Respectable Sins, Jerry BridgesChapter 21 - Where do we go from here?
This concluding chapter draws the threads together:
we need to be honest and humble enough to to admit our subtle sins in order to experience the love that comes through the forgiveness of those sins. But we must also face them in order to deal with them ... The first step in dealing with any sin to acknowledge it and repent in one' attitude toward it... (p178-9)Bridges recommends we look over the list of sins in the previous chapters and ask God to open our eyes to sins we have been tolerating or have even refused to acknowledge. "There is no substitute for honest confession of our sin as the first step in dealing with it" (p180)
And remember, that we must always view our sin in the light of the gospel and that,
our progressive sanctification - that is, our putting off sin and putting on Christlikeness - rests on two foundation stones: the righteousness of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Always look to Christ and His perfect righteousness for your standing and your acceptableness to God. Remember, if you are united to Christ, God sees you clothes in His perfect righteousness. And always look to the Holy Spirit to enable you to deal with sin in your life and to produce in you the fruit if the Spirit. (p181)I wonder which 'acceptable sins' have struck you the most in this series?
I think I am going to keep one main bible verse in mind as I try to deal with the respectable sin in my life:
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
Some things to think about:
- Which of your 'acceptable sins' challenge you the most?
- Remind yourself that you are loved by God and saved by his Son, and therefore you can flee from sin.
- Ask others to help keep you accountable as you flee from 'acceptable sins'.
That the end of this series - hope you have enjoyed it and been challenged by it, as I have.
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