Earnestly Contend for the Faith

Why Should We Earnestly Contend for the Faith

Jude instructs the Christian to earnestly contend for the faith that was once and for all times delivered unto us. Why is this so important? The doctrines of mankind confuse, divide, and lead men further away from the Lord and Heaven. But the teaching of the Holy Spirit is clear, unifying, and leads to righteous living and eternal life. Evil men creep into the church in order to fulfill their own lusts and draw people away from the Lord. The false teacher does not often stand up and announce his presence and intent. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Why is this so important?

Why is this so important?

Jude gives three examples of those who fell away. Those who were destroyed because of their failure to adhere to God’s will (the Israelites, the angels, and Sodom and Gomorrah). Those whose character was foreign to Christ-likeness. And those who murmured, complained, lusted, boasted, and were proud, more worried about pleasing men than pleasing God. Sounds very much like some in the church even today, doesn’t it?

So, Jude urges faithfulness. Keep yourselves, look for the mercy of Jesus unto eternal life, have compassion, make a difference in other people’s lives, pull the lost out of the fires of hell, and hate sinful defilement. Know that God is able to keep you from falling (which wouldn’t be necessary if you couldn’t fall away). So earnestly contend for the faith and be faithful.

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Baptism Means Immersion

Baptism means “immersion, submersion” (Strong’s Greek Lexicon). Baptism is likened unto a burial (Romans 6:3-4). The Scriptures state that it is necessary for salvation (Mark 16:15-16; 1 Peter 3:21), remission of sins (Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16), and for our being in Christ (Galatians 3:27).

Baptism means "immersion".

Baptism means “immersion”.

  • Romans 6:3-4: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
  • Mark 16:15-16: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
  • 1 Peter 3:21: “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
  • Acts 2:38: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
  • Acts 22:16: “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
  • Galatians 3:27: “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
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LO DIFICIL QUE ES SER UN JOVEN CRISTIANO

LO DIFICIL QUE ES SER UN JOVEN CRISTIANO

El autor aunque desconocido, describe en forma poética y breve la vida, ¿pero cuanto más la vida de un joven cristiano?.

¡Es difícil vivir la vida!

sobre todo, si hay que tomar decisión;

es más fácil quedarse sin hacer nada,

pero el precio está en crecer y ser mejor.

¡Es difícil vivir la vida!

pues cada paso es una nueva opción,

mas si no se pisa firme y duro,

la vida acaba por ser un barco sin timón.

El autor aunque desconocido, describe en forma poética y breve la vida, ¿pero cuanto más la vida de un joven cristiano?. Nadie dijo que esto sería fácil y aquellos cristianos jóvenes que llevan una vida sin problemas sin confrontar dificultades es muy probable como el poema lo decía al final “la vida acaba por ser un barco sin timón”. Ahora es mucho más difícil ser un joven cristiano que  hace 10 años atrás y lo será aún de aquí a otros 10 años a futuro. Este autor está convencido que dentro de la Iglesia del Señor la trinchera donde más ataca  el diablo es la juventud y quienes están; por decirlo de alguna manera, teniendo el combate más fuerte, más que cualquier otro sector,  somos nosotros los jóvenes. 3 Ataques específicos que pueden resultar mortales:

¡Es difícil vivir la vida!

¡Es difícil vivir la vida!

