The Subtle Power of Sin

The Subtle Power of Sin

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2

I thought it would get easier when someone I love seems to walk away from their walk with God. I’ve lost track at how many of my friends have done this over the years. How can it be? How does it happen?

The answer is quite simple: sin is powerful. Sin is subtle. Sin wants to take us out. I shared this devotional from Daily with the King back in 2005, but it bears repeating and is a good reminder for ME!

I must realize that the closer I walk with God, the more subtle sin will become. The natural man does not hate sin as sin; he only hates the mess he has gotten himself into. But the disciple soon discovers that sin has great undoing power, the power not only to neutralize the present, but also to cancel the past.

Israel made a calf of gold and said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4). This was a direct contradiction to what Israel said earlier, “Thou has led the people whom Thou hast redeemed (Exodus 15:13).

Sin is ALWAYS a contradiction. It is the great no to every manifestation of God’s truth and power. Even more, it destroys the present benefit that past blessings have brought us. The great strength occasioned by the song of Moses was wiped out by the creation of the calf.

God answered prayer for me yesterday, and I found that I still nourished me today – until I made my calf of gold. Yesterday’s blessing is dissolved by today’s idolatry.

The subtle power of sin is that it prevents me from relying on my spiritual savings account. Sin not only defeats me, but it also strips me of my armor.

What is the defense against this insidious thing? Only my bedrock relationship with God. That is the one thing sin cannot change, remove or dissolve. God has vowed my salvation, not on the basis of what I experience, but on what His Son experienced for me. While sin can eliminate a day’s or a year’s growth in my soul, it CANNOT eliminate the thing that makes that growth possible – the vibrant, pulsating life of God!

Wow. I needed to be reminded of that this truth. I need to plaster it in front of my eyes as a continual reminder of sin’s subtleness. Don’t be another statistic. – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick

GPS – God’s Positioning System: Judges 13-15; Psalm 87; Proverbs 4

Compass Pointers: So how do we hold ourselves to a standard without becoming legalistic? By relying on the Holy Spirit for both direction and empowerment. He will tell us what to do to resist temptation and grow in holiness; and He will give us the grace to overcome and follow through - when we do as He says. If our disciplines are not led by the Spirit, they are merely dead works - good as they might seem.
Joy Strang

Navigation Rules to Memorize: Level 1: Proverbs 14:29; Level 2: Proverbs 14:25-30

Anchored to the Rock: Our lives must be as holy as our prayer. Andrew Murray