So, here they are:
What Causes Lasting Change in Us?
Possibility #1: Rules
This is the idea that, with better rules, a stricter or more
efficient regiment, or a more sound routine, I can tow the line. I can be better or get better in this
area of my life. Even the Bible says that rules are good. It's built right into the 10 Commandments, right after it says to "honor your
father and mother" it says, “that your days may be long in the land that the
LORD your God is giving you.”
Problem: The rule itself, though it is good, produces no desire in us
to actually abide by it. Knowing
that running is good for me produces no desire to run. Knowing that 14 cookies in a 24 hour
period of time is bad for me, for some reason, does not produce in me a desire
to avoid those cookies.
The Apostle Paul felt this as well at one point in his life:
"For I know that nothing good dwells in me,
that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the
ability to carry it out" (Romans 7:18).
So, perhaps we need something more relationally authentic than institutional for real lasting change...
Possibility #2: Fellowship and Accountability
We see that accountability and prayer, at least, cooperates
with holiness in several places in the Scriptures. It’s clearly seen in James 5:13-16,
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is
anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let
him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing
him with oil in the name of the Lord. [15] And the prayer of faith will
save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has
committed sins, he will be forgiven. [16] Therefore, confess your sins to
one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a
righteous person has great power as it is working.
Problem: Once again, we see an essential good of Christian living but not the sole, sufficient means of lasting change. Why? Because accountability partners are still human and capable of deceiving and being deceived. We are capable of playing the church game so precisely that our sins can remain hidden and unchecked by one another.
Possibility #3 is the Solution: The Revelation of a Holy God
In Isaiah 6:1-7 we see this proven by Isaiah's response to a revelation of God's Holy Glory. A revelation of God's Holy Glory causes lasting change in us:
1. By Magnifying His Supreme Value and Worth
Verses 1-3:
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
2. By Exposing Our Sin
Verses 4-5:
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
3. By Revealing the Only Sufficient Atonement
Isaiah 6:6-7;
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for."
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
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