“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8.
It simply amazes me how many responses I get from people asking if it is possible to live the righteous, holy, sinless, perfect life of Christ. They will go to great lengths to quote the texts that show we have all been sinners. Then they ask, “How can we be perfect when the Bible says we have all been sinners?”
What amazes me is the fact that all these people who claim to be Christians refuse to listen to what Jesus says. The Bible does teach that we HAVE (past tense) been sinners. That is a correct statement. But that is all it is. Nowhere in the whole Bible will you find one verse that states that we must remain sinners.
What the Bible teaches emphatically is that even though we used to be, or have been, or may still be sinners, we DO NOT HAVE TO REMAIN IN THAT SICK CONDITION. Jesus came to do away with sin in our mortal bodies. Romans 6:6, 12, 13. The whole Bible is a treatise on how to stop sinning and how to become holy, sinless and perfect, right now, in the power of Jesus.
So how do we do that? “Be alert and think straight. Put all your hope in how kind God will be to you when Jesus Christ appears. Behave like obedient children. Don’t let your lives be controlled by your desires, as they used to be. Always live as God’s holy people should, because God is the one who chose you, and he is holy. That’s why the Scriptures say, ‘I am the holy God, and you must be holy too.’” 1 Peter 1:13-16
Think about it. The reason you and I ended up in prison is because we were thinking about whatever it was that got us into prison. If we had not been thinking about that which put us in, then we would not have been in that position and would not have been put in prison. Wow, what a mouthful. But don’t you see? By beholding we become changed!!!
(Those of you who have not been to prison, don’t pat yourselves on the back just yet. Your sins are even greater since you don’t even recognize them as sins. Just because your sin is acceptable by society, doesn’t mean it is acceptable with God.)
Let’s take a look at some who thought wrong. In Acts 8:22 Peter tells Simon, who had been baptized into the church, “Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps He will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.”
Get it? The thought was what caused the trouble. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:3, “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.” There it is again, our thoughts. That is why James is so point blank about this. He says, “But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire (thoughts), he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire (thoughts) has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” James 1:14, 15.
This is why God has given us the Bible. Instead of putting our minds on the things of this world and all the junk that is going on in it, let’s put our minds and thoughts on Jesus and on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Wow, what a difference that would make in our lives.
Hebrews 3:1 says the same thing, “Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus…”. As we fix our thoughts on Jesus, our attitude will be the same as that of Jesus. He had perfect love. What is love? First of all, we learned earlier in our study that love is the Ten Commandments. We would not know what love truly was without the Ten Commandments to point it out. But now, let’s go even deeper and see how those Ten Commandments can be put into practice in a more practical, everyday environment.
1 Corinthians 13 is the chapter on Love and how to demonstrate it in our daily lives. Most of us will not go out and physically murder someone. Most of us will not go out and commit adultery. Most of us do not break the Ten Commandments in their grossest behavior. However, it is in the little things that we need to practice the keeping of the Ten Commandments. So let’s take a look at what we can do in our everyday life.