July 6
“And Elijah came near to all the people and said, ‘How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him, but if Baal, follow him.’” (I Kings 18:21)
(On double-mindedness, the first of a handful of reasons why we can be so determined to overcome sin one point in time, and then be so deceived by it and fall into sin at another point in time; continued from yesterday.)
My point is this: are the beliefs that we have that a particular thing is sin and displeasing to God based on casually held beliefs that are easily superseded by contrary ideas and reasons why we think the thing might be justifiable, or are our beliefs that the thing is sin, evil, and abhorrent to God unchanging, based on clear scriptural evidence, and something about which we will not change our mind, even at the threat of significant financial or personal loss? How easily can we be talked out of our convictions that a particular thing is wrong to do or say? To what extent do we truly hate evil and maintain that hatred, even when we are discouraged, tired, and feeling like we need a “pick me up”? If you are vacillating between two opinions, at one time thinking something is definitely not good, and then another time not so sure it is bad and thinking perhaps it may even be acceptable, then you are double-minded.
We must settle the issue in our minds of whether the thing is good or bad, sin or not sin, once and for all time if we want to have a strong resolve to overcome the temptation. We cannot be double-minded about sin. We cannot oscillate between two opinions, as the people of Israel did in the days when Elijah the prophet confronted them on Mt. Carmel. We must choose the Lord and resolve that we will follow Him, serve Him, obey Him, trust Him, and believe Him and His word, no matter how difficult things get in life and no matter how much we think we are suffering and justified in pursuing sin.
Digging into this double-mindedness a little deeper, I think it is possible that the new man is earnest and entirely committed to overcoming temptation, and the old man, corrupted according to the lusts of deceit, is entirely committed to ruining us and seeing us enslaved to sin. The old nature wants to be in charge and call the shots toward sin and self-centeredness. But in Christ we have the ability to choose who will be in charge, and at any time the new man can take control of the old nature and choose not to sin if he or she so chooses. The problem then is training the new man to be resolute, uncompromising, in charge, choosing righteousness, putting to death the old man at any and every sign of an uprising and the stirring of sinful desires, and buffeting the body and making it our slave. Self-control, discipline, and an unrelenting pursuit of holiness and a desire to please and obey Christ are key to victory in these cases of double-mindedness.
I am concerned that all too often we give lip service to victory when in reality in our hearts and minds we are not at all determined to overcome sin. Our resolve, if we were to measure it accurately, is sometimes and maybe oftentimes to DO the sin rather than to NOT DO the sin. Think about your areas of weaknesses. Be honest with yourself. To what extent are you double-minded about sin? To what extent are you resolved to master your sinful desires, your old nature that seeks to rebel against God and God’s laws, that you may overcome temptation not for just a short while but for an enduring season, even the rest of your life? Do you have addictions that you are not truly fully resolved to overcome?