When Should a Humble Person Talk About Themselves? Psalm 107:2

People of faith value humility and don't feel it right to talk about their experiences, but is that what the Bible teaches? The answer is in Psalm 107:2.

"Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story- those he redeemed from the hand of the foe." Psalm 107:2

REDEEMED
To redeem something is to buy it back. It means to pay the price to get something or someone released. When you come to God, you are redeemed from the demands of justice against your sins.

This word is in the past tense. These redeemed are already redeemed; they are not hoping for salvation someday but have already received salvation.

OF THE LORD
We are not able to be our own redeemer from sin and its judgment since even our most righteous deeds are contaminated and not good enough to pay for sin, but God is righteous and is able to make redemption a reality for anyone who receives it. Since he has become our redeemer, he claims ownership of the redeemed. He says we are his, and the foe has no claim on us.

TELL THEIR STORY
The testimony of those who have been freed from sin is powerful enough to change the world. People need what the redeemed have: healing, restoration, salvation, forgiveness, and love. When we tell our story, we are the light they need.

The telling of the story of God's deliverance is an act of worship since it acknowledges who he is and what he has done. It is also an act of gratitude and should be proclaimed with thankfulness.

FOE
The context of the verse discusses historical events and cultural experiences of ancient times, but it applies perfectly to our lives today. We have a foe in sin. Sin has put us in bondage and corrupted our world. Sin brings us into judgment since it must be punished, but Our Lord has paid the bondage price in his own blood by his death and has taken our punishment. He has freed us and called us his own.

LET THE REDEEMED TELL
The Lord's redeemed have a wonderful message of light and hope, and we should encourage each other to tell it to this dark and needy world.

If you are uncertain that you are redeemed by the Lord, click here to read my other blog about salvation.

(c) Adron Dozat 10/26/14

Should We Confess Other People's Sins? Ezra 9:5,6

People think the Old Testament prophets just went around condemning sin and proclaiming judgment, but these verses, Ezra 9:5-6, show they did something much more important, something which we all can do.

“Then at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God, and prayed, ‘O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens.”  Ezra 9:5-6

OTHER'S SIN
Ezra could have addressed people's sins in many ways. He could have brought judgment on the people, cast the sinners out, or preached against their sin.

Often when we see someone doing wrong we do nothing, we nurse a critical attitude or vent with rude words at the wrongdoer.

INSTEAD EZRA
Not Ezra, he confesses their sin. Most of Ezra 9 is the prayer of confession. He uses words like "our," "we," and "us." He could have said, "this person," "them," or "they" to distance himself and the sinners, but he confesses their sins as if they were his own.

We should pray about and bring before God the sins of our family, friends, and country. The ministry of prayer is the responsibility of every believer. Parents should pray about their kids' sins. We should confess the sins of our community and country.

WHY DON'T WE?
Why don’t we confess the sins and pray for those around us? Ezra was, too ashamed and disgraced to lift up his face, but we have no sense of shame and disgrace that the saints of old had. Instead, we justify sins, argue them into a good thing, we blame our sin on others, culture, lack of education and, too much sugar. We need God to change our hearts about the very nature of sin.

CONFESSION
We need to confess our own sins and turn from them. We must ask God to show us the sin we refuse to see. Our God is holy God and justly requires it. Those who confess the sins of family and friends soon find more wickedness in themselves to confess than what they see in others.

Let's be like Ezra who was so desperate for God to forgive the sins of the people that he mourned and abased himself in sorrow before the Lord for the sins of the people. We all have issues with the injustices in our society, we may not all agree on solutions but we should all agree it needs to begin with prayer.

If you feel you need to find forgiveness for the sins in your life follow this link: click here.

(c)Adron Dozat 8/4/13

The Wages of Sin is Death, But For Whom? Romans 6:23.

We often quote the verse to explain the need of the gospel to someone who is seeking God. But are we not ourselves missing the point?

“For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 NIV.

We act like God gave us this verse so we can quote it to the unsaved who should respond with the conviction that they are condemned sinners who need Jesus. But this is out of context. This verse is a summary statement of a thesis of the Christian faith walk experience, where Paul warns the Christian not to return to slavery to sin. (Romans 6:13-23).

Adam and Eve were commanded not to eat of a certain fruit lest they should die. Some think death was unknown in the garden but there must have been some kind of death like decaying leaves, which is what makes gardens grow. Therefore, they must have had some vague concept of death or else the command’s warning would have no significance. Maybe they thought if they disobeyed they would somehow wilt a little like the fallen leaves or fade some like flowers in the sun. Their concept proved to be far from the truth and death's reality exceeded their imagination.

We are no different, we think, “I am born again and am saved, so sin is paid for, and it's not a bad one,” and we give into a little sin. Like Adam and Eve, we have no idea of the real death. Our impression (fed by the serpent's lies), is the consequences are minor and we may only lose a little blessing here or our sanctification will be a little tarnished there. As bad as it turned out for Adam our sins are worse because we have gifts he lacked such as the Word, the Holy Spirit, fellowship, an understanding of Christ's death for us, and more. Like Adam and Eve we do not have any idea of the full consequences of our little sin, so we enslave ourselves to its creeping decay.

Both parts of this verse is a promise. The wages of sin is death; death for our Christian walk, death for our blessings in the Lord, death to our faith. The wages of sin is death even though we are in Christ and serve him.

Sin's opposite is the gift of God, a gift that is the answer to sin- eternal life. We miss the point that victory over sin is received as a gift. Let’s confess our sin quickly and in faith claim the forgiveness and victory that comes with the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(c) Adron

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Adron

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