Preserving Your Soul From Sin

James 1: 2 - 4, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. NKJV

Salvation is comprised of both the work of the cross and the work of grace. The cross is what Jesus did for us so that we might be reconciled back to God. There was nothing that we could do as sinners to redeem ourselves. Jesus came to be our redeemer as well as our Lord. God's grace saved us; however, now that we are born again, it also empowers us to grow up in Christ and become mature children of God.

Faith is just as essential after we're saved as it was in bringing us to salvation. Until we grow in our faith walk to a place where we can begin to see with our spiritual eyes, there will be occasions when adverse circumstances and mistakes of our own can set us back spiritually. Therefore, we must be willing to endure trials and temptations by faith and allow patience to do its work in our hearts.  

There is a very important reason why you will want to endure trials and temptations through faith, instead of giving up and running away from God because of fear. Although your soul is saved by your faith in Christ, you still have to preserve it from sin until you leave this world. We have many examples in the Old Testament where men were called of God; nonetheless, they allowed sin to enter their hearts...for example: Adam, King David, and King Saul. 

When we choose to suffer trials and endure temptations while holding onto our faith and our commitment to God and His Word in the fire, we will preserve our souls from corruption. The Lord has an eternal reason for allowing our faith to be tried while we're living in this world. He wants us to utilize our faith to endure so that we will ultimately overcome our flesh nature and the world's ways. Only when we choose to suffer by faith and wait on God to bring us out of our afflictions will we be able to see or understand the ways of God. 

Whenever believers decide not to remain submitted to God during a fiery trial or while they're being tempted, it opens their hearts up to sin. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing to stop the power of sin. If we remain submitted to Christ while under attack, our faith will keep us from the evil one. 

We have a promise in Romans 8 that tells us that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ. Nevertheless, we must be strong enough in our faith to keep ourselves from walking away from God's love and choosing sin. Simply exercising your faith during trials and temptations will assure you the victory over the enemy of your soul. Keep the faith and endure suffering as a good soldier, and you will grow into a mighty man or woman of God.

Keeping the Faith,
Pastor Asa Dockery