The Essence of Sin

Posted on May 12, 2019 by Stephen Nielsen

I just finished reading the book Spiritual Depression, by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. This blog is a short summary of the essential points of chapter two: The True Foundation.

The way I see the truths of this chapter is in the following outline.

 

Why Many Unbelievers Do Not Find Salvation

1. They don’t see themselves as a sinner. This may not be entirely true of every person, but for many this is their problem. They have the wrong idea of what sin is, or they see sin in a very limited way. They may see sin, or a sinner, as a murderer, or a bank robber, or an adulterer, etc., and so when they don’t see themselves that way, they think they are okay. They may think of themselves as better than most, and so they feel that they are okay. They feel no conviction of sins.

And this is a problem, because they have sinned and just aren’t aware of it. Hence, they don’t see their need of God or of His salvation.

2. They don’t know the essence of sin. People go wrong in their belief system because of their wrong idea of sin. They are not looking at the law of God, they are comparing themselves with others. And when they see that they are better than other, they think they are okay.

I like what Lloyd-Jones says about this. He says that to know ourselves as a sinner is not to compare ourselves with others, but to come face to face with the law of God. And what is the law of God? It is more than just the Ten Commandments; it is mainly this—Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy strength, and also, Thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself. If we are not doing this than we are a sinner.

Lloyd-Jones goes on to point out what Jesus said in John 17:3; that eternal life is to know God. Hence, he says that the essence of sin is not knowing God; it is not enjoying God; it is not living entirely for the glory of God; and it is not having a relationship with God. And so it comes down to this: sin is rejecting God’s offer of a relationship with Him. It is thinking that we do not need Him.

3. They think too much of themselves. If people don’t see themselves as a sinner, they will go on their way thinking they are good enough. But the moment they are faced with problems and sins, since they don’t know really what the essence of sin is, they will let sin get the best of them. They will try and try to be good enough, to conquer sin on their own, but will fail every time. They will say to themselves, I will overcome this problem; I can do it. I, I, I, I, I. So you see the problem. They don’t know Christ and don’t know how to trust Him.

 

But many Christians have a similar problem.

We have forgotten our first love—Jesus. We compare ourselves with others just like the pagans do. We don’t know the essence of sin. That is, we have neglected our relationship with Him. We fail to spend time with Him: to read the word and pray. And when we sin we do everything under the sun to better ourselves, but we don’t come to Him for help. This in itself is sin!

 

 

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5 Benefits of Forgiving Others

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Stephen Nielsen

 

There are so many benefits you can reap when you forgive others.  I will put them into five categories:

1. Forgiving others frees us from the consequences of not forgiving. When we forgive we avoid all the consequences we have previously discussed and more.

2. Forgiving others makes healing possible. When we learn to forgive, God forgives us and cleanses us.  And through that cleansing process He thoroughly heals us of all the pain that our anger, bitterness and resentment have caused us.  Moreover He heals us from disgust and rejection we feel from ourselves (from bad habits) and from others.  His cleansing and healing process is so complete that we will feel like a new person (2 Cor. 5:17).  

3. Forgiving others leads to the growth of relationships. What not forgiving has done to destroy relationships, forgiveness will do to develop and nurture relationships.  And that is because when we forgive others God works in us to restore our emotional health and our ability to love and care for others.

4. Forgiveness makes fellowship with God possible. This is the main benefit of our forgiving.  It is such a great benefit that all others seem nonexistent in comparison.  In fact, in the end, our fellowship with God will be all that matters.

5. Forgiving others makes power with God possible. Oh my brothers and sisters, how God longs to give us His power.  If we don’t forgive, His power remains locked up inside of Him.  But when we forgive, He in turn hands us the key to His own mighty power.  Then, whenever we choose, we can use it to unlock any of the promises of His grace.  For He has said to us, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (Jn. 15:7).

 

 

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Spiritual Depression by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: from Psalm 42:11

Posted on April 30, 2019 by Stephen Nielsen

 

I consider Martyn Lloyd Jones to be one of the greatest bible expositors ever. His book Spiritual Depression is one of the best I have read. As is true with most of his books, it is simply a copy of his sermons; each chapter consists of one forty minute sermon, twenty one sermons in this book.

As for my next few blogs, I have highlighted in the book what I consider to be key thoughts for me, and so, I will write on those areas.

In this first blog, in the first chapter entitled General Considerations, we will look at Psalm 42:11.

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God;

For I shall yet praise Him,

The help of my countenance and my God.

