Does Sinless = Happiness? | Theocast Clips

Resting in Christ Amid Suffering and Pietism

There's some PTSD coming out of pietism. There was there was there was struggle. Where you wonder is it is it possible to live in the Christian realm and not be hurt and and to not struggle with your identity and struggle with your assurance and I can say with full confidence that that the only way to endure pain and suffering and the only way to endure strife and The frailties of this world is through resting in Christ so sometimes When we say things like that people think give up and just sit there and hum You know in a meditative sense and just rest in Christ rest in Christ rest in Christ.

No. That's not what we mean. So what's complicated about? What's complicated about Christianity is that our flesh tends to clutter and bring in Requirements that The Bible never does it Paul says is in the end of Colossians chapter 2 that we have all of these Asceticistic ascetic isms the systems that we'd like to place upon ourselves Thinking that it's going to curb the flesh because Justin our ultimate thought is this sinlessness brings joy.

Sinlessness, Joy, and the False Hope of Perfect Obedience

So what do we pursue we pursue to be sinless, but when that's impossible to do which it is we then become depressed. Because yeah, because now right so we think if we don't have sin then we'll be happy and we'll have joy actually Jesus describes thus in this way as we confess our sin first John as we run and receive mercy Hebrews 4 as We look for wisdom James 1 We are then given the means to actually have joy, which is to love your brother.

So in the midst of our struggle against the flesh spirit against the flesh flesh and spirit He isn't calling us to sinlessness for joy. That's impossible He says in the midst of your struggle against the flesh You're gonna constantly be called to lay it down and as you do I will provide you joy, and it's not Introspective it's not you laying yourself down for you.

He says consider other people more significant than yourself because that's where the source of your joy is think of it this way You're taking the love that God has showed you unconditional full of grace and mercy.

Grace, James, and the Joy of Loving Others

As.

James is dealing with this. I love this. He's dealing with the church like it by in like the end of chapter 4. He's like you guys I was created such a mess. But there's more grace. That's how he describes it as your struggle against this life.

He says there's always more grace, which means We don't have to try and reach perfection. To have the joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord can be ours because God's love for us is static. It does not waver.

This is first James. This is James 1. It does not waver. It's not due to change. So if God's affection for us is static It means we can always use that as it says in 2nd Corinthians 3 Looking at the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ Hebrews 12 looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faiths 1st Peter Chapter or 2nd Peter 1 where it's 9 forgetting that we've been cleansed from our former sins.

We're always looking to Christ and then we use that to motivate us to love our brothers and sisters. Which is where we find what I call a double dose of joy we get joy of knowing our safety in Christ and then we get a second set of joy in Giving that love and that grace to those who are in need.

Remembering Gospel Truth and Living Under Grace

Yeah a couple thoughts. I.

Think this is maybe gonna sound theoretical or ethereal and I don't mean it too because this is part of that like Recalling to mind things that are true and then it affects everything in terms of how I may have said that think on these things.

Yeah. It's a number of places in the scripture, right that we're to recall things. Think on these things, whatever one is. We need to continually remind ourselves that we are no longer under the law. As a covenant of works.

Amen. We are no longer under the law in the sense that it would condemn us and be our death sentence. That is a struggle for us because we are so prone to think of the law that way. Or and we're no longer under the law in terms of merit earning something.

We're no longer under the law when it comes to like I need to do well enough to escape punishment. We think in these terms if we could understand that we are not under the law, but are under grace. Right.

We've been set free. We are not now under the law as a as a condemnation or as a covenant of works. We're now under the law of Liberty. I Think that helps us.