nature of man, nature of God

We can live without knowing the Lord and stumble.  We can find the Lord through faith awakened and walk in truth.  We also can find the Lord and yet stumble once again.  James gives us some insights into human nature in the first chapter of his letter.

James 1:¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. ¹⁵Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;

(This is man without God...he is prone to follow personal desires that lead him into trouble.)

James 1:¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. ¹⁸ Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

(This is the intervention of God in our lives that brings truth and life).

James 1:²⁵ But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 

²⁶ If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. 

(This is the choice we have after God has intervened.  We can be honest about our tendency to stumble and keep our eyes on Him...or we can take our eyes off Him and trip over our desires once again.)

I suppose we really only have two questions to answer: "Will we allow Him entrance to our hearts to begin a new life?"  Once we have the answer to this question the second question is "Will we walk in His strength or ours?"

Our salvation doesn't mean the end of our sin nature any more than being elected sheriff means you won't break the law because you are wearing a badge.  Our salvation shows us that we are destined to stumble unless we hold onto the one who has raised us to be His children.

 

blessings,

Rob Smith