TWO WAYS TO REACT TO SIN
“[T]he problem of man with respect to God is not only the problem of the guilt of sin. Merely to be forgiven is not enough; we have to keep the law of God that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. [B]ut we have not kept it; we cannot do so, and we can only keep it in Him. He has kept the law for us” Martyn Lloyd-Jones (ref#211, p54).
“You can’t try to be better than you really are. [Y]ou try to re-create yourself by becoming spiritual. Jesus said that he came for sinners, for messed-up people who keep messing up” Paul E. Miller (ref#62, p33-34).
“Our first problem is that our attitude toward sin is more self-centered than God-centered. We cannot tolerate failure in our struggle with sin chiefly because we are success-oriented, not because we know it is offensive to God” Jerry Bridges (ref#244, p16-17).
Two ways to react to sin: concern to how it affects humans and concern to how it affects GOD: “In the one case, the heart is only mortified; in the other, it is truly humbled. The one is a feeling that deals only with others; the other is an emotion that has to do with God. Once the believer is solemnly conscious of acting beneath the eye of God, the gaze of other eyes barely affects him. Oh, how little do some who profess faith act as though they had only to do with God! How imperfectly do they look at sin as God looks at it! But if they lived more with the Lord always before them, how would they rise above the poor opinions of others! It would then appear a very little matter for them to be judged with man’s judgment” Octavius Winslow (ref#135, Apr 16th).
This is what happens to my sin when I concentrate on JESUS: I remember that I am a new creature—a person who does not desire to sin—a person who is more interested in maintaining a relationship with JESUS than striving to be righteous. Do I want to be right, or do I want to be with JESUS? For the more I love Him the more I want to please Him. St. Augustine one said, “Love God and live as you please.”
Bonnie's Prayer Affair 