September 2, 2010

• Sin is determined. Are you? (Judges 1:27-36)

  
  In the book of Joshua, Israel began to enter the promised land, and then in Judges we see Israel's continuing settlement, including their dealings with the inhabitants there. In Judges 1:1-26, we see how a little of how went for the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, but now let's move on to the last part of that chapter and see what happens to more a few more of the tribes (emphasis, mine, throughout this post; please also see Joshua 17).
  
  

  Judges 1:27 However, Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. 28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.
  
  29 Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer; so the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.
  
  30 Nor did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron or the inhabitants of Nahalol; so the Canaanites dwelt among them, and were put under tribute.
  
  31 Nor did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Acco or the inhabitants of Sidon, or of Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, or Rehob. 32 So the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; for they did not drive them out.
  
  33 Nor did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or the inhabitants of Beth Anath; but they dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were put under tribute to them.
  
  34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains, for they would not allow them to come down to the valley; 35 and the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim; yet when the strength of the house of Joseph became greater, they were put under tribute.
  
  36 Now the boundary of the Amorites was from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and upward.
  

  So there we see the same pattern of behavior continuing here from the first part of the chapter; like Judah and Benjamin these tribes did not drive out the inhabitants of the land.

  Well, all right, but before we get too hasty in judging (we all like to judge others, don't we?), for a little help let's go back and see what God had actually told Israel. Then we can see if Israel was walking in obedience to the LORD's commands or not...

  Numbers 33:50 Now the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, saying, 51 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places; 53 you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to possess.

  So now, how was Israel doing in light of God's commandments?

  Once again, what was it God had said?

  Was it not to drive out the inhabitants of the land, and, not just some of them, but all of them?
  Was there any Plan B given?
  Was there any allowance for Israel to put the inhabitants under tribute?
  Was there any allowance given for the inhabitants to dwell with Israel?
  Was there any wiggle room given regarding obedience to God's commandments?
  Was there any room for compromise with the enemies of Israel?
  Was this not an unqualified command?

  You shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places; you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it...

  You can't help but notice the absolutes there:

  drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you
  destroy all their engraved stones,
  destroy all their molded images
  demolish all their high places
  dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it

  
  All. All. All. All. Dispossess. That means Israel was supposed to get rid of them all, to get rid of any and everything having to do with idol worship.  No exceptions. There was to be no place left for any of those peoples. Nor was there to be any place for any of their idols or idol worship.

  Wasn't Israel's behavior utterly pathetic – and particularly so given God's promise to them:

  for I have given you the land to possess.

  How could Israel really possess all the land God had given them so long as the inhabitants continued to dwell in that land along with their own idols?

  The inhabitants in the land along with their engraved stones, molded images and high places are a picture of our own sin and our own idols.

  Israel's deliverance from slavery in Egypt and the entry into the promised land is a picture of our life in Christ: our deliverance from bondage to sin and the freedom we have to life lives given over to God.

  I'm going to unpack that a little...since many churches today don't teach a complete view of salvation in Jesus Christ and therefore many Christians don't have a full-orbed understanding of salvation.

  Salvation = Justification + Sanctification

  By grace through faith in Jesus Christ we have been saved from our sin. Many of you would say that, however, many of you may not have a good grasp of the two aspects to our salvation.

  The first aspect is our justification. By trusting in Christ's sacrifice, we've been cleansed from our sin, saved from the punishment and penalty for our sin and credited with Christ's righteousness. God has declared us not guilty because Jesus died in our place for our sin. That means we're no longer condemned, we have peace with God and are assured of an entrance into heaven.

  However, there's more to our salvation in Christ than that. There's another part of salvation that many churches leave off.

  That second aspect to our salvation is our sanctification. Our salvation from sin also means we have been saved from the power of sin. We have been set free from slavery to sin, so we might be slaves to God to put off sin and live holy lives. And God has given us all we need to do that by giving us His Holy Spirit. The Spirit is given to us so we might increasingly desire to be holy and be empowered to battle against sin and and idols (Philippians 2:12-13). All of us who have believed on Christ already have Christ's Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Now then: what is the character of Jesus Christ? Was He not the spotless and sinless Lamb? Does the Spirit of Jesus ever turn a blind eye to sin? John tells us that Jesus was manifested in the flesh destroy the works of the devil. Isn't sin a work of the devil? Did Christ die for our sin so we might continue in our sin? Didn't He die for our sin and rise again so we might be strengthened by His resurrection power to mortify sin? Didn't He die in our place and give us new life so we might live no longer to our sin and lusts but live to righteousness?

