I joined the Australian Navy when I was 16. About 70 kids were lined up in 3 rows and we marched, kind of, to the barbers. The surfer with hair to his shoulders lost his mop. I had a haircut a few days before. It did not matter, I was also shorn. We then were marched to the uniform department where we were given everything we would need to have the appearance of being in the military.
Our first fortnight's pay went to purchasing a steam iron. In today's money, that would be the most expensive iron on the planet. So now I was a serviceman, legally, with ID card, uniform and a service number. I remember it still, R43497.
Was I a serviceman? No. The Navy took me out of civilian life. Then they set out to get the civilian out of me.
I was saved in 1971. I was immediately different, but I did not know why or what happened. Before, I could not read the Bible. Now I studied it every day. Before, I detested church. I realised immediately that I needed to go to church.
I did not have a great deal of help in those early days. I learned a lot by experience, often through failure. I had victory over some sin quickly. Other sins seemed impossible to overcome at first. In other words, I was much the same as any other new believer.
There are a number of contradictory views of the Christian life. Some believe it is a life of trying to do the impossible, that overcoming sin is too difficult. Some sit in judgement on those who struggle, like Moses on the mountain, symbolically breaking the stone tablets on the believer's head.
God has made provision in Christ for victory. The key is "in Christ". New believers are very often presented with a works focused, legalistic gospel. One preacher told us that Christianity is, "Read the Bible. All of it. And put it into practice." OK, so adulterers should be stoned to death. Yet Lord Jesus refused to condemn the woman caught in adultery. Lord Jesus fed 5,000 people with 5 loaves and two fish. I've not been able to do that.
The reality is that we who are born again have the power to overcome sin. However, because of ignorance and dependence on our own strength, many struggle to overcome. The typical response from the self righteous is that we should try harder. God's answer is to die. You cannot make a dead person do anything. And that takes care of the negatives.
However, the Christian life is not only about cutting out sin. It is also about practical, positive righteous works. It is about showing the fruit of the Spirit. For this, we need more than we have within our own power and abilities. We need Christ. When we let Him do the living, life becomes so much easier. We will not be infallible. No one is sinless in this life. Those who claim to be do not know themselves.
Our motivation is important. Some want to be sinless out of the wrong kind of fear. Fear itself is sin because it is not of faith. There is "fear" that is healthy reverence for God. Then there is the wrong fear such as the servant who buried his talent in the field.
We need to see that this life is all that we have to set us up for eternity. When I joined the military, there was a core set of training before we were assigned to our specialisation. The Navy then chose who did what. God has a process in this life that He uses to decide where we are placed in His Kingdom. Some give up everything in this life and gain great rewards in the next. Some live carelessly, and have little in the way of eternal rewards.
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose". Jim Elliot.
Our first fortnight's pay went to purchasing a steam iron. In today's money, that would be the most expensive iron on the planet. So now I was a serviceman, legally, with ID card, uniform and a service number. I remember it still, R43497.
Was I a serviceman? No. The Navy took me out of civilian life. Then they set out to get the civilian out of me.
I was saved in 1971. I was immediately different, but I did not know why or what happened. Before, I could not read the Bible. Now I studied it every day. Before, I detested church. I realised immediately that I needed to go to church.
I did not have a great deal of help in those early days. I learned a lot by experience, often through failure. I had victory over some sin quickly. Other sins seemed impossible to overcome at first. In other words, I was much the same as any other new believer.
There are a number of contradictory views of the Christian life. Some believe it is a life of trying to do the impossible, that overcoming sin is too difficult. Some sit in judgement on those who struggle, like Moses on the mountain, symbolically breaking the stone tablets on the believer's head.
God has made provision in Christ for victory. The key is "in Christ". New believers are very often presented with a works focused, legalistic gospel. One preacher told us that Christianity is, "Read the Bible. All of it. And put it into practice." OK, so adulterers should be stoned to death. Yet Lord Jesus refused to condemn the woman caught in adultery. Lord Jesus fed 5,000 people with 5 loaves and two fish. I've not been able to do that.
The reality is that we who are born again have the power to overcome sin. However, because of ignorance and dependence on our own strength, many struggle to overcome. The typical response from the self righteous is that we should try harder. God's answer is to die. You cannot make a dead person do anything. And that takes care of the negatives.
However, the Christian life is not only about cutting out sin. It is also about practical, positive righteous works. It is about showing the fruit of the Spirit. For this, we need more than we have within our own power and abilities. We need Christ. When we let Him do the living, life becomes so much easier. We will not be infallible. No one is sinless in this life. Those who claim to be do not know themselves.
Our motivation is important. Some want to be sinless out of the wrong kind of fear. Fear itself is sin because it is not of faith. There is "fear" that is healthy reverence for God. Then there is the wrong fear such as the servant who buried his talent in the field.
We need to see that this life is all that we have to set us up for eternity. When I joined the military, there was a core set of training before we were assigned to our specialisation. The Navy then chose who did what. God has a process in this life that He uses to decide where we are placed in His Kingdom. Some give up everything in this life and gain great rewards in the next. Some live carelessly, and have little in the way of eternal rewards.
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose". Jim Elliot.
