And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.1John 2:17
Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.1 john 2:3,4
This morning Pastor Stan laid out nine truths that can change your life. Rather than simply list them here, we will instead get to the point of his message and talk about true change. I highly recommend downloading and listening to the podcast of the entire sermon at http://fwclive.com/go/multimedia.
By simply examining the two passages from 1 John we can see that if someone claims to be a follower of Christ there will either be some evidence of a changed life over time or they are lying. The real question is, "how is this change accomplished?" How can we achieve genuine change in our lives without fake pious drama or legalism? How can you help someone change who has come to you for help? Lets dive into these questions now.
All behavior is based on belief. If you have sin in your life there is some lie you believe that allows that sin. Read Titus 3:3 and Romans 12:2. All sin starts with a wrong belief and beliefs are a condition of our mind. In both of these verses the mind is listed as the object to be changed not the behavior. Change always starts with our minds and how we view things.
Let me share a fictional example here, Bob. Bob, has trouble with pornography and lusting after women other then his wife. Bob received the gift of salvation six months ago. When he went to the man that had taken the role of mentor in his life he was told to stop looking at the pornography and to stop looking at women lustfully. Sounds like good advice. Those behaviors are destructive and clearly sinful. the problem here is that the mentor only addressed the behavior. Nothing about Bob's mindset towards women and sex have been changed. Even if Bob manages to stay away from porn and never has an affair, he will struggle all of his life with lust and sexual thoughts. This will likely lead to anger and frustration that will eventually come to the surface in some negative way. The real issue was not the porn or the lustful thoughts, it was his entire view of women and sex. until his mind/beliefs about sex and women are fundamentally changed he will never truly be free.
If the church is to help people really change, we must start by changing people's wrong beliefs. Trying to change behavior without changing beliefs first is a waste of time at best and a ticking time bomb in Bob's case above. The biblical word for a change of mind is repentance. Repentance means to change the way you think. If Bob had been taught true repentance, he would have understood that he needed to change the very way he thinks and believes about women and sex.
Pastor Stan also made the point that knowing the truth is not what sets you free, we must BELIEVE the truth and APPLY it to our lives. If I am on a long journey and I claim to be following you, you might question that if I am never behind you. If I am always looking for my own path you might not see me as an honest follower. Even if I know the correct path to reach our destination, that knowledge does me no good if I refuse to travel that path.
With all of this emphasis on changing our beliefs, we must remember that the fruit or evidence of our repentance is our behavior. Our behavior will change over time, if repentance has truly occurred. In our example above, Bob would not only be free from the pornography but he would be able to have healthy relationships with the women in his life. The safest place for any woman should be in the presence of Christian men.
In conclusion, if we truly want to help people change, we must teach and preach repentance. Real, biblical, brutally honest repentance. Whimpy platitudes about love and acceptance sound good, but without repentance freedom can never be fully realized. We are to love each other and we must accept the lost however they arrive at the door. But if we don't love people enough to preach repentance, than why bother.
I am grateful to have a pastor not afraid to preach repentance, and I am heartened to know that sin is simply a wrong belief that can be changed and not a burden to be carried the rest of my life.
Practical application? Look at your life honestly, find the sin in it and ask yourself what wrong beliefs need to be changed? Seek the help of someone you trust that has a mature walk with Christ. Get your head straightened out and live a life of real freedom.
Be Blessed
Recommended reading: 1 John 2
Podcast: http://fwclive.com/go/multimedia
