Knowing to Do Right, but…

Christians are often labelled hypocritical because they epouse a lifestyle that is more than they are able to accomplish themselves. They preach what the Bible says on a whole slew of things and then top it off with the teaching that this is to prove we can’t measure up to God, and yet this almost sounds like an excuse because even they fail.

One of the greatest of the Apostles stated that even he struggled with sin. “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” If Paul struggled with sin, certainly we can expect to struggle as well. But it’s not just partaking of an individual sin, it’s also not doing something that we know we should! James states that “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” This is a tall order for a Christian who claims to follow Christ.

In a way, though, this is what Christianity is all about. Now I have you reading that sentence again. I’ll wait until you’ve digested it. Christianity is all about the fact that we cannot, in and of ourselves, be holy. There are many people in the world today trying to be perfect (or believing they are). Their report cards should convince them otherwise! Truly, many of us believe or believed that we were good (or at least average people) and doing good. We tend not to think of ourselves as bad. And yet it is the very moment that we come up against a temptation or commision of a sin that we are keenly aware of just the type of person we are.

It is at this point that we have to come to grips with the fact that we are not able to do right, and that we need a Savior. It is here that we realize that we cannot do it alone, and it is here where a Christian differs from others– we recognize our shortcomings and look to Him. It is in this that we are not hypocritical. We believe that we are bound by this flesh and will not be perfected until we see Him.

Take comfort that He has overcome the world, and that we can be free from sin but only by His grace and mercy.