How can a young man keep his way pure? How can I overcome sin? How can conscience be cleansed? How can sin be got rid of? Can I make a fresh start? Can I be clean?
The Pharisees thought that they could be clean by external rules and Jesus rebuked that. The reality is that what drives our behaviour isn't our genetics, our upbringing or a million other external influences upon us. The real issue is our heart. What comes from the heart tells us who we are. And it tells us why we do the things we do. Putting in rules isn't going to change the heart. We need a fresh honesty about the state of our hearts and an answer that fits. Namely, God's gospel by which we gain new hearts and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit - albeit sin remains for now.
Too easy to think that I'm not as bad as I am. Too easy to think that a few rules will fix things, or a few New Years Resolutions. They fail because they can't deal with the source, and they only make things worse - feeding my sinful…
The Pharisees thought that they could be clean by external rules and Jesus rebuked that. The reality is that what drives our behaviour isn't our genetics, our upbringing or a million other external influences upon us. The real issue is our heart. What comes from the heart tells us who we are. And it tells us why we do the things we do. Putting in rules isn't going to change the heart. We need a fresh honesty about the state of our hearts and an answer that fits. Namely, God's gospel by which we gain new hearts and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit - albeit sin remains for now.
Too easy to think that I'm not as bad as I am. Too easy to think that a few rules will fix things, or a few New Years Resolutions. They fail because they can't deal with the source, and they only make things worse - feeding my sinful…