willed nature (sin in the flesh) would have been just as destructive over time. Why? Because the self-interest inherent in his nature would naturally have come into play as he interacted with his offspring—and they with him. The only difference here is that, in the absence of law, guilt for their sin could not be charged to them. It’s not hard to see why, then, law is so necessary in God’s eyes.(Galatians 3:19, Romans 3:20)

There’s no question that it was imperative for God to impose such a standard, because in the absence of law mankind would have rapidly self-destructed.(Romans 7:13)

Law Exposes Sin

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While it is obvious that God’s intention for law was both to curb sinful behavior and provide direction, its main purpose was to expose sin. Paul puts it this way in Romans 7:7: “I would not have come to know sin except through [law].” Law identifies and exposes sin because it sets the standard of God’s righteousness (His holiness) against that of our own self-centered, sinful motivations and behavior. So law can be thought of as a gauge of sorts, because it contrasts God’s righteousness with our own lack thereof.

But this begs a very pertinent question: did sin exist before the first law was ever given? Yes it did; at least man’s predisposition to sin did. But in the absence of law, sin laid dormant in Adam. Adam was created perfect, but being created perfect also meant being created human. And being human, he was subject to the chronic weakness of self-will. But Adam’s inherent self-will—and the sin which is the natural outcome of that weakness—was not recognized for what it was until law came on the scene to expose it.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself