Avoiding the trap — when life pushes us towards sin

Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin…
Romans 6:1-2, 6-7

Earlier we considered Jeremiah’s dilemma, experiencing “insult and reproach all day long”. And he ponders how to respond in a God-honouring way, and the temptation to react by refusing to speaking out any more: “If I say, ‘I will not mention His word or speak any more in His name…’ “

For Jeremiah, identified by God before birth to represent him, NOT to speak out would have been apparently wise, quite understandable, a reasonable choice – and knowingly disobedient. Not have been the most obvious sin in the book — but it is the more nuanced forms of disobedience which often trip us up.

Jesus’ teaching about the persecution and conflict that would follow His disciples reveals a subtle sin that the enemy sets up for us, and then uses in accusation. It is simply lack of trust. Being constrained by fear, rather than being led by the Holy Spirit, is a reaction rather than a measured response. Jesus emphasises repeatedly: “Don’t be afraid”.

The old reactions are ingrained — getting angry, finding someone to blame, saying the wrong things — and ignoring God rather than listening and trusting. But, as Paul says, the old reactions belong to the old self.

This is an encouragement to choose to respond, with God, rather than react independently from God. That way, we avoid giving the devil a foothold, a way into our thought-life and life generally, Ephesians 4:27.

Jesus warned that He would cause conflict

Matthew 10:28, 34-36, 38
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword…
… “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.”

Jesus was pretty up-front about the reality of hostile reactions — not everybody sees the Good News as good for them, especially if it threatens their status quo in some way.

Even families, He said, would be divided about what He represented.

Saying that He did not come to bring peace presents us with a problem. What, then, He did come to bring?

Foretold as the “Prince of Peace” with government on His shoulders¹, Jesus was announced as Saviour and Messiah by an angel accompanied by a heavenly host praising God for the One bringing peace to those on who His favour rests².

This is a fundamental truth and expectation — that “The Lord blesses His people with peace”³. In His final long discourse to the disciples, He promised them: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you… not… as the world gives”⁴.

But there’s a clue in the “not as the world gives” phrase, easily overlooked. So let’s look at it.

Peace with God is taking a position against the one who opposes God. Peace with God by definition is a rejection of Satan and his control — and that puts up a target for all the retributions Satan is known for, like confusion, conflict and slander.

Wind back the story three years and we have Jesus fasting alone in the wilderness, and having a series of encounters with Satan⁵. In the third and final of these confrontations, Satan shows Him “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour”⁶, and he goes on to say, that if Jesus would worship him (Satan) instead of His Father, he would (so he said – but he is is a liar on every occasion) allow Jesus control of those power structures.

There’s a lot of power and control in the world’s systems and institutions where sin, corruption and lack of submission to God puts them at the disposal of the devil. These might be human kings or rulers, and they might even be religious leaders — the Temple and Sanhedrin council was a case in point — but Satan had all he needed to pull their strings and use them for harm, and not for good. We see this same strategy today.

Jesus the Prince of Peace and proclaimer of justice to the nations⁷ is resurrected and ascended to heaven as Lord of Lords and also as Great High Priest. So our allegiance and deference to Jesus — just by itself — stands in opposition to every strand of ungodly control and corrupt administration, in the world or, sadly, in the less spiritual and more institutional dimensions of Christian religion..

Why does that mean His disciples will encounter conflict rather than His peace?

1. Many people will receive Him and respond to His love and the grace of His acceptance. However some will react against to the Lordship dimension of this.
2. Jesus in you or me — the Holy Spirit one with our human spirit — will stir up opposition from every spirit that is not submitted to Him. It is an unseen, unspoken, spiritual stand-off.
3. The mention of Jesus, as well as the presence of Jesus, brings into focus the reality of two spiritual kingdoms which are opposed. The kingdom of darkness is exposed by Jesus’ kingdom of light. Jesus taught about the “strong man’s house” and Satan’s kingdom,⁸ and went on to say, “Whoever is not with Me is against Me”,⁹. With Jesus, the common philosophy of the world is overturned: everything is not relative, there no middle ground, there exists no variety of paths to the truth. It is light or darkness, Him or the enemy of our souls!

That said, Jesus as Lord confers peace, wholeness, spiritual prosperity and inner joy on to those who are His. It is like joining a regiment on the front line: being shot at by the enemy is what happens — but this is a uniquely well supported and equipped regiment, led personally by the most highly decorated and personable commanding officer, who also has an unmatched record of victory.

