2 Corinthians 7
“Since we have these promises, . .
.” That’s an important place to start
when we think of our lives as Christians. We spend a lot of time thinking about
how we should live, how we should act, and what we should do. To many people behavior
must be what sets us apart as Christians. This is probably why the charges we
hear so often as God’s people is that we are hypocrites. People think that the
place to start in defining what makes us “Christian” is our outward behavior.
Paul begins with God’s promises. Promises
God has made to us: that He will dwell with us; that we will be His people;
that our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake; that we too will rise from the dead
as Jesus did.
Christian life begins and ends with what
God has done for us.
Now am I saying that what we do and how
we live don’t matter? No, not exactly. As Paul goes on in this chapter he talks
about how we live. As he talks about not
regretting that the letter we call 1 Corinthians hurt them, he was also glad
because it brought about godly sorrow and genuine repentance. He points to
their earnestness, eagerness, indignation, fear, longing, and zeal. How we live
matters. God uses our lives in gathering people to Christ, building believers
in Christ, and serving the world as Christ.
To be clear, though, the things we do
matter because of God’s promises. These change us. The Holy Spirit is at work
calling us, making us wise unto salvation, revealing God’s love to us, and
empowering us to live in promises of things we have not yet seen our
experienced. And we are certain because God is the one making the promises!
When it comes to our lives being lived
and seen, there will certainly be hypocrisy. So we confess week after week, “I
a poor miserable sinner confess unto Thee,” all sins of thought, word and deed,
even sins done and things left undone. We are broken and don’t live the way we
should. We are (gasp!) sinners! But God loves us sinners, and Jesus died for our
sins. The Holy Spirit makes faith in us so we hold on to the promises – “I am
your God. You are My child. I have forgiven you.” Not because we are worthy, but because He
said so.
Lord, help me hold Your promises as my hope
of salvation in Jesus. Fill me to overflowing with the hope your promises give.
Amen.
Comments