dealing with sin. 4.

To continue with our theme on sin... and to partner with Brian's awesome post on the sin of omission. (That post was awesome. I was saying "This is SO good!" out loud) I want to take a look at another step along the way of dealing with sin. So far we've seen the importance of:

1. asking God to reveal sin to us that we are blinded to.
2. repent/turn from the sin.
3. sin isn't just wrong deeds - sin is not doing what we are commanded to do.

Next: Read/Meditate on God's word.

Psalm 119:9-20

"How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes! With my lips I declareall the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delightas much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes;I will not forget your word. Deal bountifully with your servant,that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may beholdwondrous things out of your law. I am a sojourner on the earth;hide not your commandments from me! My soul is consumed with longingfor your rules at all times.

Psalm 37:31
[speaking of "the righteous man"] "The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip."

"It is the constant input of the Word of God that begins to fill up the mind and control the thinking, and that alone becomes the strength and resource in us that can resist the initial impulses of the flesh. "How can a young man keep his way pure?" By keeping his heart completely committed and guarded by the Word of God. Then in verse 10, "With all my heart I have sought Thee; do not let me wander from Thy commandments. Thy word I have treasured (or hid, or kept) in my heart that I may not sin against Thee." It is the Scripture that must be meditated on."

"Meditate on the Word of God. You are always studying the Word, studying the Word, learning the Word, learning the Word, meditating on the Word as you get the Word--so filling you up so that it, "Dwells in you richly," (Colossians 3:16). You will find that it controls you. And as you start into some kind of attitude of sin or some kind of act of sin, the Word of God will act as a restraint. When you feel the impulse of the truth you know, meditate on that, not on the enticings of the flesh and its pleasures. So watch for sin's subtleties and don't trust your own spirituality. Resist and oppose the first risings of the flesh and its desires to please itself, and meditate on the Word--the ingrafted Word, which is able to save your souls. "

-John Macarthur