“The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, ‘Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.’ Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.” (John 5:13-15 NLT)
This familiar story of the man who had laid for 38 years waiting to be healed, then miraculously, at the sound of the Savior’s voice was able to walk, rings so true to the way people respond to His healing today. It’s apparent from Jesus’ words to the man that though his body had been healed, his soul was still stained.
Notice in the verse above Jesus told the man: “so stop sinning.” He didn’t tell him, “Listen, brother, I understand you’re a frail human being and you must sin more or less every day.” Where did we pick up that nonsense. Certainly not from the Bible. Yes, of course, even believers continue to have the capacity to sin, but is there no power in the Holy Spirit within us to fight the enemy’s urges?
Jesus didn’t tell the man to slow down his sinning, He told him to stop! I heard a story about a guy who got pulled over for rolling through a stop sign. The officer asked him if he realized he’d not come to a complete stop at the sign. The man said, “I slowed down.” The officer proceeded to pull the man out of the car and began beating him with his night stick. As the man was screaming and trying to pull away, the officer asked him, “Would you like me to slow down or stop beating you?” Just to be clear, this is a joke to illustrate a point.
Sometimes it seems in our lax view of sin, we excuse our unwillingness to deal with our habitual sin and brush it off as if the Lord treats it lightly, but is that what the Bible teaches? From the outset of our profession of faith, our first step of obedience in our walk with the Lord is or should be water Baptism. What’s the picture painted in that Christian ordinance?
Listen to the words of Paul in Romans 6:3-4: “Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined Him in His death? For we died and were buried with Christ by Baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” And just so there was no confusion in exactly what he was saying, he continued in verses 5-7: “Since we have been united with Him in His death, we will also be raised to life as He was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.”
Are we so blind to the truth of Scripture we rationalize its power away by living like we’re still lost? Is it any wonder the Church in America has so little effect when we continue to stagger under the weight of ongoing habitual sin? “
“Dear Holy Father, help us to wake up to our need to take seriously Your holy, power-filled words! Forgive us for treating sin so lightly and continuing to live as if You’ve given us no power to overcome it! Create in us a clean, pure heart that is fueled by a mind that thinks Your thoughts and leads us to speak words that honor and glorify Your holy Name. Cleanse us of our stubborn refusal to take responsibility for our own laziness and unwillingness to live as we ought. By Your Spirit’s might, enable us to create disciplines in our lives that guard our heart and mind and build us up, not only in our understanding of Your Word, but our obedience to it. In Jesus’ Holy Name I pray.”
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 