When believers are living in sin

One of the greatest ways to deceive yourself is to conflate God’s silence with His approval. A person can live an active life of sin and still serve in the church. He or she can even see some of their gifts at work in helping God’s people. He or she may even hear testimonies from other people, thanking them for being used by God.

Then the self-deception begins. It sounds like this, “Surely God has been working through me all this time, and He has not stopped me from living this life of sin. In fact, He has even used me to serve people in ministry. He has not stopped His power from flowing in my life. Surely, then this thing called sin must not even be sinful in the first place. If it were, God would not have allowed me to get this far.”

But oh, how naive and deceived we are to assuming such false dichotomy. God rejected King Saul and anointed David to replace the rebellious monarch. For fourteen years, Saul sat on the throne as a rejected king. For 14 years his royal decrees were honoured. For 14 years his position was revered as God-given. For 14 years, God gave him victory in wars against other nations. For 14 years the nation of Israel stayed intact. Yet, for all those 14 years, Saul was rejected, disqualified, and deemed unfit in the eyes of God. God can allow you to maintain a position for 14 years yet His judgement is finalised.

As another put it; God is the only person who can fire you and still let you keep your job. Beloved, do not be fooled by works of ministry, church participation, and spiritual gifts. In fact, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not medals of honour; they are simply tools for the job. Do not pride in them. Do not pride in your spiritual pedigree when your spiritual fruit is wanting. The LORD rejects Saul and raises David. The Lord rejects one with a title and raises one with a heart. The Lord opposes the proud and unrepentant but gives grace to the humble and contrite. The authority of God is His written word and not our subjective human experience. Are you living purely and walking with the LORD?

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.” (NLT)