If We Believe, We Know We Can Follow

And by this we may be sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He who says “I know him” but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: he who says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

1 John 2:3-6

Faith is a binary proposition. One either believes or one disbelieves. There is not a third alternative.

Living according to faith is also a binary proposition. One either is living by faith or one is not living by faith. There is not a third alternative.

To believe in God is to accept God’s Law. To believe in God is to bend to God’s Will.

There is no exception to this. There is no gray area in this.

To believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is to accept both the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. To believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is to accept that, through Him, we are redeemed, the debt of our sins paid forever in full.

There is no exception to this. There is no gray area in this.

To accept God’s Law is to live in accordance with God’s Law. To bend to God’s Will is to act so as to further God’s Will.

There is no exception to this. There is no gray area in this.

There is, however, a problem: when we sin, we are not living in accordance with God’s Law. When we sin we are not acting so as to further God’s Will.

Should we therefore conclude that, if we sin, we do not really believe? If we are honest, we must admit that is at least a possibility.

We see the truth of that possibility everywhere. We see people hypocritically proclaiming piety and righteousness, while acting out venality and viciousness. At least for some people, they sin because they do not really believe.

Where does that leave me? I say I believe. I write weekly sermons about all that I say I believe. Yet I still sin.

Am I therefore a hypocrite? There are those who would say that I am. There are those who do say that I am.

What do I say? I say that I am a man. I admit that I am imperfect. I admit that I am flawed. I admit that I am fallen.

I say I need the forgiveness offered through Jesus because, being imperfect, being flawed, being fallen, I make mistakes. I screw up. I sin.

I am no more righteous, no more free from sin, than was King David. David sinned repeatedly. He was proud and boastful. He was at times lecherous.

Yet David knew his sins were sins. He knew when he had made mistakes, he knew when God had caught him out, and he owned his sins. He repented and asked God for mercy. He did not offer up excuses. He did not try to rationalize away his guilt.

David sinned—and yet David believed.

David violated God’s Law—and yet he knew when he had violated God’s Law.

David repented—because he knew he was in the wrong.

David was not perfect. David was every bit as flawed and as fallen as you or I. Yet despite his flaws and imperfections, David still trusted to God’s judgement and God’s mercy. Whatever consequences arose from his sins, David accepted that they were his consequences, and he bore them as best he could.

David reminds us of an important truth: Repentance does not make sin “okay”. We cannot sin on Saturday, repent on Sunday, and expect God to receive us kindly. Jesus Himself warned against being the superficial sort who mouths all the right words and does all the wrong things. Such people are not likely to be received into the Kingdom of Heaven, and it is easy to see why: if all they do is mouth all the right words, they do not actually believe what they pretend to believe.

Yet repentance is essential. We are going to sin on Saturday, and on Sunday, and on every other day of the week. That is the reality of being a fallen creature.

We are going to sin, but if we really do believe as we claim to believe, we know we have sinned. We know when we have not kept to God’s Law. We know when we have sought to defy God’s Will.

If we really do believe, we know we need to repent. If we really do believe, we know we need to change our habits as well as our thinking. If we really do believe, we know we need to be born again.

Most of all, if we really do believe, we know we can change, we can be born again. We know we are called to be constantly born again, transformed and renewed as Paul encourages us to be in Romans 12.

We know we have not followed God's Law, but we also know we can follow God's Law. We can turn from sin to salvation. We can turn from disobedience to obedience. We can turn from rebellion to righteousness.

My prayer this day is that I will always be guided to true repentance, true change, true transformation. My prayer this day is that I will be constantly be born again, constantly renewed by faith and by God. My prayer this day is that I will always turn from sin to salvation, from disobedience to obedience, from rebellion to righteousness.

My prayer for you this day is that you also will always be guided to true repentance, true change, true transformation. My prayer for you this day is that you also will be constantly born again, constantly renewed by faith and by God. My prayer for you this day is that you also will always turn from sin to salvation, from disobedience to obedience, from rebellion to righteousness.

If we really do believe, we know we need to repent. If we really do believe, we know we need to be born again.

If we really do believe, we know we can be born again.

To believe is to follow God’s Law. If we really do believe, we know we can follow God’s Law.