Word of Encouragement (07/18/2024)

And while he was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him and said, “This trouble is from the Lord! Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?” (2 Kings 6:33)

We have seen how we can get theological truths right (“This trouble is from the Lord!”) and do not understand them and their implications (“Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”). The king of Israel knew (at least in his mind) that God was sovereign in all the affairs of the world—not just the good but also the “evil.” This doesn’t mean that God is not the Author or Perpetuator of evil; rather, it means that even the evils we commit in our sinfulness are not out of His control. It was certainly true that “this trouble” Israel was going through was from the Lord: God was disciplining His rebellious and idolatrous people.

How should the king of Israel have responded to this truth? His was that of disappointment in God and self-righteousness: “Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?” He understood the letter of theology but not the spirit of it: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder” (James 2:19)! We cannot be content to know the right theology merely as facts; we must understand it properly, which can be done only with the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit, by which He shows God’s “authorial intent.” We cannot say we truly know theology unless we believe it and live by it.

What should have been the king’s response to the theological truth of God’s sovereignty? It should have been a humble submission. In this case, this would have meant confession of sin and repentance. For the God of Israel, who is sovereign, is also holy. Even so, God’s promise to His people is, “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:9); “if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it” (Jer. 18:8); “though I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ yet if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die” (Ezek. 33:14-15).

As long as we live in this fallen in the flesh of weakness, we will never be fully free from sin. So, we should not underestimate the power of sin and think that we are standing above the reach of sin (1 Cor. 10:12). At the same time, we should not give up our fight against sin and live as if we were still under the bondage of sin. By His suffering and death, Christ has set us free not only from the punishment of sin but also from the slavery of sin (that is, sin’s legal claim over us). This is why it is so wrong and pathetic for us to persist in sin as if we were still slaves of sin. So, John says, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin....” Yet, he goes on to say, “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1), Until we enter into glory, the pattern of our Christian life should be faith (which delivers us from discouragement and despair) and repentance (which keeps us from pride and arrogance). When the Holy Spirit convicts you of your sin, how do you respond?

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