“By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the
fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” (Pr 16:6
AV)
There are two items listed by which man can be
purged from his sin. There is one that
keeps man from returning to it. These
three, and only these three, are the key to a victorious Christian life. The saint that tries to live in the light of
God’s presence knows sin is his number one enemy. Sin, as tempted by Satan, the world, and the
flesh is the stronghold that keeps us from God’s perfect presence.
We can understand this truth by way of
salvation. The mercy of God is what motivates
His grace. The truth is our acceptance
of our need of salvation and the fact Christ paid that price. Fear is what makes us accountable to God and
understands our condemned status before a holy God. This fear is what leads to repentance from
sin. However, we can also apply this to
our daily walk with God. Leaving out one
or two of the three will results in succumbing to sin. Mercy means that God will never cease to
forgive the penitent sinner. As long as
we are sincere, we are promised upon confession of sin, that God will forgive
that sin. Mercy means God will not quit
on us. He will perfect that which
concerns me. Truth is required to understand
the why, how, where, what, and when of sin.
Knowing more and more is not a bad thing. Study of scripture will reveal the error of
sin, the motive of sin, and practical solutions to overcome sin. Fear is the ultimate foundation. It is our terror of, and respect for, the
LORD that will ultimately chase sin away.
We can try all sorts of solutions. We can try substance abuse to try and drown
out our guilt and sorrow over failure.
We can replace on sin with another.
Even without realizing it. We can
even go so far as to permanently end our struggles with sin in our own
way. But that won’t change the formula
above. It is only mercy, truth, and the
fear of God that conquers sin. If we
struggle without success, consider which of these are missing. Are we forgetting the limitless mercy of
God? Are we failing to spend time in the
word of God so that we can learn what our sin is, what promises overcome it, or
what practical steps can be taken to gain victory? Or, do we simply lack the fear of God that is
to be deep within the heart of man? We
should fear Him somewhat like we fear our earthly father. We love our earthly father. He is not our buddy. He is not our pal. He is our authority figure who nurtures and
rebukes us in love. This garners respect
and fear. The same us true of our
heavenly Father. We have made Him too
common. We need the old-fashioned fear
of God again. Awe and respect beyond any
other. If we do not, we will enjoy the
pleasures of sin without any regard to the Father who will most assuredly deal
with it whether we see it or not.
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