A Brief Meditation for the Month

August 2024

When Paul the apostle wrote his second epistle to Timothy, he referred in the third chapter to approaching difficult times when powerless formal religion would accompany a sinful lifestyle. Antinomianism (against or without law) would threaten Christianity. Timothy needed, therefore, to be aware of this and be prepared to stand fast in the truth as he had been taught, against this false Christianity. The concept of a godly, holy life resulting from the regenerating work of the Spirit of God producing a new creature in Christ Jesus, 2 Corinthians 5:17, would become unfashionable to such an extent that Paul told Timothy, “All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution,” 2 Timothy 3:12. As it was necessary for Timothy back in the first century to be alert to the difference between mere showy religion and genuine godliness, so it is equally important for us in this generation to understand the fundamental importance of a divinely produced holy life as evidence of a saving change in a person. James, in his little practical epistle, put it so succinctly: “I will shew thee my faith by my works,” James 2:18. While James did not expect his works to save him, he did believe they were an outward witness to his personal faith in Christ Jesus. Thomas Adams, the Puritan theologian, once stated: “He that hath a tight shoe and a tender foot is sensible of the least stone or rubbish got in; nor can he be at ease till he hath taken it out. The holy soul is troubled with the smallest error he commits and is so far from favouring sin that he will not pardon himself for stumbling against his will.” Saving grace cannot indulge or excuse personal sin but must, by its very nature, hate it, challenge it, condemn it, forsake it, and repent over it. If we understood the nature and heinousness of sin as we ought, we would fear it more than the torments of hell itself. The Lord Jesus Christ never ever committed nor condoned one single sin in word, thought, or deed, and if it is true that we are being restored by grace to his image and likeness, then there must be a corresponding hatred for sin to that of our Saviour’s. The Westminster Shorter Catechism reminds us that “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the Law of God.” The apostle John states it in similar fashion: “Sin is the transgression of the law” 1 John 3:4. In other words, sin is rebellion against God’s authority, the refusal to submit to the requirements of his law. Thus, there are sins of omission as well as sins of commission. Often, they are the sins of omission of which Christians are guilty.

The life of the Christian is a life of biblical carefulness. It was this personal carefulness which continually exercised the mind of the apostle Paul, who stated: “And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men,” Acts 24:16. Regrettably, largely due to failure in the pulpit, ignorance of the biblical definition of sin has led to looseness and carelessness regarding the conduct and lifestyle of Christians. The fear of the Lord appears to be an antiquated notion in this generation, yet the Psalmist reminds us: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments…” Psalm 111:10. While those who profess to be the followers of Christ ought to avoid all semblance of Pharisaic hypocrisy, they nevertheless seek grace to avoid anything and everything that harms themselves or others and anything and everything that is offensive to God. According to 1 Corinthians 10:23, even lawful things may become sinful when they are neither expedient nor edifying, and yet how little this is taken seriously. It is impossible to love God while in league and love with our sins.

G. G. Hutton.