[3:1] Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. [2] For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. [3] If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. [4] Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. [5] So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! [6] And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. [7] For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, [8] but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. [9] With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. [10] From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. [11] Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? [12] Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
This short passage highlights an interesting tension we have in the Christian life. The tension between verse 2 "we all stumble in many ways" and verses 10 through 12 "these things ought not to be so" and the pictures showing that the given duplicity is not acceptable. In other words, even after being saved and regenerated by Christ, no one will attain perfection or completely cease to sin this side of heaven, but we should not sin.
So the question is, how do we deal with sin in our lives? Accept the fact that it is inevitable and be ok with it? Beat ourselves up and demand perfection of ourselves? Scripture would condemn either approach!In Romans 6:1-11 Paul says: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."
John says in 1 John 1:5-10 " This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." In fact, the whole book of 1 John speaks to this issue very well.
Paul gives us the Biblical approach if we continue the passage above (Romans 6:12-14) " Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." There is a difference between stumbling time to time and letting sin "reign in [our] mortal body".
As children of God, we should hate sin, for God hates sin. As Colossians 3 says, we should set our hearts and our minds on things above, not on earthly things. We still stumble, but when we do, we forsake our sin and turn back to Christ. As Paul mentions in 2 Corinthians 7:10 " For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death." We are not to get bogged down by guilt, and the evil one attempting to render us ineffective by it. Christ died once for all sin. If we have repented and turned our life over to Him, we are already forgiven for all our sin: past, present, and future.
So the question is, have you already been forgiven for your sin? A good picture I once heard is the difference between pigs and sheep (I'm not a farmer, so I don't know if it is true, but it is a good analogy nonetheless). When a sheep stumbles and falls in the mud, they desire to get out and again be cleaned of the filth. The pig wallows in the mud.
Are you a sheep or a pig? You have two options. You can pay for your own sin, and bear God's wrath on your shoulders for all eternity, or you can turn to Christ, who already bore God's wrath for sin, and allow Him to cleanse you of your filth. The only true righteousness we can obtain is Christ's righteousness given to us when we put our faith in Him. The choice is yours, and it is the most important one you will ever make.