  1. LOS DESEOS. Hay demasiados jóvenes que piensan que tener deseos sexuales nos hace pecadores, inmundos, manchados y la realidad es otra. Dios creo la humanidad con estos deseos, claro entendemos la preocupación genuina ya que en la juventud estos deseos pueden parecer intensos y quizás, sí lo sean el problema no es tener estos deseos sino que  Dios desea aprendamos a controlarlos. Hay un gran porcentaje de jóvenes cristianos que entonan bellamente himnos el Domingo pero por la misma noche la pornografía los abraza, y lo difícil de este asunto es que si no pide ayuda para superar este problema, el joven por si mismo NO lo logrará. La vergüenza que causa tales acciones impiden que haya una apertura para con algún hermano de confianza al que se le pueda hacer esta confección y recibir ayuda de su parte. Quien escribe sabe de lo que habla, en el segundo año después de mi bautismo este problema me había alcanzado, y cada vez que me proponía dejar de hacerlo la tentación llegaba y al final terminaba lamentándome y culpándome a mi mismo por no haber podido resistir. Hasta que un día decidí que quería ser honesto y limpiarme de esto, le confesé a un hermano Joven mi problema (por supuesto él era de confianza) el hermano así llorando confesó también que sufría el mismo mal. Así que decidimos que cada vez esta tentación fuera a llegar nos íbamos a llamar  por teléfono el uno al otro y que íbamos a orar por teléfono hasta que la intención obscura desapareciera. Rodearse de personas es  otra buena solución o simplemente salir a caminar. Cuando ese momento débil llegue evitar estar solo, el punto es que al final de un año con esta táctica ambos jóvenes éramos libres de  tan horrenda y poderosa tentación. Seguramente algo parecido pensaba el escritor de Proverbios en 28:13. La pornografía pareciera ser un tema intocable, de mal gusto, sin embargo estoy convencido que hay que abarcarlo de manera directa ya que las consecuencias pueden ser muy graves y no hablo solo de la salvación. La pornografía afecta directamente a las neuronas de nuestro cerebro causando vacíos y muchos casos volviendo a la persona agresiva, casi repulsiva a todo lo amable o lo que ellos llamarán como “cursi”. También las afectaciones pueden verse plasmadas en el futuro para con la esposa o esposo, he visto muchos matrimonios llegar al divorcio, o incluso simplemente caer en fornicación con muchas personas muchas veces…simplemente esto es una cadena que va  arrastrando cosas cada vez más pesadas. Pero los deseos sexuales intensos fuera de control también afectan a aquellas parejas de novios quienes se aman mucho y quienes incluso han hecho planes de matrimonio pero esta razón, no les da permiso en lo absoluto a convivir sexualmente antes del matrimonio, solamente pienso en la idea perturbadora de tener que ir el Domingo a la Iglesia y verle a ella a los ojos sabiendo que he fallado al Señor, creo que esto es  tremendamente torturante. Cada uno de nosotros jóvenes cristianos que hemos de alguna manera probado la benignidad del Señor que hemos disfrutado de su paz interna sabemos que esa paz tiene un costo pero que al mismo tiempo es incomparable. 5 minutos de placer no se cambian por toda una juventud llena de paz y tranquilidad. No existe pensamiento más bello que guardarse puro no malgastarse sino reprimir todo ese desea para el día del matrimonio, y esto quizás no pueda sonar tan “cristiano” pero es la verdad desde el inicio  para ambos en Génesis 3:16.
  2. LA INDIFERENCIA. A menudo pasa muy desapercibida  pero es un asunto bastante serio. Como jóvenes muchas veces nos encerramos en nuestro circulo que llega a convertirse en un circulo exclusivo mientras los adultos observan afuera con respeto pensando: “Yo también fui Joven”. Lo cierto del caso es que en la Iglesia de Cristo no debería de existir indiferencia en ningún sector y no es que estemos en contra de las separaciones de edades para una mejor aproximación. El Señor Jesús en uno de sus más deslumbrantes sermones en Metro 7 enseña lo que nosotros conocemos como la regla de oro. ¿Que tal si aplicamos esa regla con Dios? ¿Que tal si somos indiferentes con la gente y al final esperamos que Dios sea compasivo con nosotros?. Sin duda alguna la indiferencia es uno de los males más graves que atacan a los jóvenes cristianos. Cada vez que se usa de indiferencia en la Iglesia, para con los hermanos, para con las actividades, para con la participación, es un pasó más hacía afuera hacia el  mundo. Quizás sea difícil  encontrar relación con aquellos hermanos que no son como yo- Joven- pero es algo en lo que cada uno de nosotros debía intentar hacer cada Domingo y cada Miércoles, al final usted necesitará ayuda de la persona que jamás pensó iba a ayudarle.
  3. LA COMPAÑIA. La indiferencia en la Iglesia terminará llevando al Joven Cristiano afuera y es simple una vez afuera ¡Está frito!. Lo que sigue es buscar llenar un vacío recurriendo a gente que no tendrán intensiones de glorificar a Dios. Aquí esta lo difícil del asunto. ¿ Como puedo yo como Joven ser un buen cristiano pero a la vez no morir de aburrisión? Es una pregunta franca y muy sincera. Hay hermanos y hermanas  adultos en la Iglesia pero lamentablemente no son maduros  y quizás han criticado a jóvenes por el pantalón del Domingo o por el peinado feo de ella el Miércoles y no han hecho un esfuerzo por tratar de comprender al menos antes de hacer la aproximación. La Iglesia se puede tornar sin duda alguna aburrida cuando hay ciertas reglas o sistema predeterminado de hacer las cosas, y no me tome a mal esto, no estoy hablando en lo espiritual, sino de los asuntos de opinión. La Iglesia puede tornarse aburrida cuando en vez de edificación lo que recibo son críticas, ataques y menosprecio por el hecho de ser joven. Sin lugar a dudas la Iglesia debe aprender la instrucción de Pablo en 1Tim 4:12 “Ninguno tenga en poco tu Juventud”, debe aprender a respetar y no usar la juventud solamente para degradar a alguien, pero la segunda parte del versículo es para nosotros los jóvenes cuando Pablo sigue la instrucción: “Sino se ejemplo, en palabra, conducta, amor, espíritu, fe y pureza.”, exactamente lo contrario a la inferencia. Bien la clave para no aburrirse por estas cosas y demás que habrá en la Iglesia, es hacerse de Jesus un amigo fiel, dentro de todos los amigos que tenga que El sea el numero uno, y pase lo que pase y digan lo que digan, mi mirada no está en ellos sino en mi amigo que también es mi salvador y consumidor de la Fe (Heb 12:1-2). Cuando Jesús es el amigo numero uno entonces entenderé que la Iglesia funciona exactamente como funciona una familia, que de hecho es la familia de Dios (Ef.2:19) y en las familias siempre hay problemas pero no por eso se deja de ser familia o simplemente decir: ¡Hoy abandono esta familia!. La Iglesia puede ser muy emocionante, por cada una de las deficiencias que usted vea intente trabajar usted mismo en hacer un aporte para corregir esa deficiencia y verá como se va a emocionar, también no existe satisfacción más grande que influenciar la vida de otros para lo bueno y lo positivo eso simplemente es emocionante, el estudiar la Biblia y unir pasajes, resolver aparentes contradicciones, responder preguntas, confrontar el error, edificar en algo que quizás la gente no lo había visto desde la perspectiva que usted lo está viendo después de un largo estudio… ¿Si esto no lo emociona, no sé que más podrá hacerlo.? Recuerde siempre 1Co 15:33 “las malas compañías corrompen las buenas costumbres” yo espero que usted nunca ponga a prueba este pasaje.

