Mariel

Many people have asked me about my girlfriend Mariel, and when they would get to meet her, etc. Well, this isn't as good as meeting her in person, but here is a small window into her heart and mind, via her latest blog post. Enjoy!

.................................................................................................................................................................

"This past Sunday in our bible study class, we were looking at the beginning of 1 John 3. Someone asked a question about what is meant by the practice of sinning since it is mentioned so much in verses 4-10. I have been thinking about that question all week and have been wanting to share where it lead me. This scripture mentions over and over that one who practices sin cannot be of God; "No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him" (vs. 6). "Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil" (vs. 8) "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God" (vs. 9) *taken from ESV

These verses are very intense. I was reading these verses and was wondering what this means for me, a sinner by nature, a sinner who has to fight my sin and weaknesses constantly and yet claims to be born of God... what does this mean for me?

I was having a hard time understanding how or where there was difference. In class somebody commented on how something that is practiced is something that becomes habitual and as believers those are the things we are striving to break and fight everyday through prayer, reading, and studying of scripture. Someone also used sports as an analogy. Athletes practice their particular sport constantly to become better at it. A sinner who is practicing sin, becomes better at the sin increasing their love for it and decreasing the desire to fight it. The word practicing became key in breaking this down.

A few days later I came across this excerpt from John Owen in a devotional our church did together over easter talking about the symptoms of sin:

A fourth dangerous symptom is when a man fights against a sin only because of the consequences or penalty of that sin. This is an evidence that sin has a great grip on his will, and his heart is full of wickedness. A man who only opposes the sin in his heart for fear of shame among men or eternal punishment from God would practice the sin if it were no punishment attending it. How does this differ from living in the practice of sin? Those who belong to Christ, and are obedient to the Word of God, have… a deep-rooted hatred of sin as sin to oppose to all the workings of lust in their hearts… Also, this defence will not last long… What gospel principles have not done, legal motives cannot do!*

This really helped me after wrestling with this question for so many days. Here are some more excerpts of the other symptoms that are talked about:

- "firm establishment over a long period of time and settlement as a habitual practice."

How will such a person be able to distinguish between the long abode of an unmortified lust and the dominion of sin, which cannot happen to a regenerate person? And how can he hope that it will ever be any different with him when he sees his lust fixed and abiding for so long? It may be that great afflictions or mercies did not dislodge it, even though these gained the special attention of your soul. These lusts may have weathered many a storm and prevailed under the display of a variety of ministries of the Word of God. If this is the case, do you think it will prove an easy thing to dislodge such a room-mate, pleading to stay? Old and neglected wounds can prove to be fatal, and are always dangerous. Indwelling lusts grow rusty and stubborn because they have long continued in ease and quiet. Such a sin will not be easily ejected. It will never die by itself, and if it is not daily killed it will only gather added strength.*

- "Another dangerous symptom is when the heart pleads to be thought in a good state, yet all the while allows the continuance of a lust without any attempt at its mortification."

When a perplexing thought of sin comes, a man, instead of applying himself to the destruction of it, searches his heart to find some good thing so that it may go well with him, even though the sin or lust continues to abide in his heart...To indulge in sin on account of mercy is altogether inconsistent with Christian sincerity. It is the badge of a hypocrite and is “perverting the grace of our God into sensuality” (Jude 4).*

- "A third dangerous symptom is when sin frequently succeeds in obtaining the consent of the will."

When the will finds delight in a sin, even though it is not outwardly performed, the temptation is successful. A man may not go along with the sin as to the outward act, yet if he embraces the desire of it in his heart, the temptation has prevailed… Men should not think that evil in their hearts is less serious because they are surprised that it arises. It is in their neglect of watching over their hearts that causes them to be surprised.*

This was very thought and heart provoking as it really challenged me to sit and search how I may still be continuing to practice sin, what I may still have in my heart that I may be harboring and unwilling to have weeded out of my heart. We must always be vigilant of our hearts and the sin that is always trying to lure us away from God and harden our hearts, because sin is ALWAYS working against us. That is my hope in sharing this. I am so thankful for my sunday school class and how God uses it to make me think, grow and change!"

* Owen, John. The Mortification of Sin. Ed. Richard Rushing. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2005. 58-61.