Relief from the Burden of Sin by Harry Osborne
Reprinted from The Watchman Magazine (http://www.watchmanmag.com)
Do trips to the doctor exasperate you as much as they do me? It seems like there is something wrong when you pay a guy fifty dollars to tell you that you are too fat! Even though it is the truth, it seems to me that I should not have to pay fifty dollars to hear a doctor tell me what I could have told him by looking in the mirror.
During my last doctor visit, the nurse was somewhat more kind in breaking the news. Her way of expressing it made me consider the problem from another angle. She looked very surprised when she had to adjust the balance weights upward and then said, "You hide your weight well." I had never heard that before, nor do I believe she looked very closely or she would have discovered where I was hiding it. But it did make me think about something. Let us suppose that one could "hide the weight" from others, would it change the weight total? Would it change the effects of the added weight? No, the effects remain the same whether hidden or obvious. There is no relief from the effects of the physical burden by hiding the problem. Whether the nurse, the doctor or the patient thinks the burden is hidden, it still exists and the effects remain.
Anyone who shares my problem of being overweight can understand how you can bear a burden everyday, but fail to think about it in that light until forced to do so. The extra weight has its effect upon one every day, but we just fail to think about it until we look in a mirror, step on scales or face reality due to some other factor. Whether conscious of the problem or not, the need for relief from the ill effects remains.
There is a parallel to be drawn between a burden often present on the spiritual man. Just like the physical body can be quietly burdened by a load, so can our soul. The effects of a burdened soul, however, are far worse than the increased risk and fatigue associated with a physical burden of added weight. The burden associated with the spiritual man may have eternal consequences.
The Bible teaches us that our sins are heavy burdens upon our soul. David spoke of such saying, "For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me" (Psalm 38:4). Other passages refer to sin in the same way. Sin is a burden too heavy for any person to lift from the soul.
But the burden of sin is not always apparent to the sinner or those surrounding the sinner. Sometimes the sinner is deceived by sin (Hebrews 3:13). Some sins are kept secret (Psalm 19:12; 90:8). Some people conceal their sins from others (Proverbs 28:13; Isaiah 29:15). Does that change the effect of the sins? No, the wages of sin is still death (Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
However, the Word of God also makes plain the means by which
we can find rest from the heavy burden of sin. When we look to
Jesus, we find the needed help in taking our sins away. Notice
His promise of help:
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for
I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your
souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew
11:28-30).
Paul told the Christians to whom he wrote that they were dead spiritually as a result of their sins, but were made alive by the grace of Christ (Ephesians 2:1-10). Salvation is not earned by man. Regardless of what one does, he does not merit forgiveness. Man is not strong enough to lift the load of sin himself, but Christ can and will.
The fact that Christ promises to lift our burden of sin by His grace does not free us from meeting the conditions He commands. Grace may well be extended conditionally.
If a speaker offered a $1000 to each person in the audience who got out of his seat, walked to the front, and took the money from the speaker's hand, would the recipients have earned the $1000 by meeting those conditions? Obviously not, it was still a gift! That gift was conditional, but it was no less a gift.
So it is with Christ and the gift of salvation. He says, "Come to Me" and "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me." Those are conditions for us to meet in order for Jesus to lift our burden of sin, but His cleansing is still by grace. In order for us to understand what is entailed in those conditions, we must see what else the Bible says about the subject.
Immediately before He ascended to heaven, Jesus spoke of the
conditions upon which He would save us. At that time, He laid
down in plain terms how we "come," "learn,"
and take His "yoke" upon us in obedience. Christ says
it this way:
"And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will
be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned"
(Mark 16:15-16).
When we come and learn of Christ through the Gospel and take His yoke in obeying that Gospel, we meet the conditions of Christ and we receive the gift of salvation from our sins. We do not merit salvation by meeting those conditions any more than the people earned $1000 by meeting the speaker's conditions. It is still a gift of grace!
Some today question the conditions of faith and/or baptism set by Jesus as being essential. When one teaches that both conditions are essential to receive salvation, some accuse that one of teaching that we merit salvation by works. Why would they so misrepresent simple, plain, Bible teaching?
If Jesus had said, "He who believes and is baptized will receive $1000," I doubt that anyone would question either condition as essential to receive the $1000. Why do some reject the conditions when something far more valuable, salvation, is at stake?
Jesus' offer still continues as it was originally given. He will lift the load of our sins and give us salvation if we will but respond to Him in obedience to His will, meeting His conditions for gracious pardon.
For every soul burdened down with sin, there is rest in Christ. The dreadful toll of sin can be exchanged for the joy of salvation in all who will obey Him. Though some may doubt it, the conditional offer of rest from the burden of our sins constitutes the only way to salvation offered by the grace of God. Failure to realize that our burden of sin is the root problem for our spiritual ills does not change the effect. Whether we, a nurse, our friends, a loved one or anyone else think we hide our burden well, the problem and its effect remain until we receive the gracious gift of forgiveness and rest for the soul found in Christ.
Our Work As Unto The Lord by W. Frank Walton (wfwalton@juno.com)
"Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve" (Colossians 3:22-24).
One good thing about tax time is we are reminded to be thankful for our jobs. We work a good part of the year to pay all our taxes. For the Christian, we work all year for the Lord. Some may think, "Work supposedly never hurt anyone, but why take the chance?"
Paul urges even the lowly slave, the servile property of his master, to give his best effort in doing his menial work. It brings glory to God. A Christian in the workplace can and should have a positive influence on those around him. We sincerely go the extra mile and make the extra effort, because we serve our all-seeing Lord. The gospel has made us new from the inside out and it shows. Our character has been touched with is motto: whatever worth doing is worth doing right. "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might" (Ecc. 9:10).
We do not serve God well when we piously worship and then go to work as cranky loafer, or a negative whiner, or a selfish liar, or an irresponsible sluggard, or a peevish excuse-maker, or a touchy, negative backstabber. How we handle our duties in our work reflects how seriously we take our Lord. If I were doing a job for the Lord, wouldn't I heartily do my best? Paul instructs us to do the same in any job or duty we discharge.
We're a walking advertisement for the life-changing power of the gospel of Jesus. Even a pitiful slave by cheerful, faithful labor could "adorn the doctrine of our God and Savior" (Titus 2:10). God can use us in lowly places to have great influence for the kingdom. We never know who may be watching us and thinking, "What power do you have that I don't but I sure do need." This ennobling influence is serving the Lord by letting our light shine and activating the leaven of the gospel of Christ to work through us (Matt 5:13-16; 13:33).
Out in the concrete jungle amid the rough edges of humanity, we can be kind to the hurting, loving to the loveless, helpful to the needy, encouraging to the discouraged, instructive to the unlearned, truthful to the deceptive, firm with the inconsiderate, energetic around the lazy, wholesome before the vulgar, and prompt with our commitments. We can make a difference, even in the nitty-gritty trenches of life. God will smile upon our labor and richly reward us for faithful service, even if we do have to give some of our hard-earned money to uncle Sam.
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34748.
Phone: (352) 365-9946 for times of services.
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BIBLE INSIGHT is published for the members of, and visitors to,
the Church of Christ at Beverly Shores, Leesburg, Florida, USA.
Carey Dillinger is the editor. He can be reached at the church
address or via e-mail: dillinc@yahoo.com