Psalms 25:4-5 ESV
“Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.”
When we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith, it is
not just to have our sins forgiven so that when we die we get to go to heaven.
It is so that we die with Christ to sin and live to him and to his
righteousness (1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23). And it is so we now live for our
Lord and not for ourselves ( 2 Corinthians 5:15,21), and so that we now honor
God with our lives (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and so we will no longer be
enslaved to sin (Romans 6:6) but live as slaves to God and to his
righteousness.
For our salvation from sin is all about death to our old
lives of living in sin and for self, so that we can now live new lives in
Christ Jesus, in his power and strength, in walks of holiness and
righteousness, in obedience to our Lord, and no longer walk in sin. It is all
about heart transformation and change and exchanging our old lives of sin for
our new lives in Christ Jesus where we now desire to live to please him and not
ourselves.
So, when we come to genuine faith in Jesus Christ, and we begin
our faith journey in Him, now our desires should change. Now we should want to
know his ways so that we can walk in them. We shouldn’t want to continue as we
were. It doesn’t mean we are going to be instantaneously perfect in every way,
for we are always going to be growing and changing and being conformed to the
likeness of Christ if truly we are in Christ by genuine faith in him. But we
should be moving in a forward direction.
And we should desire the Word of God and not see time spent
in the Word as a chore or as a drudgery. We should long to sit at our Savior’s
feet and drink in his words and then in his power apply those truths to our
daily lives. We should be enthusiastic about our times spent in the Word,
longing to hear from the Lord what he has for us next. And we might even keep a
journal of how he spoke to us and of how he wants us to apply that to our
lives. And that can serve as an encouragement to us in the future, too.
Psalms 25:8-10 ESV
“Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.”
I hear a lot of people speak of us Christians as “sinners
saved by grace.” They still refer to us who believe in Jesus as sinners. But a
sinner is one who practices sin. A sinner is one who is not saved. And a saved
one is now a saint, a holy one of God, not one who still makes a practice of
sinning. But they do this because their concept of God’s grace and of our
salvation is limited to forgiveness of sins and does not include deliverance
from slavery to sin. But we can, by God’s grace, live in victory over sin.
But this doesn’t mean we will never sin, but sin should not
be our master. We should no longer be living under the control of sin. And this
doesn’t mean that none of us could ever fall back into sin and fall away from
our pure devotion to Christ Jesus and need to be brought back. We could, which
is why we have all the warnings we do in the Scriptures. But the word “sinner”
or “sinful” by definition has to do with one who is making sin his practice,
which is not what the saved and sanctified should be doing.
And “sinners saved by grace” gives a wrong message, too. For
it gives the idea that all who profess Christ as Savior and Lord are all in the
same category. We are all still sinners, just saved by grace, which then sounds
as though we have permission to continue in sin and that there really is no
difference between those who are walking in holiness and righteousness, in
obedience to the Lord, and those who are still living in sin while claiming
Jesus as Lord and heaven as their eternal destiny.
But the Scriptures go to great lengths to make a definite
divide between those making sin their practice and those who are making
obedience to the Lord and holiness and righteousness their practice. For the
Scriptures teach that if we are still walking in sin, and sin is still our
practice, that we don’t know God, he doesn’t know us, and we do not have
eternal life in him, regardless of what faith we have professed with our lips.
But it is those who are walking according to the Spirit and not according to
the flesh who have the hope of salvation and of eternal life with God.
And so I believe this Psalm is making a distinction between
sinners and those who are humble and who obey our Lord’s commands (now under
the New Covenant). Yes, God does instruct those walking in sin in the way of
righteousness or else none of us could be saved. This is him persuading us to
turn from our sins and to follow him in obedience. But he also leads the humble
(the repentant) and the obedient in his ways, too. And so we need to walk in
his ways and do what he says.
A
Believer’s Prayer
An
Original Work / July 31, 2012
With my whole heart, Lord, I pray
To be Yours, and Yours always.
Lead me in Your truth today.
May I love You, and obey.
Lead me in Your righteousness.
When I sin, may I confess;
Bow before You when I pray;
Live for You and You always.
Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.
Life with You will never end.
You are with me through each day,
Giving love and peace always.
You will ne’er abandon me.
From my sin You set me free.
You died on that cruel tree,
So I’d live eternally.
Soon You’re coming back for me;
From this world to set me free;
Live with You eternally.
Oh, what joy that brings to me.
I will walk with You in white;
A pure bride, I’ve been made right
By the blood of Jesus Christ;
Pardoned by His sacrifice.
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