 

La Juventud en el Señor es bella, aunque puede ser difícil por los impulsos y las emociones fuertes que muchas veces no hemos aprendido a controlar, ¡Que gozo saber que estamos ofreciendo al Señor lo mejor que tenemos!, por supuesto no es que vayamos a recibir una paga diferente, ya que Pablo dijo: “La corona que me dará el juez justo y no solo a mí sino a todos los que aman su venida” (2Tim 4:8) Por estas palabras aprendemos que ni aún este gran apóstol ha recibido su recompensa y la recompensa que obtendrá será la misma que obtendremos nosotros. Pero más bien debería de llenarnos de alegría que los mejores años de nuestras vidas los entregamos al servicio del Señor, que mientras otros se divierten viviendo la vida loca los jóvenes cristianos peleamos con gran esfuerzo esta batalla. Es difícil, nadie dijo que era fácil pero si otros han logrado mantenerse hasta la vejez seguramente usted con Dios también podrá.

 

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Abraham Father of Many Nations

Abraham Father of Many Nations

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”

Preach God's Promise to Abraham.

Preach God’s Promise to Abraham.

Genesis 12:1

And so begins Abraham’s awesome journey of faith.  There is a reason God promised that Abraham would be the “father of many nations” (Gen. 17:5).   The Hebrews came from him through his son Isaac, while Arabic Muslims regard him as their ancestor through Ishmael.  And of course, all Christians are spiritual descendants of Abraham through Christ (Gal. 3:29).  No wonder his name was changed from “Abram,” meaning “exalted father,” to “Abraham,” meaning “father of a multitude” (Gen. 17:5)!  A study of the various promises God made to this great man reveals his importance to the overall plan of salvation revealed throughout the entirety of Scripture.

