Deeper Life #121

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

—1 John 2:1

WHAT WE NEED TO HEAR is not something new, but the very thing to which we have always listened and yet paid no attention. God wants to stagger our convictions and lead us to a point of spiritual maturity where our convictions will go to the winds. It is Christ, not our convictions, who saves us.

There is nothing grander, nothing more majestic than when the Lord comes into our souls. The gates of hell cannot prevail against us. Nothing can pluck us out of the hand of God. No external power can make us backslide. (We “are more than conquerors,” and if we backslide, it is by our own choice.)

John wrote his first epistle to people who say there is no such thing as sin after we are saved. Sin is a persistent danger, even to the Christian.

Sin is anarchy against God’s Word. So if you sin, you are a traitor to God—even if you hold very bold convictions. If your “holiness experiences,” your “healing,” or your “testimony” are not based on the eradication of the old carnal nature, you have nothing to do with Calvary.

Prayer Thought: Lord, let me submit even my convictions to You.

SUGGESTED READING: 1 John 2:1–12.