2 Chronicles 31:1

This one verse shows how the revival under Hezekiah resulted in dealing with the remnants of idolatry. There must be a thorough cleansing of sin if there is to be a real renewal of passion and zeal. “The little foxes spoil the vines” and the little unconfessed, unforsaken sins keep us from experiencing the “joy unspeakable and full of glory” that Christ has promised in “abundant life.” They are like leaven; a little bit permeates the whole lump of dough and every bit is affected by it. The Holy Spirit can show us where those little sins lurking in the shadows are hiding and shine the glorious light of the gospel of Jesus Christ on them. They then may be removed and the whole house will be rid of them.

Notice that the people did not rest “until they had utterly destroyed them all.” This is the job of revival; removing ALL of the detestable practices, the remnants of disobedience, the tiny transgressions. There are those who say (and I have heard it with my own ears), “We are only human. We sin with every breath. We cannot live without sin.” Now, I am not advocating a kind of deliverance from sin that some might term “sinless perfection.” But if this is the case that we cannot be delivered from sin, what does the Apostle Paul mean when he says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:14, NKJV) And what about the following, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.” (Romans 6:16-17, NKJV)

Some will want to point to Romans 7 as an example of the kind of struggle they face. They believe that Paul is describing his own life as a Christian in this passage. They identify with the description because they find that it resonates with their own struggles as Christians. A close examination of the passage reveals a quite different conclusion. In Romans, the Apostle raises questions and answers them. The question that he addresses flows from the answers to questions in chapter 6. Specifically, he is seeking to answer the question of the law and how it applies to the Christian. His illustration about marriage and his conclusion that we have been delivered from the law, so that “we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter,” reveal that he is seeking to explain the place of the law and the result of seeking to live by it without the help of the Spirit. In this passage he maintains that the law is good, but we are slaves to sin. As slaves, we are unable to free ourselves in our struggle to do what we are instructed and to avoid what we are warned against. It is not the fault of the law that this struggle exists. It is our sinful condition that causes this struggle. He vividly describes this struggle in these verses, but comes to the conclusion, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7:24-25, NKJV)

If we stop reading in chapter 7, as though this is the final word, we miss the message. In Romans 8 we find what victorious Christian living is all about. It is not about living in the flesh, for that is hostility against God. We cannot please God by living in the flesh. The alternative is to live in the Spirit. This is the “normal” Christian life. There is no guarantee that we will always choose to live in the Spirit, but this life of victory is possible. We have been blessed “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). The Apostle Peter assures us that “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). If Christians want to find excuses for their sin, they will have to look elsewhere, for the Scriptures consistently teach a victorious Christian life, that provides all the resources we need to live a life that pleases the LORD. Let’s remove every vestige of sin from our lives.

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:1-2, NKJV)

“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!” (Romans 6:15, NKJV)

“Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

1 Corinthians 5:6-8, NKJV