For example, the Lord promised Abram that his descendants would be “a great nation” (Gen. 12:2; cf. 13:16; 17:6; 18:18).  This promise was fulfilled when Abraham’s descendants through his son Isaac and grandson Israel became a nation of great numbers during their time in Egypt (Gen. 46:3; Ex. 1:7; Deut. 26:5), a nation which would become great and powerful under the direction of godly leaders such as Moses, Joshua, and David who directed Abraham’s descendants to faithfully serve the Lord.

Along these same lines, the Lord also commanded Abram to leave his country and family and travel to “the land that I will show you” (Gen. 12:1), the land of Canaan (12:5-6).  At that point God promised Abram, “To your offspring I will give this land” (12:7), a promise he kept centuries later starting during the days of Joshua (Josh. 21:43-45) and ending in the days of Solomon (2 Chr. 9:26; cf. 1 Kings 8:56).  This promise was based on the condition that Abraham’s descendants remain faithfully obedient to Jehovah (Josh. 23:14-16; cf. Lev. 26:14-45; Deut. 28:15-68).  Old Testament history reveals how Abraham’s descendants repeatedly fell away from the Lord and as a result repeatedly lost control of their land and were taken into foreign captivity (Judges; 1-2 Kings; 1-2 Chronicles; Jeremiah; Lamentations; etc.), with the ultimate destruction of their claim to Canaan delivered to them by God through Rome after they rejected Christ as the Messiah (Matt. 21:33-46; 23:29-39; 24:1-34; Mark 13:1-30; Luke 19:41-44; 21:5-32; 23:27-31).  After the abominations visited upon them by Rome in the latter part of the first century AD, Abraham’s descendants through Israel could never again lay complete claim to the land possessed by their ancestors.  Even today, after the United Nations worked to reunite Jews with the land known in biblical times as “the Promised Land” in an effort to help them recover from the horrors visited upon them during the Holocaust of World War II, Abraham’s descendants through Israel daily fight numerous enemies from the nations surrounding them in order to hold on to just a small fraction of the land originally promised by God.  Since the days of the Truman administration, many in this country and elsewhere believe that the United States and other allies of Israel should help her retake Canaan’s land primarily because it is the will of God.  However, political pundits and commentators who claim that Israel currently has a divine right to the land directly east of the Mediterranean overlook the fact that God’s promise to Abraham was conditioned upon his descendants continued loyal obedience to him, a condition which they failed to keep (Jer. 31:32).

Abram and his wife Sarai, or Sarah as she would later be named (Gen. 17:15), were childless when Scripture first introduces us to them (Gen. 11:26-30).  By promising to make of him “a great nation” (Gen. 12:2), God in effect was promising Abram “offspring” (Gen. 13:15-16).  After Jehovah declared himself to be Abram’s “shield” and promising him that his “reward shall be very great” (Gen. 15:1), Abram pointed out that he was still childless and that his current heir was his servant Eliezer of Damascus (15:2).  The Lord then promised Abram that “your very own son shall be your heir” rather than Eliezer (15:4), and then declared that his offspring would be compared to the innumerable stars of heaven (15:5).  Abram “believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (15:6), a passage quoted by centuries later by Paul to prove to Judaizers that one under Christ’s covenant were not required to do the works of Moses’ law in order to be justified (Rom. 4:1-25), and quoted by James to show that a person is justified by works of obedience to the commandments of God in addition to faith (James. 2:20-24).

Abram’s faith in God’s promises to give him offspring was not always constant, however.  This is shown in the numerous times he dishonestly presented Sarai as his sister rather than as his wife in efforts to preserve his life from those whom he feared would take it (Gen. 12:10-20; 20:1-18).  It is sadly ironic that due to Abraham resorting to lying because of a lack of faith that God would keep him safe in order to keep his promise of granting offspring to him, the son God promised to him would eventually follow his father’s sinful example and lie about his own marital standing in order to save his life even after God made him a similar promise (Gen. 26:1-11).  May Christian parents today heed this lesson and be warned about the power of their own example and the influence it has on our children!

