Back to the Basics

There are some foundational truths that I tend to forget as a follower of Jesus Christ. I need to be reminded of them again and again. I need to regularly be spurred back on in my faith walk. I’ve been meditating on some of these truths this morning.

Perhaps you’re like me and find yourself caught up again and again in the mire of sin. Perhaps you’re like me, failing to live up to your Christian expectations. Perhaps you’re like me, aware of the greatness of your own sinfulness, and in desperate need of the Savior’s touch. Perhaps you’re like me and long for your heart to be stoked back into the flame it once was.

When I consider my heart, I’m reminded a little of that chocolate sauce you put on ice cream that hardens. Inside is a soft and tender heart, but my circumstances and my sin nature and the influences of this world coat my heart with a layer that slowly but surely hardens until it takes a hammer to break through it.

I hate it. I find myself like the apostle Paul in Romans 7:15 feeling like I’m doing the very things I hate, while the things that I really long to do are left undone. It helps to know that the greatest Christian of all times struggled a little like I do and perhaps you do too.

I spent the morning in Romans 5-8 and have jotted down these foundational truths as I begin a new day. Here they are:

1. I have been justified by faith. We sang a song at church last Sunday that has a way of sticking in one’s head. The main chorus goes something like this: Justified, just as if I’d never done anything wrong. Justified, all of my transgressions are gone. The Christian is justified by faith. The result is peace with God through Christ. That’s an unchangeable truth.

2. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. That’s a fact and it comes after a 3 chapter treatise on the ongoing struggle between sin and righteousness. Satan will point his finger in accusation and condemnation. Christian, hang your life on this truth. There is no condemnation to you in Christ.

3. I am dead to sin. It’s true. You may not feel like it. You may still be falling into daily sins, but the truth of the matter is that when you came to Christ He put to death your old self. Embrace this truth. But what about all the stuff I did yesterday? Listen, sin will always seize an opportunity to kill the Christian. It’s right there in Romans 7:11. It’s not a joke. But the truth of the matter is that Christ died for that sin. It has no dominion, or effect on you. Understand that. Live it. Breathe it. And make the daily choice to let Christ reign in you.

4. It’s impossible without Christ. No matter how good your intentions are, and no matter how strong you think you are, sin will win if you don’t turn the battle over to Christ. In Romans 7:21 Paul goes as far as to say that the more he wants to do right, the more evil lies close. We humans tend to think in opposite terms. We think the more spiritual we get, the older we are in Christ, the easier it gets. But that’s not what Paul is saying. The temptations get harder, but the rewards are sweeter. And the knowledge of the faithful Christ makes it more worthwhile. Lean on Him no matter your struggle or the number of times you’ve failed.

5. The Holy Spirit is there when we need Him. I love Romans 8:26. Memorize it and realize it. You are not in this battle alone. And where you don’t even know how to pray and what to do, He steps in and does it for you.

6. Where sin increases, grace abounds all the more. Unbelievable but true. Grace is after all my receiving what I don’t deserve. I don’t deserve God’s love or His forgiveness. I don’t deserve His acceptance or His pleasure. Yet He lavishes on me in Christ Jesus. That’s the key to the equation. Jesus Christ dressed me with His righteousness when I came to Him in desperation. He took my sin and gave me His purity. He took my filth and gave me His purity. I have been justified, and reconciled in Christ Jesus. Oh, how I love Him for it.

7. Lastly, it’s a daily battle. I’m studying Luke 9 for the Bible study I’m teaching. It says there that a disciple is to pick up his cross daily. The battle for holiness is a daily battle. It will not end until we come face to face with the Savior. But every day is a new opportunity to draw on Christ’s mercies. Lamentations 3:22-23 says it this way: “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are NEW every morning, great is your faithfulness.”

These are some basic truths, but they are foundational to our walk in Christ. My hope is that resting our minds on what Christ has done for us will melt that layer of hardness around our hearts and spur us on to greater longing for a deeper walk with the lover of our soul, Jesus Christ the Lord.

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