It's Not Rocket Science

Romans 14:22 - 23 ... "Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned … for whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

My interpretation … "Whatever is not done with a full conviction that it is right, is sinful; whatever is done when a man doubts whether it is right, is sin."

The whole scope of this scripture requires us to understand the Apostle Paul is simply saying that a man should not do a thing doubting its correctness; that he should have a strong conviction that what he does is right; and that if he doesn't have this conviction, it is sinful. In all cases, if a man does a thing which he does not believe to be right, it is a sin, and his conscience will condemn him for it.

The context shows that Paul means that whenever actions are done by a Christian which he does not believe are right, he sins in doing them. If he is doubtful whether they are right, he must not do them.

Hebrews 3:12 ... "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God."

The writer of Hebrews says that a heart of unbelief is evil. Why evil? Men often feel that it is a matter of little consequence whether they have faith or not, provided their conduct is right; and hence, they do not see or admit to the importance of what is said about the consequences of unbelief in the Scriptures.

Provided their conduct is right? Is their conduct the same as their works? Which moves the heart of God to answer or reward the believer? Works (conduct) or faith? Faith will win out every time. It all comes down to faith, which is belief, or the opposite, doubt and unbelief. In fact …

Hebrews 11:6 says ... "Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

"He that cometh to God" ... for any reason … even in worship ..."must believe that He is" ... that God exists. This is the first thing required in worship.

We cannot come to Him in an acceptable manner if we doubt His existence. We do not see Him, but we must believe that He is; even though we cannot form in our heart and mind a completely correct image of God, this should not prevent us from having a true conviction that there is a God.

But the declaration here, implies more than having just a general belief that there is a God. It is necessary that we have this belief exercised in the act of coming before Him, and that we should realize that we are actually in the presence of the Lord when we do.

"That he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" ... The phrase, "diligently seek" means ... to search out, investigate, crave, demand, enquire, seek after.

This is equally as necessary as the belief that He exists. If we do not believe that God hears and answers our prayers, there would be no reason to call upon Him. It is also not meant that the desire of the reward is to be the motive for seeking God. The writer of Hebrews is not making that point; but he is saying, why approach Him unless we have this belief.

As in all things dealing with spiritual matters … a measure of faith must be exercised.

Many times we can even make some lawful things wrong or sinful for us to do, simply because we make a personal conviction against them ourselves with what is called … making a law unto yourself.

Romans 14:14 ... "I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: (speaking of eating food) but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, (or sinful) to him it is unclean."

Even though God doesn't care if you do something that isn't sinful, (example … eating meat on Friday) but you personally believe it is sinful for you to eat meat on Friday … and you go ahead and eat meat on Friday anyway, you have sinned in your heart against God because you willingly went against your personal conviction.

You may be in error thinking it is a sin, but it would not be proper for you to act in violation of what you suppose God requires of you. You have made it a law unto yourself.

This is why it is so important to learn how the Holy Spirit speaks to you. You need to know and recognize His voice … even though it won't be an audible voice, you will still hear him in your heart, not with your ears.

James speaks somewhat to this in his letter to the Jewish believers … "If any of you lack wisdom, (especially in temptations) let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth (or chideth) not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

I believe some of this wisdom we need, also includes what our convictions should be.

1st John 3:20-21 ... "If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God."

I don't believe the word "condemn" is the proper word to use in this verse. Satan condemns, God convicts … there is a difference. Actually, the proper meaning of, "our heart condemn us" … is ... "our consciences find fault with," instead of the word condemn.

So, what is this telling us? Our self-made laws, our self-imposed convictions should be based on what our heart and our conscience is telling us. If our heart says "no" to a certain thing, God is giving you a check in your spirit to reconsider what you are about to do.

Likewise, if there is no conviction ... "then have we confidence toward God" … concerning whatever we are about to enter into. Of course, some things the flesh wants to do … the Scripture very plainly states are either sinful, or else not good for us to indulge in.

So, if you don't know, you're unsure, ask God for wisdom, and then let the Holy Spirit deal with your heart. He will, you know. But you have to be willing to listen.

In other words … in dealing with most sins … it's not rocket science.



Comments welcome.