The hardest verse I’ve memorized is Colossians 3:9. I only tackled it because I wanted to memorize the entire book of Colossians.
I enjoyed memorizing the first two chapters. However, when I got to chapter three, verse nine, everything in me wanted to quit.
Colossians 3:9-10 says, “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.”
The Lord had recently convicted me of what I liked to call “embellishing the truth” or “leaving out parts of the story.” These verses made me face the reality of what it actually was—lying.
Freshly convicted, I felt the weight of my sin. Guilt and shame tempted me to hide from the Holy Spirit rather than run to God in repentance. I knew I could not continue to memorize Colossians while living in direct disobedience to what it said, so I seriously considered quitting.
Are you ever ashamed to ask Jesus for forgiveness when the weight of your sin feels heavy? Are you ever tempted to hide from the Lord in shame instead of running to Him in repentance?
The Truth
Sin is serious. Sin does hinder our relationship with God. We cannot enjoy intimate fellowship with a holy God while living in willful disobedience to Christ.
This is the truth. We must acknowledge that our sin is serious to God, not something to take lightly. The gospel is not a license to sin without consequence.
When we recognize sin for what it is, feeling unworthy of God’s forgiveness is a right response. We are unworthy, having done nothing to earn the forgiveness of God. God intends our feelings of unworthiness to lead us first to repent and second to worship God for His great love and mercy.
The Lie
However, the devil likes to prey upon these feelings, tempting us to hide, stop praying, and quit memorizing. Our enemy tells us that we need to prove we are actually sorry and worthy of forgiveness before we can read our Bible or ask forgiveness from God. He wants us to think that God would not accept us now, in the immediate aftermath of disobedience.
He whispers in our ear, “the wages of sin is death” and then goes to great lengths to keep us from opening our Bible and hearing the second part of the gospel, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
When I hear the enemy whisper these words in my ear, I often think of these lyrics from a song called “Embracing Accusation” by Shane and Shane:
The father of lies coming to steal, kill and destroy
all my hopes of being good enough
I hear him saying, “Cursed are the ones who can’t abide.”
He’s right.
…
Could the father of lies be telling the truth
of God to me tonight?
If the penalty of sin is death, then death is mine.
…
Oh the devil’s singing over me an age old song
that I am cursed and gone astray.
Singing the first verse so conveniently over me
he’s forgotten the refrain:
Jesus saves!
The song the devil sings over us—that we are cursed and gone astray—is only half true. He sings only the first verse.
If you are a child of God, you were cursed and gone astray, but you are no longer under the curse of the law. You have been purchased with the precious blood of Christ, He has paid the penalty for all your sin, He has taken the curse upon Himself. (Galatians 3:13, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 9:14)
Jesus is not waiting for us to figure out our sin before coming to Him. He “did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:13). The only way to deal with sin, guilt and shame is to bring it to Jesus. If you simply ask for God’s forgiveness, He is faithful to cleanse you from all your iniquity.
It is a lie that you, a child of God, are without hope. It is a lie that the Lord will not forgive you. It is a lie that God will not enable you to overcome sin if you seek Him.
“The Bible will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the Bible.” (D.L. Moody)
Sin will seek to keep us from the Bible. But hallelujah, the Bible is able to keep us from sin. This is why we must read the Bible especially when we are convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit. When we read the living word of God we discover the undeserved forgiveness that Christ offers to sinners and the enabling grace of God to walk in victory and freedom.
If you are struggling to read the Bible because of the accusation of the enemy, I encourage you to find several scriptures that speak about God’s forgiveness and victory over sin.
Before you begin your quiet time, open your Quiet Time Companion and fill in the sections, Today I’m Thankful for, Prayer, and Remember. Give thanks for the cleansing blood of Christ, the power of the gospel, the victory that was purchased for you on the cross. Write out a prayer of repentance as necessary or a prayer of dependance and surrender. Under Remember, write down a verse you can cling to as you go into your time in the Word or a specific lie that you are believing and the truth that combats that lie. (ie. It’s a lie that my sin is too great for God’s forgiveness. The truth is that He has forgiven me all trespasses. Colossians 2:13)
Jesus Saves
The devil has intentionally forgotten the refrain of the song he whispers in our ear: Jesus saves!
Hallelujah!
We do not need to wait for our sin to be cleaned up before coming to Jesus. In fact, it cannot be cleansed apart from Him.
Instead of running and hiding when we are convicted of sin, we must run to Christ and confess our sin. We must ask Him to cleanse us from our iniquity and give us the power of His Holy Spirit to walk in victory and repentance.
When I recognized the resistance in my spirit to continue memorizing because of sin, I asked Jesus to forgive me and enable me to walk in repentance and freedom. He was faithful to do it! He does deliver us!
Dear sister, whatever it is—big or small—that is keeping you from going to Jesus today, call that out for what it is: sin. Call out the devil for lying to you about our God. And go to Jesus, casting yourself at His feet in repentance and worship.
Don’t allow sin to keep you from coming to Jesus. Instead, allow the Word of God to cleanse you and keep you from sin.