Are you a Master of Sin, or a Slave to Sin? To ask another way, do you have mastery over sin or is sin your dictator?
Who (or what) is at the door of your heart? Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me" (Rev. 3:20 NASB). There's also a predator at the door: "... if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door; it desires to have you but you must master it." (Gen. 4:7b NIV)
Notice the order of words in Gen. 4:7: first is the attitude, then the attack. The sin is not crouching waiting for you to open the door and make a decision, but in fact the decision of the heart is first, then the sin attack. What is your heart attitude toward sin? Cain's was already decided: he had a bad attitude. He knew the Lord and His commands, but due to his heart attitude, his offering was not accepted. We see later in the OT that grain offerings were acceptable if made in the right attitude of heart, and that obedience is better than sacrifice: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams." (1 Sam. 15:22 NIV).
Isn't it typical of God to give Cain another chance after his sacrifice was rejected? We see this incredible grace of God as a scarlet thread throughout the entire scriptures, reinforced in the letter to the Church at Laodicea (Rev. 3:20).
Rom. 5:20, "The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.
We are given the solution to the sin slavery problem: Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace (Rom. 6:14). We are no longer powerless over sin because God sent His own Son ... to be a sin offering (Rom. 8:3).
There is certainly a conflict of the two natures, the old man and the new: "The good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want." (Rom. 7:19)
CS Lewis has a lot to say about the conflict between the two natures in his brilliant book "Screwtape Letters":
Who (or what) is at the door of your heart? Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me" (Rev. 3:20 NASB). There's also a predator at the door: "... if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door; it desires to have you but you must master it." (Gen. 4:7b NIV)
Notice the order of words in Gen. 4:7: first is the attitude, then the attack. The sin is not crouching waiting for you to open the door and make a decision, but in fact the decision of the heart is first, then the sin attack. What is your heart attitude toward sin? Cain's was already decided: he had a bad attitude. He knew the Lord and His commands, but due to his heart attitude, his offering was not accepted. We see later in the OT that grain offerings were acceptable if made in the right attitude of heart, and that obedience is better than sacrifice: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams." (1 Sam. 15:22 NIV).
"Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts" (CS Lewis, Screwtape Letters).Yes, the sin slide is a gradual one. Jude gives a warning about this when he speaks of "The way of Cain" (Jude 11) and warns against ungodly men and their methods. "These men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals - these are the very things that destroy them" (v.10) "... they follow their own evil desires" (v.16)
Isn't it typical of God to give Cain another chance after his sacrifice was rejected? We see this incredible grace of God as a scarlet thread throughout the entire scriptures, reinforced in the letter to the Church at Laodicea (Rev. 3:20).
Rom. 5:20, "The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.
We are given the solution to the sin slavery problem: Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace (Rom. 6:14). We are no longer powerless over sin because God sent His own Son ... to be a sin offering (Rom. 8:3).
There is certainly a conflict of the two natures, the old man and the new: "The good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want." (Rom. 7:19)
CS Lewis has a lot to say about the conflict between the two natures in his brilliant book "Screwtape Letters":
"There is a subtle play of looks and tones and laughs by which a mortal can imply that he is of the same party as those to whom he is speaking. That is the kind of betrayal you should specially encourage, because the man does not fully realise it himself; and by the time he does you will have made withdrawal difficult"
and then Screwtape offers a solution to man's sin-slide,
"The man who truly ... enjoys any one thing in the world, for its own sake, and without caring twopence about what other people say about it, is by that very fact fore-armed against some of our subtlest modes of attack."
Do you single-mindedly desire to serve God and focus on Him to the exclusion of all else?
A rendering of Acts 1:8 shows us that as believers we have received power through the Holy Spirit to be God's witnesses, thus overcoming sin as we witness to the world. What then is the application of this discussion? Commit to live in the power of the Holy Spirit, desiring God and none other, being aware of the attitude of your heart and inclining your heart toward God more every day and resisting sin. "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)
Slow Fade by Casting Crowns
It's the second glance that ties your hands
As darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white are turned to gray
And thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade
Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattering leads to compromises, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises leave broken hearts astray
The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you're thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day
Oh, be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down in love
Oh, be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down in love
Oh, be careful little eyes what you see
Songwriters: John Mark Hall
Slow Fade lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Drawing credit: https://screwtapelettersjlams.wordpress.com/
Drawing credit: https://screwtapelettersjlams.wordpress.com/