Good Advice

Good advice is hard to come by. In fact, people pay high prices for expert advice. There are financial, legal, medical, psychological, and exercise specialists. However, often the common-sense advice we need for daily living is even harder to find. One man named John wrote letters in the New Testament filled with good, common-sense advice. He was one of Jesus’ disciples, and he was in his 90s when he wrote these letters. Here are some basic guidelines for living e gave us.

Don’t Let Sin Trap You: “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin” (1 John 2:1). We are to learn to beware of sin because it is a trap. We can find ourselves trapped before we even know it, so John says, aware of sin, especially sexual traps. Pornography is a trap that has ruined the lives of many men today.

Walk With Jesus: “…But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1). This means everyday communion and engagement with Jesus, not just on Sundays.

Remember You Have an Advocate: “….But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2). There is a good chance we will mess up, but John says Jesus will intercede for you, and you can and will be forgiven if you come in repentance.

You are a Child of God! Live Like it!: “….The man who says, ‘I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him…This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:3-6). Living out the faith in everyday life is our greatest challenge. I like to call it authenticity.

Our Respect for God Translates into Our Obedience: “But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him” (1 John 2:5). Obeying Jesus’ words and living like him show our deepest respect for Christ. It means we honor him as our Lord!

Jesus is Your Hero:  “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6). There is no better hero than Jesus; no one is more worthy to imitate than the one who died for us.

There you have it—six basic rules that will literally make a difference in our lives.  When we really understand how dangerous sin is, we will stay away from it.  That means we will remove ourselves from the temptation the way Joseph did when he ran from Potiphar’s wife.  John advises us to take the scriptures literally.

We All Have The Capacity of Evil

The difference between Saul and David was like night and day. David loved God and followed him. Saul was disobedient to God and despised David because he enjoyed God’s blessings. David was a different king—different from Saul and distinct from any other king because he was God’s king. However, the temptation that came with being king was too much for even David.

The story told to us in 2 Samuel 11 is one of the ugliest stories in the Bible. David saw a woman bathing from the roof of his palace. He inquired who she was and found out that she was married. That should have stopped David, but it didn’t. Knowing that, he had her brought to him and committed adultery with her. Everything returned to normal as she returned home. Then David received a message from the woman stating she was pregnant. Immediately, David arranged things so that everyone would think the child belonged to her husband.

This horrible story demonstrates that David was no better than Saul. David had the capacity to do evil, as we all do, much greater than he ever thought. As king, he reverted into a Saul. He saw, took, and now sought to cover up his sin. His plans failed because of the integrity of Uriah. So after several attempts to cover up his sin, he resorted to murder.

It seems unbelievable that David, a man after God’s own heart, would do this. The deceitfulness of the human heart is on full display in David’s attempts to hide the truth from God. David was in a state of mind that made his behavior seem acceptable. David wrote a letter and sent it by the hand of Uriah, the husband of the woman: “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die” (2 Samuel 11:15). One step after another, David had dug himself deeper into deception. Now he was planning a conspiracy to deliberately execute an innocent man to protect himself. We can hardly believe this is the same David who refused to shed blood to defend himself, but now resorted to murder to cover up his own sin.

Joab, his commander, implemented David’s command to camouflage the murder. What David really wanted was accomplished. However, in doing so, other innocent soldiers also died in the folly David had planned. Among those who fell that day was the one who was a problem for David:   “…Moreover, Uriah the Hittite died” (2 Samuel 11:17)

When David was told what had happened, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab (2 Samuel 11:25). What David and Joab did was fine in their own eyes, but it wasn’t in God’s eyes. The account closes with these words: “But the thing David had done displeased the Lord” (2 Samuel 11:27). This story should shock us all to remember that we all have the capacity to do evil. Only in humility and with God’s help will we be able to refrain ourselves against the temptations of the flesh. This is war in ourselves, we cannot win, only with God’s help will we be victorious.

Jesus, Our Sin Bearer

When Jesus was crucified, his enemies intended the positioning of his cross to be his final disgrace. There were two criminals crucified with Jesus, one to his right and one to his left. However, instead of this being a disgrace, it was a fulfillment of prophecy: “Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).

I have always been intrigued by how Isaiah wrote that Jesus was crucified on the cross as if we were all there. The truth is we were there—at least our guilt and sin were there, and Jesus bore it all. We are all as guilty as the people who crucified our Lord.

In Rembrandt’s painting “The Raising of the Cross,” the artist paints himself in the picture as one of those crucifying the Lord.” Isaiah does that with all of us, and no one is excluded. “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:4-6).

Jesus took the blame for our sins. He accepted the responsibility. What is the primary question when there is an accident on the highway? Who is at fault? Why does everyone want to know the answer to that question? Because whoever is at fault will have to foot the bill. Jesus accepted the blame and paid the bill. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in these eloquent words describing what God did for us through Jesus’ death: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).