Abram and Sarai’s faith in God’s promise to give him offspring was shown to be weak on another occasion when Sarai convinced him to obtain a child through marriage to her servant, Hagar (Gen. 16:1-4a).  This polygamous union resulted in the conception and birth of Ishmael (16:15-16), which in turn caused considerable strife in Abraham’s family both then and in the years to come (16:4b-6; 21:8-11).  However, God was able to use their weak faith and the sin that resulted from it.  Centuries later, he would inspire Paul to use the polygamous marriages of Abram, Sarai, and Hagar and the two sons that resulted from them to allegorically illustrate the differences between the Mosaic covenant and Christ’s covenant in order to show the superiority of the latter (Gal. 4:21-31).  He also used this sinful episode to fulfill his promise to make Abraham “the father of many nations” (17:5) by causing Ishmael also to be the ancestor of a great nation (16:7-12; 21:12-21).    Yet, the strife resulting in Abram and Sarai’s lack of faith in God’s promise is felt even today as we see Isaac and Ishmael’s descendants still at war with each other.  One cannot imagine how different the world would be if Abram and Sarai’s faith had been stronger and they had decided to wait for God to fulfill his promise to them on his own time (Ps. 25:3; 27:14).

On yet another occasion, Sarah’s faith in God’s promise was shown to be lacking when the Lord and two angels visited Abraham and he prepared food for them (Gen. 18:1-8; cf. 18:22; 19:1ff).  Even though God had already specifically promised Abraham that Sarah would bear him Isaac in their old age (17:15-19), Sarah laughed to herself when she heard the Lord repeat the promise to Abraham and wondered how she and Abraham could conceive after menopause (18:9-12).  Jehovah called her on the lack of faith shown by her laughter, even though she initially denied that she had laughed (18:13-15).  A year later, God fulfilled his promise to them in spite of her laughter and she bore Abraham a son in their old age, naming him Isaac, which means “he laughs” (21:1-7).  Interestingly, by telling Abraham to give the promised son that particular name even before the episode in which Sarah laughed (17:19), God proved that he knew in advance that Sarah would laugh at his promise…and yet gave the promised and the blessing of children anyway.  What a testimony to his love, grace, and patience (Matt. 5:44-45)!

In spite of these lapses, Abraham and Sarah’s overall faith in the promises of God stand as an example for us today.  Their faith in God’s promises was what prompted him to obey his extremely difficult command to leave their home and family to travel to an unknown and distant land (Heb. 11:8-9; cf. Gen. 12:1-5).  Sarah’s faith in God’s promises, even though proven to be weak on at least two occasions as we’ve seen, was still the reason the Lord kept his promise to her (Heb. 11:11-12).  As a result, she is the spiritual “mother” of Christian women who follow her example of respectful, pure, modest, quiet conduct today (1 Pet. 3:1-6).  Likewise, Abraham’s faith in God’s promise of numerous offspring gave him the strength to obey the extremely burdensome command God gave to test his faith when he told him to sacrifice Isaac (Heb. 11:17; cf. Gen. 22:1-12).  His faith in God’s promises was so strong that he considered that God would resurrect Isaac  in order to keep his promise to him (Heb. 11:18).  Thus, his faith exemplifies what true obedience to God is all about (James. 2:14-26), and the times when their faith was weak also serve as a warning for us to be watchful when we think we are strong (1 Cor. 10:11-12).

Undoubtedly the most significant and important promise God made to Abraham is found in the statement, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 22:18; cf. 26:4; 28:14; 12:3, NKJV).  Peter pronounced this prophecy fulfilled when Jesus, the Prophet foretold of by Moses, came to the Jews of his day (Acts 3:17-26; cf. Deut. 18:15-19).  Later, during the early days of the church, Judaizing Christians who believed salvation to be dependent upon adherence to the laws of Moses sought to limit this promise to those who were either physical descendents of Abraham or to Gentile Christians who were circumcised and kept the Mosaic commandments (cf. Acts 15:1ff).

