I live in Omaha.

Standing Firm?

Category: General

Dave and Bath

Below are some more excerpts from Jerry Bridges short yet masterful book "The Pursuit of Holiness".  Please read the excerpts and allow God to change your heart.  These words have been taken from Chapter 6:  "The Battle for Holiness".  If you ever think that you have "conquered" a particular sin, and then find yourself committing that very sin...these words are for you.

 "So I find this law at work:
   When I want to do good,
     evil is right there with me."
 

-Romans 7:21 

 "Deceit of the mind is carried on by degrees, little by little.  We are first drawn away from watchfulness, then from obedience.  We become like Ephraim, of whom God said, "Foreigners sap his strength, but he does not realize it.  His hair is sprinkled with gray, but he does not notice"  (Hosea 7:9)  We are drawn away from watchfulness by overconfidence.  We come to believe we are beyond a particular temptation.  We look at someone else's fall and say, "I would never do that."  But Paul warned us, "if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12).  Even when helping a fallen brother, we are to watch ourselves lest we also be tempted."

"We abuse grace when we think we can sin and then receive forgiveness by claiming 1 John 1:9.  We abuse grace when, after sinning, we dwell on the compassion and mercy of God to the exclusion of His holiness and hatred of sin."

"Knowing that indwelling sin occupies a heart that is deceitful and unsearchable should make us extremely wary.  We need to ask God daily to search our hearts for sin that we cannot or will not see.  This was David's prayer:  "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting"  (Psalm 139:23-24)" 

"Furthermore, we must never consider that our fight against sin is at an end.  The heart is unsearchable, our evil desires are insatiable, and our reason is constantly in danger of being deceived  Well did Jesus say. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation" (Matthew 26:41)  And Solomon warned us, "Above all else, guard your hear, for it is the wellspring of life." (Proverbs 4:23)

"But we are not of those who draw back to perdition,
but of those who believe to the saving of the soul."
 

-Hebrews 10:39 

Comments

    Add a Comment
    This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots. (see: www.captcha.net)
    Code in the picture:
    Your Name(*):
    Comment(*):