Onion & Garlic

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"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves" (1 Jn 1:8)

An oft-quoted Bible verse in Christian discipleship programmes is 2 Corinthians 5:17, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new!" But the new disciple soon finds out that atleast in his case this Scripture is not experienced. He wonders why. He dares not ask others about it. He struggles within himself, sometimes even for years, without finding a satisfactory explanation. He worries whether he is the lonely struggler. If no one gives him a clear teaching on this subject, he settles down for the status quo and even thinks that such promises in the Bible are applicable only to deluxe editions of Christians. May be, dear reader, you are in such a condition. The total change promised in this text seems to be out of your reach. You are however constantly bothered by the question, When will I ever change?

Spiritual rebirth through faith in Christ does not make us unable to sin. If sinning becomes an impossibility, there was no need for the writers of the New Testament epistles to call the readers not to entertain anger, jealousy, immorality, covetousness and the like. The recipients of these letters were actually believers, called to be saints (Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 1:1; Eph 1:1; Phil 1:1; etc.) Think of the condition of the Corinthian Christians! Sinless perfection is not at all promised during our earthly sojourn. On the other hand, the Scriptures emphatically state, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves," and "We all stumble in many things" (1 Jn 1:8; Js 3:2a).

Change of character is a process. It begins with the crisis experience of rebirth. We must not be slack or passive but be patient. Jesus said, "In your patience possess your souls" (Lk 21:19). We must resist the temptation to give up. It's always too early to quit. It was easier for the Israelites to get out of Egypt than to get Egypt out of them! To develop a distaste for the Egyptian onions and garlic was not easy (Num 11:5). They had to struggle. So also in Christian life we don't grow from babyhood to adulthood overnight. Having tasted the mercy of God and the milk of His Word, we must take conscious and consistent effort to develop a dislike for all malice (1 Pet 2:1-3).

More about Jesus let me learn,
More of His holy will discern;
Spirit of God my Teacher be,
Showing the things of Christ to me!
(Miss Eliza E. Hewitt, 1851-1920,
an invalid for a long time and a friend of Fanny Crosby)

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