Freedom from Sin
6 min read
10 The LORD said to Moses, “Put back Aaron’s staff in front of the ark of the covenant law, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.” 11 Moses did just as the LORD commanded him.
12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! 13 Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to die?”
Numbers 17:10-13
The LORD desires to draw us into faith and the obedience that comes with faith. And so the LORD has left us with ample evidence of who He is and His great plan of reconciliation for the world in Christ Jesus for the sake of His glory.
For us, our first step of faith is to accept that evidence as true. And if you think about it, the evidence that God presents to us has to be of a supernatural nature. We are considering truths that are not evident in the natural realms.
And so for us, that evidence is the historical reality of Jesus Christ and Him crucified and resurrected. When we accept that evidence as true, we also accept that He is returning one day to do the things He said that He would come to do.
After accepting that evidence, though, there is another step of faith that has to do with our response to the truth of the evidence given. What is the attitude and the perspective we are to have concerning that truth? And from that attitude and perspective, how are we, then, to live?
The Israelites, when they were presented with the budding of Aaron’s staff, plunged into despair? Why? They were resigned to the idea that they would continue to sin as they had been doing and that, sooner or later, God would indeed destroy them.
But God did not present the budding of Aaron’s staff so that the Israelites would plunge into despair. God provided that evidence so that they would stop grumbling and so that, ultimately, they would not die.
When we are resigned to our sinful nature, the most natural thing in the world is for us to plunge into despair. And oddly enough, when we plunge into despair because of our sin, we become imprisoned by our sin, making us more likely to sin.
When we are resigned to our sinful nature, we act on the perspective that since we are going to be punished for our sin anyway, we may as well sin all the more! And so we live in the constant despair of our sin.
So then what is the alternative to being resigned to our sinful nature? It is to be resigned to God’s grace and mercy so that we might live.. Being resigned to God’s grace and mercy, we may still fall into sin, but we are no longer imprisoned by despair. Rather we set free from the condemnation of our sins, so that we might live in the hope of Christ and in His love for the glory of God.
What a difference a change in attitude and perspective makes for our lives..
Father, Your grace is sufficient, and Your grace is all that I need. You sent Your Son to die on a tree so that out of that tree comes freedom from sin, hope, and life. I thank You LORD for Your amazing love and amazing grace. Only, let me live for Your glory in the freedom You have given. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