  The believer's attitude toward sin: "What shall we say then?"

  If you are a professing Christian and you tell me that God loves you no matter what, no matter if you are walking in known sin (yes, I'm talking about the more visible sins, e.g. -adultery, homosexuality, etc., but I'm also talking about the not-so-visible or more socially acceptable sins: lust in the heart, covetousness, backbiting, gossiping, etc. - in God's eyes sin is sin), I will remind you that with along with God's clear pronouncement of no condemnation to those who are Christians comes His clear commandment not to continue in sin. Romans 6 follows all of the first five chapters of Romans for a reason.

  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? . . .
  

  In the first five chapters of Romans Paul beautifully sets up the doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone – not by works.

  But then, just in case we're not clear about how we should live under grace, just in case we might take license with that grace God has freely given to us in Jesus Christ, Paul reminds us that we cannot continue in sin, that grace poured at Calvary can never condone or ignore sin or allow it to fester. The Spirit of holiness cannot ever dwell along with the spirit of licentiousness. We cannot serve two masters. We're either serving God or the devil.

  Therefore, if you claim to be a Christian and you continue to play with your sin and disregard it, if you treat your sin and sinful urges lightly, if you consider God's grace so cheaply that you are not grieved by your sin, if you are not seeking to purify yourself, if you are not seeking to mortify your sin, I will challenge you as to whether you are a believer or not and ask you to go humbly and with much trembling before the God who is holy, holy, holy, the God who is a consuming fire. We are to make our calling and election sure. Grace that allows us to disregard sin isn't Biblical grace. (Please see the end of this post for more on Biblical grace.)

  If you are Christ's, you will be bearing fruits worthy of repentance, and one of the greatest fruits will be your attitude toward your sin. You will be filled with godly sorrow such as Paul describes in II Corinthians 7. You will be seeking to put off your sin and wanting to confess and repent of it (e.g. - see I John 1:1-2:6).

  Yes, it's true that in this life we will continue to struggle against our sin because we are not yet saved from the presence of sin, but if you are Christ's your sin will grieve you, as it does the Spirit of our Lord.

  Read how David was affected by his sin (Psalms 32, 38, 51); the believer filled with the Spirit of God will be affected similarly. Groaning. Strength dried up. Heavy burden. Utterly bowed down and prostrate. No soundness in your flesh. Pleading for cleansing and restored joy. Are you affected by your sin in such ways? How can we not be affected in such ways? After all, the HOLY Spirit is dwelling in us.

  Your attitude toward your sin ought to reflect God's attitude toward your sin: God does not take pleasure in wickedness and evil cannot dwell with Him.

  Do you take pleasure in your sin or do you loathe it?

  Your attitude toward mortifying your sin ought to reflect the length to which God went to die for your sin: God sent His very own Son to hang on the cross.

  Do you seek to mortify your sin or do you to all you can to keep it alive?

  
  How often do we deal with our sin and our idols like Israel?
  Are we happy to dwell with our sin and our idols like Israel?
  Are we content to manage our sin rather than mortify our sin?
  Do we find a dwelling place for our sin rather than driving it out?
  How often do we think we've put our sin and idols under tribute and been deceived into thinking we're controlling them, only for them to come back and control us?

  (Please note: I am not trying to heap false guilt upon those of you who are already burdened by guilt over your sin and are seeking to put off your sin, to follow Christ and to be holy. I know there are some of you whose hearts are tender toward your sin. Praise God! That is a sign of a movement of the Spirit of God to revive the dry bones!

  However, it seems that the prevailing attitude in the church today is patent disregard for sin and a tendency toward licentiousness, that's why I'm writing this post today.

  For those of you dear souls who are under conviction of sin and are overcome by guilt and cannot grasp the love of God for you and the forgiveness and assurance of salvation He has given to you in Jesus Christ, I want you to know I have known those feelings, so I encourage you to see my post about Biblical mourning & true and false guilt, my series of posts on dealing with past sins and guilt as well as my posts tagged past sins & guilt and/or message me.)

  
  Sin is determined, but how determined are we?

  One thing that really stood out to me as I read that last part of Judges 1 was the determination of Canaanites and the Amorites (1:27, 34). We see how they were determined to dwell in the land that was given to Israel. We sometimes underestimate the power of sin, the flesh, the world and the devil, don't we? They are all determined to work us woe.

  Are we just as determined in our battle against our flesh, sin, the world and the devil?

  We know that Israel wasn't really determined...

