We are in the middle of a three part series called "Living a Careful Life." This series calls for us to examine who we are at the very core of our being. Scripture states that we should be blameless. This means that God is calling us to be complete, sincere, or entirely whole towards Him.
When we are blameless before God, we demonstrate outward expressions that are pleasing to the Lord. Our outward expressions describe what we do. Last week we looked at two outward expressions--- walking in our house with a blameless heart and setting before our eyes no vile thing. This week we will look at the final two outward expressions listed in Psalm 101:2-4.
Just a reminder that the key verse for our series is Psalm 101:2-4. “I will be careful to lead a blameless life when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with a blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me. Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil.”
Outward Expression #3:
• The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me..."
In this statement David dealt with an important point in living the careful life--- our perception of sin. Our sin perception is simply how we view sin in our life as well as the life of others. David was clear--- he did not hate the men who committed the sin. Rather, David hated the sin itself.
There are two extremes that we must guard our lives against when it comes to how we view sin in our life or the lives of others. Deuteronomy 4:2 states, “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.”
Two-Extremes in Viewing Sin:
1. Legalism: Legalism occurs when we draw the liner tighter than the Word of God. We see a picture of legalism in the Pharisees of Jesus' day. The Pharisees were religious leaders who showed more interest in the outward appearance of man than the inward realty of the heart. I find it interesting that the Pharisees were so wrapped up in the rules and regulations of the Word of God that they completely missed the Word (Jesus) as He became flesh and dwelt among them. As a result, Jesus had the following words to say--- “Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (Matthew 23:26-28) Wow! Talk about a strong word. Today we act just like a Pharisee when we allow rules, regulations, traditions, and personal preferences to play an exaggerated role in our walk with God.
2. Liberalism: Liberalism occurs when we draw the line looser than the Word of God. A person who struggles with liberalism fails to recognize absolute truth as taught in the Word of God. This person has a "whatever is right for you is fine with me" attitude. Paul conveyed a much more serious view of sin in Romans 6:1-3. Paul stated, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” Today we embrace a liberalistic view to sin when we turn our backs to truth and embrace the cultural norm of "anything" goes.
The Biblical Response to Deeds of Faithless Men:
So how should we respond to sin in our life or the lives of others? The Bible provides a beautiful picture in 1 Samuel 15. In this chapter, the Lord went to Samuel in order to express His displeasure over the sin in King Saul's life. The Lord said, "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." (verse 11) Listen to how Samuel responded to the Lord. "Samuel was troubled and he cried out to the Lord all that night." (verse 12)
So what is the biblical response to viewing sin in our life of the life of others? Our hearts should be troubled to the point where we are on our knees before the Lord and crying out to Him for help. For just a moment, think about the difference this viewing process will bring into your life. Certainly it will help you guard against legalism or liberalism. This is true because you will not be overly focused on rules and regulations as seen in the legalistic viewpoint. And, you will not have an "anything goes" attitude as seen in the liberalistic viewpoint.
So here is the question before you. Have you fallen into the trap of legalism or liberalism? If so, humble yourself before the Lord and ask Him to give you His heart for the people in your life. As you do, you can know that God will break your heart over the sin in your life as well as the sin in the life of others. Once your heart is broken, you will be ready to go to your friends or family members in love and challenge them to embrace Godliness in their lives. However, during this process, please guard your life so that you are not tempted to fall into the same trap of sin.
Today please know that I love you and that I am fighting with you and for you! God has given me a passion for you to be complete, sincere, and entirely whole towards Him. Dear friend, do not stop short of all of Him, in all of you, for His glory alone!
Much Love!
Andrea@TVM
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