~~Barry and I are studying an abridged version of John Owen’s ‘Of Temptation: The Nature and Power of It’. It is called ‘Temptation: Resisted and Repulsed’. We are studying it with our Adult Bible Study (ABS) group.
I cannot stress enough how important it is for the believer to understand that we are not immune to sin IN THE FLESH. We can be tempted by, AND can fall into, sin. Owen wrote three works that cover this topic thoroughly. They are available - unabridged (which, IMHO is best)- in an edition entitled ‘Overcoming Sin and Temptation’. This book has been edited by Kelly M. Kapic and Justin Taylor. They have edited the content without changing it. While updating archaic spellings and words, they have kept Owen’s word true. You should really check this out!
Our ABS class is going to study ‘On the Mortification of Sin in Believers’, another of Owen’s series, next. I am looking forward to re-studying this. I am close to wrapping up this study with Reading Through the Classics, facilitated by Tim Challis at Challis Dot Com. I am hoping our class will continue on to the third in the series, ‘Indwelling Sin’.
~~Special thanks to Travis Carden, who is in our ABS class. We had an assignment to come up with a memory aid to help us remember 4 steps John Owen covers for the believer who finds himself in sin (past the point of temptation). He came up with a wonderful acronym - BALM! Now balm is a noun. It is a soothing, healing, or comforting agent. (Sounds like our wonderful Savior, yes?) Here is what BALM stands for:
Beg God to remove it. (sin)
Ask Christ for help against it.
Look to Him for deliverance.
Mend the breach.
This is a wonderful reminder of how we should rely on the Lord for our deliverance from sin!
~~In class, we were discussing how the heart is deceitful. During that conversation, we looked at Psalm 36:1-2. I was looking at several different translations of this Scripture - and several of them referred to ‘oracle’. Okay, long story short….. while checking on crosswalk.com (one of my favorite online resources), I saw ‘The Complete Jewish Bible’ for the first time. So, now I’m on a mission - I have to find out about this bible. So, I did some online checking and found this. I found it so intriguing, I went to Amazon.com and ordered it. Shh - I haven’t had a chance to tell hubby yet; so keep it to yourself, okay?
Update: ’The Complete Jewish Bible’ is scheduled to ship to my home on 2/19. I can’t wait - in the mean time, it is one of the translations available at crosswalk.com on their online bible! Oh, and I told Barry about it and showed him the website. He’s good with it and wants to look it over when it gets here too.
I pray you had a wonderful weekend. Hopefully, you spent time with like-minded, fellow believers and heard a good preaching of God’s word that pricked your conscience WITHOUT just tickling your ear.
In Him,
R.
3 Comments
February 12, 2008 at 3:37 pm
This is such a great study. I am looking forward to the remaining topics within the Owen study.
BTW - I liked the acronym you came up with too.
February 13, 2008 at 6:35 am
We in Christ are born of God (1 Jn.3:9, 1 Jn.5:18 below) and chosen by Christ before the foundation of the world to be without sin (1 Pe.4:1 below), holy and without blame before Him in love (Eph.1:4 below) as the church (1 Cor.10:32 below).
1 Jn.3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his (God’s) seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1 Jn.5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
1 Pe.4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
Eph.1:4 According as he (Christ) hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love (1 Jn.3:9, 1 Jn.5:18 above):
1 Cor.10:32 Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God.
Patricia (ndbpsa ©) Bible Prophecy on the Web
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BibleProphecy
February 13, 2008 at 11:17 am
Patricia,
Thank you for these verses. Without any dialogue, I can only suppose you are suggesting that believers don’t sin?
I would like to point you to some other verses, and then to an article by Dr. John MacArthur which speaks more eloquently than I ever could to this subject.
Rom 3:23 states that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This all would be inclusive of those whom He has chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. (Eph. 1:4)
We are admonished in 1 John 1:8 that “if we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
The Apostle Paul writes of his struggle with evil in his letter to the Romans. Rom. 7:14-25 documents his thoughts.
Our commitment to Christ makes our obedience, which we could never have without Him, our distinguishing trait!
Please, when you have time, follow this link to the MacArthur article. I pray you will find it helpful and edifying to you.
http://www.gty.org/Resources/Articles/2498
In Him,
Robin
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