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"The Greatest Tragedy is indifference"

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Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? Mary Oliver

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Stand Firm

1 Corinthians 15:56

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore my brothers/ sisters stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

What does it mean, "The Power of Sin is the Law?"  I contemplated this verse, thinking about our young women's bible study beginning tonight, wondering how I can convey the meaning of this important point in scripture.  I thought about the last twenty years of my christian life and how many of those years I tried so hard to be a good person and how often I failed.  So, the meaning of this verse?  Sin causes death, and the power of sin is the law.  This is what happens, when we see the power of sin in ourselves we desire to change, attempting various methods to make change happen.  I remember listening to christian radio and feeling so guilty, hearing things I was falling so short of every week.  But I kept trying-even having a small amount of success.  But there was also a great amount of falling short as well.

In the history of the church we see countless ways clergy have tried to get their flock to change  ..here are just a few:  moving location, entering convents, self harm (Martin Luther believed for a while if he flogged himself he could drive his sin away), depriving yourself of food, alcohol, obtaining education, attending seminary or multiple church services throughout the week, along with prayer, reading your bible.  On and on it goes, where it stops, nobobdy knows!  Some of this religious activity has brought people to actual insanity.

So what is the answer?  The answer is very simple..The POWER to overcome our sin is JESUS.  That is it.  Jesus died for that sin, but He did not stop there.  He told us He would send a helper, He talked about the fact that He had to go away so the helper, The Holy Spirit could come.  Why then do we try so hard  to achieve something that cannot be achieved?  Only in Christ and The Power of The Holy Spirt can we overcome!  I love the language of these verses: Stand firm, victory, let nothing move you.   It is in our proclamation that sin loses it's grasp.  We stand on the work that has already been accomplished.  These verses from Corinthians outline the problem; the power of sin, and then give the powerful punch when it says; "But thanks be to God!  He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."  And how do we apply that?  We believe it and stand firm, allowing nothing to sway us from that truth.  One more key?  Get busy serving the one that gave you this victory!  We stand in the knowledge of the truth, then we walk in it!   How can we add anything to that?

I pray I can convey this simple and profound truth to the young women attending tonight..how their lives will be so much more free if they just grasp the simplicity of the GOSPEL and Stand Firm in it's truth!

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