  Manasseh did not drive out
  Nor did Ephraim drive out
  Nor did Zebulun drive out
  Nor did Asher drive out
  Nor did Naphtali drive out
  the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountains

  Israel wasn't determined enough to drive out the inhabitants of the land.

  And not only that, but we see that even at those times when Israel was strong, she wasn't really determined...

  And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.
  
  yet when the strength of the house of Joseph became greater, they were put under tribute.

  Here God's people are in a position of strength, they are given the opportunity to drive out the nations, and yet they settled for putting the inhabitants under tribute instead of fully obeying God's command to them:

  You shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their high places; you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it...

  Many of you might be saying: "Eh. So what? What's the big deal here? Seems Israel was in control, more or less, right? I mean, we do see Israel putting these inhabitants under tribute. So what if they're not driven out completely? What does it really matter?"

  "What does it really matter?"

  Grrr!
  
  Well, in the very first place this behavior was in defiant disobedience to God's spoken word. I certainly hope that's obvious to you. God's words are meant to be obeyed. All of them. We're not to pick and choose.

  In addition, there was another problem, and this was a big deal, a really big deal. Let's look back once more to Numbers 33:

  Numbers 33:55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell.

  So then, in the second place, we know that anytime we start entertaining sin, even the smallest sin, it gets much bigger than we might have conceived. A little sin begins to soon get out of control. (Well, there's really no "little" sin, is there?) The single lit match becomes a great fire. That quick look at the computer screen, that small inkling in the imagination, that half-innocent conversation, that drink, that bite of food, that trip to the bathroom, that look in the mirror and so on. You all have known it. And all of you know where that goes. It spirals downward.

  Proverbs 6:27 Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned? 28 Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared?

  If you've read the book of Judges, you know that to be the case with Israel. See now the sorry result – all because from the get-go Israel did not drive out the inhabitants and destroy all their engraved stones and molded images and demolish all their high places and dispossess them as God commanded, not soon afterward they began to forsake the LORD and worship idols:

  Judges 2:11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; 12 and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger. 13 They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

  If you've read your Old Testament (and if not, why not?!), you know that this is only the beginning of the deterioration of the worship of God by the nation of Israel which continues throughout the the book of Judges and progresses through the Old Testament and culminates in Israel being carried away from the promised land into exile.

  There's yet a third reason why this willful disobedience mattered. It showed that Israel lacked a true understanding of and appreciation for God's covenant mercies toward them. They were God's chosen people who were set apart to be a people holy to Him and to worship Him and Him alone. Our God is a jealous God. If they understood God's great grace and love toward them, they should have gladly followed through in obedience to His command to drive out the inhabitants and should have destroyed and demolished all the idols and any remnants of idol worship.

  Exodus 34:10 And He said: “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. 11 Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12 Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. 13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15  lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods.

  17 “You shall make no molded gods for yourselves..."

  I want to make it clear here that Israel's disobedience did not affect God's covenant with them. By definition, grace can never be earned and it's never deserved. Grace is always God's gift and it was granted to the nation of Israel. However, a heart of obedience to the word of God should spring from the heart that has received and knows the depth and wonder and glory of God's grace.

  Israel was chosen not because of any good in them, but because God loved them and was gracious to them! How sad they did not understand His great love and grace! How sad they did not take heed to His commandments and allowed the inhabitants to remain in the land, along with their idols and idol worship so their worship became polluted and depraved and tainted all because the peoples of the land and their idols became a snare as God had warned. How sad that they played the harlot. How sad they ended up becoming a reproach and a by-word.

  How sad for us! Don't we do the very same thing?

  How often do we disobey and disregard God's clear commands to us?
  How often do we entertain small sins thinking they really won't matter?
  How often do we take for granted God's covenant mercies for us in Jesus Christ and live how we please?

  We are to worship God and God alone and have no other gods before Him. We are not to be doing what is right in our own eyes, we are not to be letting the devil get a foothold. We are not to be letting sin dwell with us. We are to be vigilant and remember that sin is crouching outside our doors and is determined to dwell wherever we are.

  The very last verse in the book of Judges pretty much summarizes what happened to Israel as she continued the downward spiral into sin and idolatry:

  Judges 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

  Does that statement summarize your life?
  
  

  Are you doing what is right in your own eyes?
  Is Christ the King of your life or is sin reigning in your life?

  Do you really know and appreciate the depth of God's love, grace and mercy poured out for you at Calvary? Does your day to day life reflect that?
  
  
  These things became our examples. They remind us how we must be determined in the fight against sin.