This prompted Paul to address the issue in his letter to the Galatians by first stating those who have faith are “sons of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7), i.e., his true descendants.  God’s promise to Abraham that in him “all the nations” would be blessed was fulfilled when God justified the Gentiles by faith, proving that in a sense Abraham had had the gospel preached to him centuries earlier(Gal. 3:8; cf. Gen. 12:3) and that under the Christian covenant Jew or Gentile who believe in God as Abraham did are blessed just as he was (Gal. 3:9; cf. John 8:39; Rom. 4:11-12; Heb. 11:8-10).  Those Jews who tried to be justified by Mosaic Law (Rom. 9:31-10:13) would be “under a curse” (Gal. 3:10; cf. Deut. 27:26; Jer. 11:3; Ezek. 18:4; Rom. 3:10-19).  They would not find justification through works of the Mosaic economy which required perfect obedience, but rather through faith as the Old Covenant itself foretold (Gal. 3:11-12; cf. Hab. 2:4; Lev. 18:5).  Paul went on to clarify that true sons of Abraham would have faith specifically in Christ by pointing out how Christ “redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” via his crucifixion (Gal. 3:13; cf. Deut. 21:23; 1 Pet. 2:24; Tit. 2:14; Eph. 1:7).  Therefore, it would be only “in Christ Jesus” that “the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles” in order for them to “receive the promised Spirit through faith” (Gal. 3:14; cf. Gen. 12:3; John 7:37-39; Gal. 3:2; Acts 2:38-39).  This is why Paul would specify how the promises God had made to Abraham did not say “’And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ” (Gal. 3:16; cf. Gen. 12:7).

Paul later taught that the true heirs of Abraham are those who have become sons of God through faith in Christ (Gal. 3:26; cf. John 1:12; Rom. 10:9).  This happened when they put on Christ via baptism into him (Gal. 3:27; cf. Rom. 6:3-8).  This is why Christians “are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29).  May we preach God’s promise to Abraham to others so they may become heirs as well (Mark 16:15-16)!

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Little, Big, and Full Grown Sins

“Little” Sins, “Big” Sins and Full Grown Sins

Sometimes we mistakenly think of the magnitude of sins in a wrong way. We talk of “little” sins as being those which really do not “count” because they seem so innocent when compared to major blunders which only the most ungodly do. The Catholic Church even has the same view of sins which are characterized as venial and mortal sins.

Do little sins count?

Do little sins count?

When one has this mindset, he struggles to figure out how eating fruit from a tree in the Garden of Eden could be so wrong. How could such an “innocent” act be compared to the sin mentioned in in the next chapter where a brother kills his own brother? Surely, murder must be a greater sin than eating fruit.

The same mindset struggles to deal with the “little” sin Saul committed in First Samuel chapter thirteen. Saul had been king for only one year when he was confronted by the Philistine army which had 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen. Saul’s army had only 3,000 soldiers. The prophet Samuel told the king that he would come to the battlefront and make sacrifices to God to seek His blessing in the conflict. For some unknown reason, Samuel was delayed, and Saul’s army was about to flee even before the battle was begun. He knew he could never defeat the Philistines without the Lord’s help and, though he was not a priest, he went ahead and offered the sacrifice. How could such be wrong? If it was a sin, it had to be a “little” one. Yet God did not see it this way. Saul’s “little” sin caused the kingdom to be taken from the lineage of Saul.  Our view of “little” and “big” sins is often so wrong.

While the Bible does not use these words to describe sin, it does speak of “full grown” sins (Jas. 1:15). This verse describes the enticement of sin and the entrance into sin as the birth of sin. However, sin does not remain a “baby” sin. If it is not dealt with, it grows and grows in our lives. We often fail to realize that any sin can become an addiction. Peter described this process when he talked about Christians escaping the pollution of sin through following Christ but then are again “…entangled therein and overcome” (2 Pet. 2:20). Sin has remarkable power, and when we have waited until it grows we sometimes leave the Lord.

Joseph was enticed by Potiphar’s wife. He ran! Had he stayed he might have fallen into the bondage of sin. David was tempted and did not run! Look at the ruin such brought to his life and family.

“Little” sins may seem rather innocent when we are first enticed by them, but yielding to “little sins” from a heart set on ignoring God opens the door to the bondage of sin. When you sin, repent. Do not let it become full grown!

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