A Low-Sin Diet

by Nov 24, 2017Devotional0 comments

Proverbs 5:22 An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him.

      Well, at least I’m not as bad as they are. I tend to cringe in my inner being when I hear the personal justification for doing something ungodly or out of God’s will. Whether it comes out of my own heart or the mouth of another person, it is still wrong, wrong, wrong. How can we compare our personal self-righteousness with the personal self-righteousness of another? Whatever it is that keeps us bound to a sin cannot be alleviated by comparing ourselves to someone else who sins worse or more times than we do.
      
This is spiritual ignorance gone to seed. Our soul does not get brownie points for not sinning a bit less than someone else who sins. Rom. 2:21 You therefore who are teaching others, you do not teach yourself. You who are preaching that people should not steal, you are stealing! 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, you commit adultery, and you who despise idols plunder the holy place!
      We must be in a state of righteousness that has been given to us through faith in the blood of Jesus and the finished work of the cross. Eph. 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

      We cannot make up our own spiritual rules as we go along to justify our own interpretation of God’s word to suit what we want to do in the moment of temptation. We must overcome through grace and faith.
      When we use the world’s standard of ethics and social behavior as our template for righteousness, we are simply on a low-sin diet so to speak. It becomes as silly as the term “No added sugar” to the already very sweet sucrose, corn-syrup, and artificial sweetened snacks. It no longer matters that there is no added sugar to a product when the person eating it has been digesting spoonfuls of alternative sugars daily. 

      They may claim to be on a low-sugar diet, but we already know that strategy will go nowhere but up on the weight scale. Plus, people encounter more doctor visits for help with all the diseases that come with the high-sugar diet. As the above proverb implies the man is held captive by his own cravings for sugar or any other vice and the ropes catch and hold him addicted to it.
      A low-sin diet will have the same problem in the soul of a man when small compromises become commonplace. Like the man who has tricked himself into believing a low-sugar diet is good enough will eventually be nibbling on whatever comes his way because he has no willpower to stop. 
      If the word of God says not to steal, then don’t steal. Stop using so much of your employer’s time to catch up and answer all your social media updates. Use your own time during your own work breaks rather than steal company time. Col. 3:17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

      Someone says, “I don’t understand why I cannot get victory over this repetitive sin in my life. I procrastinate, and never fulfill a promise to anyone. I spend too much money on stuff I don’t need and end up short all the time owing many creditors. I waste too much time on frivolous things, ignoring the word of God. I just cannot get going in life.” Well, the Lord will help you fix it with an obedient heart and a mind for God. However, you have to want it. 2 Cor. 6:17 Therefore come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean, and I will receive you.
      
There are no half-measures here or part-time righteous acts for living that will conquer the sins in our lives. We cannot live on or with a low-sin diet. It has to be a no-sin lifestyle. That new lifestyle can only be received through Jesus Christ the Lord and all the work He did through the cross. 
      Don’t be fooled with alternative interpretations of what you know to be true in your own heart. If Jesus said it, then it can be counted on for eternity. John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. May God help us maintain a healthy spiritual and physical life. In Jesus name.

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