Yesterday we learned that doubting is dangerous for believers. In fact, if you are a “believer” having been born again by the Spirit of God then you have believed. The question is; “Are you believing still?” Not the point in time belief or faith that was a gift from God to you so that you could believe in Christ and be justified. But the real question is are you believing today and if so, what are you believing?
One of the residues of continuing sin in our lives is doubt. Doubt is like mold in your basement. If you do not do something about it, it will continue to grow and spread. In the right climate where it is dark and damp mold thrives. If we are living with secret sin in our lives it is going to affect the way we think and how we are feeling.
I remember in my dark days of sexual addiction I was filled with doubts and I was like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by winds and unstable in all my ways. I had witnessed firsthand how my sexual brokenness led me to do things that I never thought I would do. And when the lights were turned on and I confessed everything to my wife I was scared to death at what might happen.
The reason I share that with you is because I want you to know that I experienced it firsthand and by the grace of God survived that period in my early recovery. Some of you may be still trying to keep everything a secret hoping that someday it will all just go away…but it will not. As long as you keep the truth hidden the problem will only get worse.
I even doubted whether God could possibly still love me. I doubted if my life would ever have a useful purpose again. Plus, I mostly doubted that I could ever be free from my sexual brokenness. I no longer live with those doubts because God has been so gracious to me just as He wants to be with you.
Does God also want to heal you? Yes, and I can prove it.
The evidence we find for the truth that God wants to heal us of our sexual brokenness comes from what the Bible teaches us and from this one passage, it seems clear. He tells us in Philippians 1:6;
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Paul says he was confident that God, the one who began this work of salvation in you,
WILL complete or perfect it!!!
Also, here is what we read in Romans 8:28-29;
“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
Let’s look carefully at this critical verse. There is a simple progression like links in a chain.
- The ones God has predestined, He also called.
- The ones God has called, He has justified.
- The ones God has justified, He has also glorified.
Notice this one little thing. Every verb of being predestined, called, justified, AND glorified are spoken of in the past tense. Even though we have not yet been glorified and will not be glorified until we die or are raptured, it is declared as a fact so certain that it is written in the past tense. This is a rule of grammar in the Greek language that if something in the future is guaranteed it is spoken as if it has already happened.
However, what erodes that confidence is our continuing sexual sin. We cannot imagine that God can still love us, but He does. Do you think that God was not aware of what you would be like and what you would do before He predestined, called, and justified you?
He cannot have unfulfilled expectations when He knows the beginning from the end. He knew it all before He started it all and in light of it all chose you with all your sin to be one of His children … SO THAT He could heal you of your sexual brokenness and for you to experience His unlimited love and grace.
It is because of the backdrop of our sin and the darkness of our life that the brilliant light of God’s love for us shines so brightly. It is because we do not deserve it that it is so divine. It is because we have failed over and over again that God’s faithfulness and unconditional love for us is so wonderful.
Someone who knows for certain how sinful they really are can appreciate the grace of God because it is not deserved. Grace not only does not give us what we deserve, like punishment, but it goes infinitely further and envelops us with complete forgiveness and the guarantee of eternal life.
What could any of us do to have deserved this? Absolutely nothing. The only reason we are told that we were foreknown and predestined is that He chose to love us and made us His children so that He might pour all over us a waterfall of His grace.
As I have witnessed more than 200 men come into our Online Support Teams most show up with that deer in the headlights look. Somewhat startled and afraid of what it might be like to tell a group of strangers the truth about our sexual sins. However, with the passing of time as they are welcomed into the fellowship and learn that telling the truth is not condemned that they begin to relax and let down their guards that have been up for years if not decades. They will hear from the other men about their struggles and find them willing to bear one another’s burdens and help each other not only weekly for accountability but daily by texting one another or calling one another every day.
Could a team of men like that be helpful to you? I imagine it can and will. Contact me…