1. Isaiah 9:6 [↩]
2. Luke 2:10-14 [↩]
3. Psalm 29:11 [↩]
4. John 14:27 [↩]
5. Matthew 4:1-11 [↩]
6. Matthew 4:8-9 [↩]
7. Matt. 12:18-20, Isaiah 42:1-4 [↩]
8. Matt. 12:25-29 [↩]
9. Matthew 12:30 [↩]

1. Exodus 3:14-15 [↩]
2. Exodus 19:5-6 [↩]
3. 1 Peter 2:5 and 9-10 [↩]
4. Matthew 9:37 [↩]
5. Matthew 10:1 [↩]
6. John 14:12 [↩]
7. 1 John 4:8, 16 [↩]
8. Romans 5:5 [↩]

Introduction

IT’S ALWAYS a the place to go for comedy scriptwriters, whether it’s the vicar in Barry where Gavin and Stacey have unwillingly attended church to hear their banns, or Peter Sellars the misfit country vicar in Heavens Above! Hapless ministers trying to illustrate the three-in-one of the Godhead can provide plenty of humour in trying to explain something quite counter-intuitive that really needs to be spiritually discerned. The three leaves of the shamrock, used by St Patrick in Ireland, or three strands of one rope, or three conductors which are essential for one electricity connection, are all good attempts which, however, are bound to fall short of illustrating the three individual, but indissoluble, Persons who are at the same time the One Person of the true God.

Scriptures that bring together Father, Son and Holy Spirit

There are more than 20 Scriptures that bring together Father, Son and Holy Spirit in one way or another and they’re not all in the New Testament. Isaiah, speaking of the Messiah to come, spoke for Him saying: “And now the Sovereign Lord has sent Me, endowed with His Spirit”¹ . Just those few words tell us quite a lot about the relationship. The Father doing the sending, the Son who becomes incarnate as man being able to be sent and be among us, and the unseen empowering of the Holy Spirit enabling natural man to rise above himself in supernatural ways.

The trinitarian blessing

And here’s a verse that everybody knows — in many churches people will say this to one another at the close of a service or meeting: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” This is a simple but profound statement about how we experience God:

• In the grace of what Jesus did for us, who are undeserving, and in the new life we discover in Him;
• In the love of Father God, knowing that we are loved and accepted by a Father who knows every detail of our lives and cares deeply about us, with us in the trials and difficulties and as close to us as we make ourselves close to Him;
• In the fellowship one-ness and spiritual kinship we experience by the Holy Spirit, so other believers who may appear very different, perhaps of another culture and colour and country, are one in the same salvation experience and the same values of Christian life. That makes the breaking of bread with others in communion (the same word as fellowship) a truly special and uniting time – one with each other and with God.

The Great Commission given by Jesus

Some of Jesus’ very last words were a commission to His first disciples, and by extension, to us, to concentrate on mentoring new apprentices, drenching them metaphorically and symbolically in all three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit² . Those who have made a commitment to Christ are commonly baptised in water and anointed with the Holy Spirit, as Jesus was, using these words of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as the headlines of the ministry that will grow in them

God is love – in three Persons

Perhaps to best way to grasp what the Trinity means, is in how we relate to God as three Persons who are one. God is love³ , and we understand what this means in the three distinct ways we encounter God and His love:

• The Father’s heart of care and generosity, seeing our needs before we say anything, and providing;
• The Son whose understanding love comes out of having this lived this life with its rejection and injustices and slander – He has seen it all, experienced it all, and become the remedy for it all, for us.
• The Holy Spirit and His upbuilding love which we experience from Him as Encourager, Helper and Revealer. If you want to understand the Trinity, The Holy Spirit is the One to ask, because it is something that needs to be revealed in your heart. Is your heart submitted to Jesus and belonging to Him? The Holy Spirit is the person who shows you Jesus, resurrected, alive and present with you now.

The mission of God by Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Finally, let’s take a quick look at the mission of God and how this is a team exercise between Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

God created the world, and saw it was good, but as we know⁴ sin entered, man became increasingly independent — and after the flood and Noah, a path of salvation was needed. The Father’s plan increasingly highlighted the Servant who was to come, the Son who would be given — and who would become that plan of salvation. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” Acts 4:12 NIV.

Jesus, the Son of God and the Anointed One lived his earthly life in total deference to the Father and therefore without sin, but then took on the mantle of sin in allowing Himself to be put to a cursed death. His self-sacrifice paid the price for all who would choose salvation and restoration with God through believing in Him. But who will choose? Who is aware of their rebellion against God and their need of a saving solution? Who can overcome their pride to call Jesus Lord? We have the Father’s plan, carried out by the Son, but the third vital element is the preparatory work of the Holy Spirit in calling people out of darkness into light, and His part in the process of grace, salvation and faith proceeding from God before they arise in a person’s heart, calling them to be born again into eternal life⁵.

Regeneration is a choice to receive Jesus, but it is a choice which is initiated by God with all three Persons of God involved.

1. Isaiah 48:16 [↩]
2. Matthew 28:19 [↩]
3. 1 John 4:8 and 16 [↩]
4. from Genesis 3 [↩]
5. 1 Peter 2:9; Ephesians 2:8; John 3:3-7; Titus 3:5. Romans 1:7; 1 Timothy 6:12 [↩]