This verse, along with verse 5, is the text for Lloyd Jones’ sermon. It is a very basic idea that the Psalmist is suggesting, to help us with any sadness we are having. He tells us simply to talk to ourselves instead of having ourselves talk to us. Lloyd Jones says,

We must talk to ourselves instead of allowing ourselves to talk to us…Most of our unhappiness is due to the fact that we [listen to ourselves too much].

So when we feel sad we must say to ourselves: “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God.” Then also remind yourself of who God is and what He has done for you, and what He wants to do for you.

These self-talk exercises may seem like psychology, but it is very good psychology. It is bible psychology. And it will help our unbelief and our errored thinking. These days when we have so many false ideas swirling around in our head, we need to constantly tell ourselves of what is true and how God loves us. The whole problem with those who get easily depressed is that they are letting the devil take a hold of self and he is using our thoughts against us. We need new thoughts, thoughts that will give us new hope and a bright outlook on life.

 

 

 

 

 

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Why I Think the Antichrist Will Rise to Power in the E.U.

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Stephen Nielsen

Stephen Nielsen's avatarStudying Bible Prophecy

The man who will emerge as the Antichrist will probably be a military man, and will be possessed with power. And he will no doubt also be a leader in the government of the E.U. And, by the way, he could at this very moment be in the E.U. military or have some position in the government.

And I believe this strongly, because of what is said in Daniel 9:24-27.

“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. 25 “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be…

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Five Reasons Why Forgiving Another Seems So Difficult

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Stephen Nielsen

1. Pride. Pride I think is the main reason why it’s so hard to forgive. Pride makes it harder for us to trust God. We say to ourselves, I don’t want to forgive, and I don’t have to!  And so in our pride we cut off God’s help to us.

2. Fear. Fear also keeps us from His help. We say to ourselves, I’m afraid; forgiveness is too hard. Here again we are not looking to God for help; we are instead looking at our weakness, the giant who hurt us, and the huge problem ahead of us.

So pride and fear I think are the real reasons why forgiveness is so difficult and why we don’t forgive.  But I also want to give you three of the reasons (or excuses) we will give as to why forgiveness is too hard for us—so we can take a look at them and analyze them:

3. Suffering for another’s sin doesn’t seem just. Naturally we don’t like the idea of having to bear the penalty for another person’s sin.  We don’t like having to suffer for something they did to us—because it is so hard and seems unfair.  And so we don’t trust God to carry out His justice in His time.  We want justice our way and in our time—now, not later.

4. Revenge seems better to us. We say: It is only natural to want revenge.  If someone harms me it’s only right for me to harm him back.  So instead of forgiving and letting God be the judge we act as God to carry out our own idea of justice.

5. Keeping the separation seems safer. Richard P. Walter, in his book, Forgive and Be Free, talks about fear as being a huge barrier in forgiving a person.  He states, “…We may believe that forgiving the other person will increase the chances that he or she will hurt us gain.”3  Unfortunately, many of us believe this.  We think that if we keep distance between those that hurt us we are safer.

The problem with this is that even though we may seem safer, all the while the distance we attempt to create makes us more vengeful and bitter, causing ourselves even more hurt.  In the end we become a very bitter, angry person, incapable of love and kindness toward others—because we have learned only to create distance not to reconcile.

As far as our notion that we need to establish our own justice and revenge, let’s look at what the Bible says.  In Romans 12:9 it says, “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”

Our trying to punish or take revenge will do nothing for our pain.  It will only make the problem worse, because after we take our own revenge, we will have to suffer the guilt of our wrongful retaliation.  But if we let God handle it, then the whole weight is lifted off our back—guilt is removed, and understanding and love take its place.

 

3 Richard Walters, Forgive and Be Free, Healing the Wounds of Past and Present (Zondervan Publishing House: Grand Rapids, Michigan:) 1983, p. 43.

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Forgiving Yourself

Posted on April 17, 2019 by Stephen Nielsen

 

Forgiving yourself is what you will naturally do when you accept and receive God’s forgiveness.  When you are forgiven by Him, His forgiveness flows to you and gives you the strength you need to forgive yourself.

The reason why we don’t always forgive ourselves is because we fail to see that God loves us and cares for us and that He really wants to forgive us.  And so we fail to truly repent of our sins—thus the guilt of our sins remains with us.  Accordingly, because we are unable to trust the sacrifice of Christ for us, we feel the need to punish ourselves, to tell ourselves how dumb and stupid we are, to restrict ourselves from fellowship, and to wallow in our guilt.  Some have tried to starve themselves, and to cut themselves; some viciously mutilate themselves.  I think one of the more common ways people punish themselves is by trying to make themselves unworthy by committing sins, so that they will incur more guilt upon themselves, because the feeling of guilt is punishment.  We also will try to bring up in our mind past sins, to make ourselves feel guiltier.  I suppose there is no end to the different ways we try to punish ourselves—some ways we are quite conscious of, in others we are unconscious or half-conscious of.  But in all the punishments we inflict on ourselves, it is all straight from the devil and from an evil heart.

