davidbowerkingwood

A Time for Preparation

(Only the Lord knows about the timing of events and He has them planned to the very second. The preparations discussed below can serve you well even if the potential Biblical dangers of the end times do not emerge in our lifetimes. These preparations can dramatically influence the entire direction and quality of your life on earth and are an accurate reflection of what God wants for you as His child.)

When world shaking events seem to be lurking in the not too distant future, hopes for making meaningful preparations almost seem like an exercise in futility; if the scope of a disaster is so great then most efforts to prepare for it can seem woefully inadequate.

There are, however, a number of vitally important steps that we can take as Christian men and women. Since we are involved in a spiritual conflict we should be mindful of what we are told in Ephesians 6:12 “¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” We would be very foolish indeed were we not to heed these warnings and avail ourselves of the resources God has provided for His children.

In Ephesians 6:13-17 we read, “¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit

In my last blog I mentioned Stephen; although he is only mentioned in a few verses of the Bible he has gone down in history as a man of faith and full of the Holy Spirit. In this brief account of Stephen the Holy Spirit is prominently mentioned; it was in the power of the Holy Spirit that Stephen was able to do what he did.

I then wrote, “I’m convinced that this remarkable grace extended to Stephen is also available to all of us who walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh.” The secret here is walking by the Spirit and not by the flesh. The one thing that can hamper our efforts to walk by the Spirit is personal sin. Personal sin quenches the power of the Holy Spirit, compromises our walk of faith and leaves us trying to operate out of our own strength and that simply will not work successfully.

Just How Big a Problem is Personal Sin?

It may be advisable to define what is meant by personal sin and fortunately the Bible answers that question in no uncertain terms. In Romans 14:23b it is written, “and everything that does not come from faith is sin.” Let’s think about that for a minute; does that really mean everything? Does that mean our feelings of fear, doubt, anger, impatience and uncertainty are sin; should we add to that simply seeing and evaluating life from a mortal, human perspective is that also sin?

Should all those normal human reactions be considered part of everything that is not of faith and therefore sin? I believe the answer to that question is yes, those things are sin; if they do not originate in faith they are sin. That tells us then the personal sin problem is really, really big and the Bible confirms that as well.

In 1 John1:8-10 it is written, “⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

Dealing with the Problem of Personal Sin

While verses 8 and 10 define the scope of the problem, verse 9 provides God’s solution to man’s problem with personal sin and that is confession of sin. In verse 9 we are told if we confess our sins; the Greek word for confess used here is homologeōmen and can be understood as to acknowledge or list one’s sins in agreement with the divine view point of the action or thought. We join with God in seeing the thought or action as sin and God will not only forgive us the acknowledged sin but also forgive or purify us from all unrighteousness as well.

There is no thought here of doing some sort of penance, there’s no crawling on your knee’s down to the end of the block and back or doing something else to earn forgiveness. Your forgiveness from personal sins is a free gift based on your acknowledgement of the sins. How many times a day should you confess your sins you may ask, as many times as needed to restore and maintain fellowship with God and a Spirit led life.

A Godly, Spirit Led Life

Is anything hanging in the balance, waiting for your confession of personal sin? Yes, but not your salvation which is secured by the power and holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is hanging in the balance is the ministry of God, the Holy Spirit in your life individually and the promise of the fruit of the Spirit as a characteristic of your life.

Unconfessed sin quenches the power of the Holy Spirit in your life while confession of sin restores the power of the Holy Spirit in your life; it’s as simple as that! Do you want the quality of life described in Galatians 5:22-25? “²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

We keep in step with the Holy Spirit by confession of our sins which permits the Spirit to operate freely in our lives. May it be said of each of us that we are men and women of faith and filled with the Holy Spirit.