I think it was pastor Paul Washer that I remember saying that one can’t stand still in the Christian walk, he is either moving forward or sliding backwards.
This morning, during my Bible study, I conceptualized the above statement as follows:
I saw myself walking up a down escalator, wherein I had to work diligently to make progress. If I walked at normal pace, I made very little progress; if I stopped walking, I went backwards.
As I thought about this conceptualization, I realized that a born-again Christian is already righteous, the perfect righteousness of Christ has been imputed to him. So, what could the backsliding be about if it wasn’t about failing to earn righteousness?
Also, what was the force that pulled me downward if I stopped?
I think that the force exerting the downward pull, has to be original sin, as sinners tend towards sin; if Christ isn’t before our eyes, then we revert to what we are without him.
It seems that King David was indicating this in Psalm 16:8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Or, as in the following:
Deu 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
Deu 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Deu 6:8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
Deu 6:9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
So, it seems that sin is the downward regression; then what am I seeking as I strive to move forward? What is the work that I have to do?
It would seem that the forward movement would be effort to acquire practical righteousness.
But as a Bible student and a Christian who believes in reformation doctrine, I realize that I cannot earn practical righteousness either, it comes via faith, and the Holy Spirit working in my life, as in the following:
Col 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Col 2:7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
So, I still did not understand what I am to be seeking as I strive to move forward.
I know I have to move forward, as the apostle Paul said in Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Again, how can I do what Paul did?
I began to realized that God’s Spirit cannot work practical righteousness in me if I do not participate in God’s appointed means of grace.
The backsliding then, has to be mainly about neglecting the appointed means of grace: Bible reading; praying; hearing gospel preaching; participating in the Lord’s supper; and fellowship with Christians around the word of God (prayer meetings and Bible groups, etc.); for, by prayer and Bible reading, one builds a relationship with Christ via knowing Him through His word and obeying Him via prayer, being held up, enabled, etc.
That is, If a Christian neglects the means of grace, then he is not learning about the person of Christ who is portrayed in the entire Bible, especially the gospels; he is not learning about God’s holy standards that are stated in His word; he is not receiving the impartation of illumination from the Holy Spirit which He gives to those who abide in His word; he is therefore, not in fellowship with the triune God.
Furthermore, the means of grace humble believers. As I pointed out in the Beatitude Life posts, the root of humility in a believer’s life is the source of the other beatitude fruit. We cannot humble ourselves sufficiently, God the Holy Spirit does that work via the appointed means of grace.
Is neglecting the God’s appointed means of grace, then, a sin of omission?
Would abiding in God’s appointed means of grace be part of obedience?
It seems that is indicated from the aforementioned.
So, then, it cannot be okay to skip Bible study, prayer…and depend on what you did yesterday, last week, last year…to keep you in fellowship with God; to keep you from backsliding.
Neglecting the means of grace seems to be equivalent to backsliding, no matter what else you might be doing at church.