But it is all unnecessary and so tragic.  For Christ has already paid for our sins.  He gave His own life and suffered the worst punishment possible for your sins and mine.  There is no need for more punishment.  In fact when you do punish yourself God grieves, because you are rejecting His precious gifts to you—the gifts of forgiveness and joy and peace.  Stop punishing yourself today. Forgive yourself and enjoy His wonderful forgiveness and life—the life of peace that He has called you to.

 

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Why We Sometimes Don’t Feel Forgiven 

Posted on April 11, 2019 by Stephen Nielsen

 

 

God tells us in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  This verse doesn’t say anything about repentance, but I think it is implied; with true confession repentance will always be included.  But the point I want to make here is that God has promised that if we confess our sins—which implies that we also repent—He will forgive us and cleanse us.  So if we don’t feel forgiven after we say that we have confessed, I don’t think we should blame it on God, because He will always keep His promise.  The problem must be that we haven’t really, genuinely confessed and repented.

But you say, “I did confess; I did admit my sin.”  Yes, but did you repent?  Did you decide to change your life?  Did you decide not to sin?  You see if you are still committing the same sins without any changes, perhaps you haven’t really repented, and so you didn’t truly confess either.  True confession means to turn from sin, to stop being a slave of sin, and to start being a slave of righteousness (Rom. 6:19).  If you do that then you prove that you have really confessed, and He will forgive and cleanse you.  And on top of that, He will give you a new power for living, and for resisting sin and Satan.  Then through this new power you will feel His forgiveness.

So, if we don’t feel forgiven, the problem is not with God, it is with us, because we really haven’t repented.  And the reason why we don’t repent is because we aren’t looking at Jesus enough; we don’t see His grace enough.  Consequently, we don’t believe Him—that He loves us and wants to forgive us.  Instead we listen to Satan too much, and we get discouraged about our sin.  That’s what Satan tries to do—discourage us.  He constantly tells us that we are a failure and that God won’t accept us.  And so, in our discouragement we feel a sense of hopelessness, and we sometimes fall headlong into sin, which makes us feel even more unforgiven.

So, if you don’t feel forgiven, what should you do?  I think you already know.  You need to claim 1 John 1:9: to believe it, and to confess and repent immediately!  That means to agree with God about how rotten your sins are, then to make plans to stop your sin.  When you do that, you can believe, absolutely, that you will feel a new power and cleansing flood over your body and soul.

 

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How to Receive and Be Cleansed By God’s Forgiveness

Posted on April 5, 2019 by Stephen Nielsen

 

God’s forgiveness is a gift that we receive by faith.  Just as we were saved by His grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9), His constant, day by day forgiveness also comes by grace through faith.  We can’t earn it by works, nor do we deserve it; we receive it by faith.  And the way we begin to have faith in Him is by coming to Him in prayer with a broken and humble heart—to confess our sins and repent.  Then when God sees that we are genuine in our repentance, He will freely offer us His gift of forgiveness and cleansing.

But how do we begin to confess and to genuinely turn from our sins?  How does this happen?  Well, to begin with, God moves in us to change our heart.  But then when you feel Him moving you, it is up to you to respond.  You must trust Him, agree with Him about your sins, and repent.  That is what confessing sin is—agreeing with God about the badness of my sin.  It is agreeing with Him that I need to stop my sin and go His way.  Therefore, in order to be forgiven and cleansed, I need to listen to God, trust him, and do what He says.  And you can believe that He will always tell you to confess and repent.  That is the key.  As Ron Davis said in his book, A Forgiving God in an Unforgiving World, “When you live a life of free-flowing confession and repentance from your sins, God will faithfully, continually forgive you.”1  And then, along with His forgiveness, as 1 John 1:9 says, “…He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness.”

 

1 Ron Davis, A Forgiving God In An Unforgiving World (Harvest House Publisher: Eugene, Oregon, 1984), p. 39.

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Five Wrong Reasons to Fast

Posted on March 30, 2019 by Stephen Nielsen

 

In a previous blog post I gave twelve good reasons to fast, and I invite you to look at that post. In this post I want to bring to you the wrong reasons to fast, just to make sure we aren’t inclined to fast that way.  Here are five wrong reasons to fast.

1. As a form of religion or ritual. Arthur Wallis, in his book, God’s Chosen Fast, notes that in the history of the church, what was at first a matter of custom, such as the practice of fasting each Wednesday and Friday, became a matter of obligation.12  Be careful not to let this happen to you.  Fasting should always be a matter of love to God, never of religion or ritual.