  It's easy for us to look at the nation of Israel and point the finger at them, but isn't our idolatrous and sinful behavior even worse and more contemptible in the sight of God given the new life we have received in Jesus Christ?

  Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

  5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  
  12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

  14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

  By the Holy Spirit, we must be and we can be mortifying sin – driving out all the inhabitants of the land and demolishing and destroying all remnants of idols and idol worship and seeking to worship God. We must be determined in the battle – otherwise we will fall into sin and end up doing what is right in our own eyes.

  Are you walking in newness of life or are you making a mockery of the blood of Christ shed for you?
  
  Have you been delivered from the power of sin so you might continue in sin?

  Have you been delivered from the power of sin so you might continue to live as a slave to sin?
  
  Have you been delivered from the power of sin so you might allow sin to overcome and have dominion over you?

  In I Corinthians 10 and Romans 15:4, Paul reminds us that those who came before us are examples for us and the things of the Old Testament were written for our instruction. God forbid if we do not learn from them! May we not neglect this means of grace for us to grow in grace! Let's not become proud and blind and hard-hearted. May we have ears to hear what the Spirit has to say to us!

  Let's not forget that we are all prone to wander, we are all prone to very same idolatrous, compromising and disobedient hearts and behaviors that characterized Israel. We need to take heed, lest we fall like Israel. Thanks be to God for these examples. They are a gracious warning to us. Let us read and reread them with great humility and ask the Holy Spirit to teach and strengthen us to be determined in our battle against sin.

  Yes, sin is determined to dwell in us and to reign in us and to overcome. That's what the apostle Paul is talking about in Romans 7 and Galatians 5. There is an ongoing battle between sin and the Spirit of God Who dwells within us. But let us not despair! He who dwells in us is greater than the devil who dwells in the world. Through the Spirit, we have the power to say "No!" to sin and "Yes!" to holiness. God's commandment to us to be holy as He is holy is not burdensome because He gives us all we need to live a righteous and holy life in Himself.

  Yes, it's true that sin, our flesh, the devil and the world are all very determined, but by the grace of God at work in us through His indwelling Holy Spirit, may we be even more determined as we battle sin!

  How determined are you in your battle against sin?
  Are you allowing sin to have dominion over you?
  Are you putting sin under tribute rather than driving it out?
  Are you managing sin rather than mortifying it?
  Are you cohabiting with sin?
  Are you playing the harlot?
  Do you make light of the grace of God by continuing in sin?
  Does your sin grieve you?
  Are you striving against sin?
  Are you seeking to mortify sin?
  Have you shed blood in your battle against sin?
  What sin have you allowed to dwell in you so it remains a thorn and snare to you?
  With what fire and coals are you currently engaged?
  What sin have you put under tribute that you must drive out?
  How determined are you?

  ---

  Related:
  I John; Romans 6-8; Colossians 3:5-8; II Timothy 2:19-21; II Corinthians 6:14-7:1

  Letter 24 on assurance and fighting for joy (the Father's discipline)
  Fourth Sunday of Advent: Are you preparing Him room?
  Bible Reading: Job 2:1 - "Again" (To press on we must always be mortifying sin | John Owen)
  the visitor we can't ever entertain (mortifying sin)
  Things to Look for in a Church: Humility before God leading to confession, repentance & fruits worthy of repentance
  "You shall be holy to Me..." Bible reading: Leviticus
  you say you want Jesus
  my flesh lusts against the Spirit & the Spirit lusts against my flesh
  temptation
  Remember last year
  transparency in blogging & the struggle for sanctification
  Postcards from God in England: sanctification is gloriously messy!
  Excerpt from Lloyd-Jones on "Grieving the Spirit" - How may we grieve the Holy Spirit of God?
  Joseph and temptation: How he kept from falling
  Lessons about Spiritual Formation from H-O-R-S-E
  What is Biblical mourning? (Ash Wednesday)
  Ash Wednesday: Do you despise yourself? | Job 42
  Biblical mourning, assurance and false guilt
  Christian, are you bearing fruit in keeping with repentance?
  dedication 2010 (reflections on God's Word & God's grace)
  why we need a new heart (Bible reading - Matthew 5)
  Characteristics of true religion, # 2, part 2: Not of the letter but of the Spirit
  Bible Reading: Ephesians 4 and 5-The New Man
  my notes on Tim Keller's talk on idols @ The Gospel Coalition Conference
  Make war (Herod, blogging, appetites, the glory of God & the Word of God)

  Links to my series "Dealing with Past Sins & Guilt"
  Dealing with past sins & guilt: God does not despise the broken & contrite heart

  Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version¨. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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