disconnected living

I went to The Anchor tonight with a friend of mine. He is really struggling with some sin in his life, and he has undergone discipline from God (our conversation helped spawn the sermon). He made the comment, “I am so rotten, so wretched, so despicable.” I glared at him, said, “Shut up. You’re not. You are in Christ. You are holy. You are righteous. You are innocent.” He protested, pointing at areas in his life where he was dealing with sin. I told him, “Read Romans 6-8. Some of the Christians in Rome believed that because they were in Christ, they could live however they wanted. In Romans 6, Paul tells them that because they are in Christ, they are redeemed from sin, and that they are to live holy lives. In Romans 7, Paul describes the man who is outside of Christ, enslaved to sin and unable to please God. In Romans 8, Paul describes the man who is in the Spirit, the man who is in Christ, the man who is no longer enslaved to sin but filled with the Spirit of God. The Romans were living as if they were enslaved to sin when they were actually filled with the Spirit of God. That’s you, my friend: living in sin even though you are a child of God. You need to repent.” I have learned that it is good for a friend to rebuke a friend, that it is a sign of great brotherly friendship; my best friend Kyle rebukes me often, and I appreciate that about our friendship.