2. To punish the body for sin. Some have believed that the body is evil, and in order to secure the purity of the soul we need to punish the body for its sinful desires.  That belief is clearly in error.  It is not the physical body that sins.  The body, with all its desires is good.  Sin comes from the heart and the mind.

Moreover, the Bible says that Jesus has already paid the penalty for your sins at the cross; and if you confess your sins (the sins of your heart) God is faithful and just to forgive your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:9). That is why we do not need to punish ourselves—in mind or body.  Thus the purpose of fasting is not to punish sin, but rather to help us control our bodily desires so we don’t sin.

3. To atone for sin and acquire merit. Fasting can never atone for sins or acquire any merit for God.  Jesus already has atoned for sins; therefore no merits are required.  Let us instead have a grateful and a thankful heart for all that Jesus has done for us.

4. As a matter of pride – to see how religious or disciplined I can be. We should fast to acquire discipline, but our discipline is to be used only to please God and to serve Him better.  We should never fast to appear more religious or holy, but rather that people would see Jesus in me.

5. As a form of protest. Remember when we were toddlers, how we refused to eat in order to get what we wanted?  Well, I would say that those who fast as a form of protest are just being childish.  Their behavior isn’t God honoring at all!      

 

12 Arthur Wallis, God’s Chosen Fast (Christian Literature Crusade, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania), 1999, p. 91.

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Fasting: Three Categories of Fasts

Posted on March 24, 2019 by Stephen Nielsen

 

When you pray, sometimes it is beneficial to fast. There are all kinds or types of fasts. Here are three categories of fasts.

 

 Fasts That Depict the Degree of the Fast

Normal fast.  This is a fast from food and drinks, but not from water.  It is the normal way to fast, and how Jesus fasted for forty days.

Absolute fast.  This is a fast from food and drinks, including water.  It is how Moses fasted for eighty days on Mount Sinai, and how Elijah fasted in the desert (both were miraculous feats).  There were other absolute fasts not miraculous, but were not much over three days.  For no one can naturally live for much over three days without food and water.

Partial fast.  In a partial fast, you would eat only fruits and (or) vegetables—like Daniel did.  If you have health problems, if you are concerned that not eating will make you sick or too weak, or if your situation does not allow you to safely fast normally, a partial fast is the way to go.  It is also how I would recommend that you start fasting if you are not use to going without food.

 

Fasts That Depict Who Is Fasting

Personal fast.  This is an individual fast and is to be a private fast—just between you and God.

 Public fast.  This is a fast by a group of people, such as a nation or a church.  It can be a regular fast (e.g., the Day of Atonement, which is one day a year), or a special fast (for a special need).  In the case of a special-public fast, the fast usually begins as the leader sees the need and calls the people to fast.  They may all fast together at the same time for a certain length of time, or, as is the case with some churches these days, those who are willing sign up to fast for certain meals on certain days until all the meals and days are covered for a certain amount of days.  The advantage of this method is that fasting is easier; but the disadvantage is that the intensity of the fast is lacking.  They certainly didn’t do it this way in the Old Testament—such as with the Nation of Israel under Jehosephat (2 Chron. 20), or when the city of Nineveh fasted (Jonah 3:5-9).  In my opinion we need to return to those days when they all fasted together—and what wonderful things happened as a result!

 

Fasts That Depict the Occasion of the Fast

 Regular fast.  This would be a fast that is set at a particular and reoccurring time, say once a week, once a month, or once a year. It can be a public fast (as on the Day of Atonement every year), or a personal fast.  I think it is important for a personal-regular fast that your fast be very private—only between you and God—because if it becomes well known that you fast regularly on a certain day of the week, e.g., you may become proud and arrogant and your fast will lose it’s purpose and it power.   Be careful also of being too legalistic about your regular fast, and never try to insist that others do it too.  On the other hand, if you have never tried fasting regularly, say every Monday, you may want to try it.  If you keep it a private thing it will produce for you huge spiritual rewards.

Special fast.  This can also be public or personal.  If it is a special-public fast, a leader usually will call a group to fast for that special need.  But if it is a special-personal fast then God Himself will call you to fast. And when you fast, there is no need to tell anyone about it; it is just between you and God.

 Involuntary fast.  Sometimes you don’t choose to fast; it is forced upon you and allowed by God.  I think a lot of Paul’s fasting was of this type.  For he was constantly in danger and shipwrecked, and many times he wasn’t in a place where there was food available.  This type may not seem much like a fast, but more as a trial.  Nevertheless, if you have a good attitude and trust God, it can bring a good result.

 

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