January 29th

Are We There Yet?

Now I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do what is honorable, though we may seem disqualified. 2 Corinthians 13:7

What’s the craziest prayer you ever heard someone pray? I mean, something that you thought, Yeah, it’s good he’s praying to God, because it’d have to be God for that to happen!

Paul drops a prayer like that on us in our verse today. Did you see it? He says, I pray to God that you do no evil.

I mean, really? Like, did you even know it was possible to do no evil? Skip to the end of that verse and I think that’s how a lot of us come to church on Sundays, feeling disqualified. But hold on for a second, because as we look through this verse from beginning to end, you’ll see the key to actually living this out.

So first of all, do no evil. I mean, for that to happen, you have to want it. You can’t be sitting there reading this now like it’s just the break you’re taking in between sessions of looking at porn. You can’t just be sitting in church on Sunday, waiting to run out and sleep with your boyfriend or girlfriend. You can’t be waiting to sin and expect to do no evil. It doesn’t work that way.

But maybe you’re beyond just waiting to sin. Maybe you’re going through the motions of what’s right, but you’re heart’s not in it. Maybe you sing with the best of them on Sunday morning, but let me tell you something-there’s a huge difference between singing and worshipping. So where is your heart at? Which one are you doing?

And why are you doing it? Because Paul also reminds us that we’re not expecting to receive something for avoiding evil and living righteously. I mean, we can’t earn our way into Heaven or into approval from God. It’s by grace we’re saved despite the mistakes and sin, right? But that grace doesn’t give us permission to go live doing a whole bunch of evil things, knowing that we’ll be forgiven. That’s missing the point.

Because the point is that you are saved. We need to get this, because when we understand that we really are already saved and we don’t have to work for it, it frees us to do what’s right simply because it’s right. It frees us to do what’s right because who we are has been changed. I mean, if we’re saved then let’s act like we’re saved, not like we’re still drowning in the evil life from which we were saved, right?

Are you saved today? Then live like it, not to earn brownie points, but simply because it’s authentic to who you now are in Christ Jesus.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for saving me and changing who I am! I turn away from all my former, evil ways today and I ask for Your help to live out who I truly am-a person who is saved by Your amazing grace!