Contending with the Dark Side

Wednesday evening we began a new Bible study on forgiveness. To guide us in our study, we are using a book written by a friend of mine, Dr. Randall O'Brien, (who graciously provided the books for us). I had read the book several years ago, and was helped and encouraged by it.

The first chapter is "Understanding our Dark Side." By "dark side" Dr. O'Brien is referring to the carnal, sinful nature ingrained in every human being. The Bible calls it our "old man" and we all have one. Even those of us who have been saved still have to deal with the old nature. Even the Apostle Paul recognized he had dark side. In 1 Timothy 1:15 Paul declares, "This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners'—and I am the worst of them all." (NLT) Notice Paul doesn't say, "I USED to be the worst of them all," or "I WAS the worst of them all." He said "I AM the worst of them all" - present tense, active verb.

Paul also reveals his battle with his dark side in Romans 7:15-23. He wanted to do right, but didn't; he didn't want to do wrong, but he did. He even says there was a war going on within him (v.23).

The reality is saved sinners still sin. Though we should sin less, we aren't sinless (only Jesus achieved that status). So what do we do when our dark side flairs up and gets the best of us from time-to-time? How do we contend with our dark side? A few suggestions ...

1. Run to Jesus. Sin has separating effect on our relationship with God and the old man wants to run and hide when we've sinned and messed up. This has been true from the beginning (see Genesis 3). But don't do it; don't run from Jesus, run TO Him. Paul knew this. At the end of the confession of his battle with his dark side, Paul writes - "Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom 7:24-25 NLT) Even though his old man was undoubtedly wanting to run and hide like Adam and Eve in the garden, Paul knew that he had an advocate with the Father who had atoned for his sins, and he could run to Jesus knowing that he was forgiven.

The Apostle John writes: "My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.  He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins..." (1 John 2:1-2a NLT) Jesus knows we will sin, He's accounted for it and He's already taken care of it. That's not a license to sin (note the first line of the above verse, "I'm writing this to you so that you will not sin"), but it is a recognition that the sovereign Lord of the universe isn't surprised by our sin, and He isn't discouraged by it, because He has already dealt with it. You can run to Him because He loves you, forgives you and restores you.

2. Give yourself some grace. I'm always harder on myself than anyone else. I don't know about you but I tend to dwell on my failures. I can still remember striking out in a Little League baseball game with two outs and two runners on base and the game on the line ... and I still feel bad about it. (I even remember the name of the guy who struck me out ... 44 years ago.) I also tend to dwell on my spiritual failures, and not only do I feel bad about them, I usually beat myself up over them.  I also have an accomplice that helps me with my self-abuse - the devil who is the "accuser of the brethren" (Rev 12:9-11). He likes to help me beat myself up and tries to convince me that God is mad at me, and that I'll never change, and God could never love me or use me. None of that is true, of course, but it hurts.

In times like these when I get down on myself I have to remind myself that I am loved by God. And though He doesn't approve of my sinful behavior, He has already proven His love for me, and He has already forgiven me through His grace (see Romans 5:8). If God has forgiven me, and has shown me grace, I can have grace for myself ... and you can too. There is nothing you have done that would ever cause God to love you less. Your sin is dealt with on the cross and your forgiveness is secured by Christ ... so give yourself some grace. What happened has happened, and there is nothing you can do to change it, but you can move on from it in His grace.

3. Give grace to others also. Everyone has a dark side - that means every person you meet every day has the nature of sin and the potential for their sin to hurt you. When my "old man" slips out and I sin, it doesn't affect just me, it affects those around me as well ... and vice-a-versa. And just as I need grace from God, I need grace from others, and they need grace from me. If we aren't gracious toward others who have a dark side, we haven't fully understood the gospel. We forgive because we have been forgiven. We can love those who hurt us because we have been loved by the One we hurt the most. His grace is sufficient ...

Contending with our dark side is an ongoing war. Through Christ we will overcome and experience ultimate victory over the dark side (ours and THE dark side).  Even if we lose a battle every-once-in-a-while, don't give up, don't give in, and don't stop fighting the good fight of faith and grace. Contend with the dark side knowing that the outcome of victory is already secured.