BE CAREFUL TO AVOID SHAME!

BE CAREFUL TO AVOID SHAME!

1 John 2:28

28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

           Believers are supposed to be changed people. We are not like we were – or at least not quite so bad as before. The process is still incomplete. Paul writes this to the Romans: “ What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.” [Romans 6:21]

           Adam Clarke comments on the shameful sins of the believer’s past and sites three things to consider.

[1] What benefit have ye derived from the service of sin? Every laborer earns his wages and the servant of sin earns as well. To say it another way, what good came from your sinning?

[2] The memory of those sins cause us to blush. Ye blush to remember your former life. It was [a] scandalous to yourselves, [b] injurious to others, and [c] highly provoking to God.

[3] Death is the end result of sin! Whatever sin may promise of pleasure or advantage, the end to which it necessarily tends is the destruction of body and soul. (See also Proverbs 14:12)

           We end where we began with John’s advice: “Abide in Christ so that you will not be ashamed when he comes.”

Dear Lord, no matter how just I think my cause to be, please keep me from shameful thoughts and actions because I do not know when you might surprise me by your arrival. AMEN