If A = B, and B = C, then A = C.

Do you remember when that equation was first introduced to you? I know many were traumatized when ‘letters’ started making their way into math problems; some have never recovered from it. But seriously, whether you used shapes or simple images in that equation, it was not hard to figure out the formula. It was almost like playing around with a secret code game. I mean, let’s be honest...it’s not ‘rocket science’.

So what happens if we use that same premise, or ‘equation’, with a few Bible scriptures.

Jesus taught that we should ‘abide in Him’ if we hoped to see any fruit produced in our lives. (John 15:1-8). I like to think that most professing ‘believers’ would agree that we should be ‘abiding in Him’, and many probably just assume that they are after doing a quick self-inventory of their spiritual lives. You know the ‘list’ we like to go down...”I accepted Christ on such and such day”... “got baptized in water on this day”...”joined such and such church” followed up with a list of notable things we have faithfully ‘done for the Lord’. Clearly that would affirm that we’ve been ‘abiding in Jesus’, right? (2 Cor. 13:5)

So “If we abide in Him, and He abides in us (John 15:4-5), then we are walking ‘just as He walked’ (1 John 2:6) and ‘no longer sin’ (1 John 3:6), right? Is that what your Bible clearly states? Oh wait, that doesn’t add up for you?

And that...is where the meltdowns begin and the sparks fly upward as folks begin to lose their minds declaring that nobody can do that. Yet...IF A = B...And B = C...

Why is it ...that reading a few simple verses that could not be any plainer than those few I just offered up...can we not just come to the conclusion that just maybe...we’ve NOT... been ‘abiding in Jesus’?

Friends...I’m not trying to make anyone feel bad here or to shame them and heap condemnation on them if they (or you) continue to struggle with various sins. What I am trying to get us to ‘see’ here (with the aid of the Holy Spirit of course) is the fact Jesus came to set us free of ALL sin. I like to think this would be very good news, especially for anyone who is sick of falling into the same old patterns and failures of sin, and all that sin brings with it (Rom. 6:23; 8:13; John 5:14)

We should all know you can’t ‘fix’ or deal with a problem until you first admit and acknowledge there is...a ‘problem’; and the majority of people in the church today will admit they continue to ‘sin’. We have a ‘sin problem’. And guess why it is not being ‘fixed’? Because most churches teach their members that they will ‘always sin’...until they get to heaven. Maybe not as ‘often’ as they once did, or as ‘badly’ as they did before (you know, all those ‘big sins’)...but they are always going to ‘sin’. And someone needs to ‘stop the bus’ and ask: “WHY?!” Why are we continuing to sin if Jesus paid for our freedom to free us from all sin? (Rom. 6:1-7 &15-22).

If you have a leaky roof, does putting a bigger pail in the middle of the room to catch that leak ‘fix’ the problem’? That’s pretty much how the church teaches these days given their ‘spin’ on what God’s ‘grace and mercy’ is all about.

Did Jesus not tell us ‘most assuredly’ that ‘whoever commits sin is a slave to sin, and a slave does NOT abide in the house forever?” (John 8:34-35). The real question needing to be asked today is the one Jesus asked that lame man who laid for years by a ‘healing pool’...”Do you want to be made well?” (John 5:5-6). It was a ‘yes or no’ question; and that infirm man took off explaining why that had not happened yet (7). Ask that question today of most any church member and you will most likely get all kinds of ‘empty words’ as to why we can’t ‘go and sin no more’. It is the most puzzling thing I’ve ever witnessed.

Instead of responding with all the ‘talking points’ we’ve been fed as to why we can’t be made well, why not respond with: “Oh my...is that even possible? Please tell me how I can rise up and walk the way God created me to walk (which is like Jesus, by the way - 1 John 2:6). Oh...and guess what Jesus eventually tells that afflicted man, whom He did in fact, heal (immediately) and sent him on his way? Jesus told him: “I see you are well now. Go, and sin no more...(or what?)” (John 5:14).

And the adulterous woman some religious folks brought to Jesus to shame her...(not to mention have stoned)...neither of which Jesus endorsed (John 8:1-11)...after He cleared out the ‘riff raff’, He turns to her as well and says: “I’m not here to condemn you. Go...and sin no more” (11).

Here’s a novel thought: instead of arguing with God’s word and flat out rejecting what it says because it sounds so impossible...why not ask the same question both Mary and Nicodemus asked when told what seemed impossible to them- “How can these things be?” (Luke 1:34; John 3:9). Jesus would be more than happy to answer that, and it’s not...rocket science. :- ). Just stop telling God that there is no way that ‘A can = C’. He says if you are truly ‘abiding in Him’, you won’t continue to sin. (1 John 3:6). And you really don’t need some long ‘runway’ or ‘running start’ to be able to do this. Now that doesn’t mean you won’t stumble a bit at first, as most ‘babes’ do when learning to ‘walk’. And we are assured that “IF...we sin...” God is not going to ‘zap’ you out (1 John 2:1). Just make sure you are 'all in' before trying this at home.

I’ve said it before and will say it again- we’ve made too much of a big deal on trying to make the case that we are ‘saved’ or how to ‘be saved’, and ‘why you can never ‘lose your salvation’ ... instead of teaching and demonstrating how one can ‘abide’ in Jesus. IF...you are abiding in Jesus, it’s pretty safe to say you are ‘saved’. And if you are abiding in Him, you are no longer practicing sin (1 John 3:6). Oh...those folks who had the impressive resumé of doing ‘great things in the name of the Lord’ in Matt. 7:22, do you know why they were ‘turned away at the gate’? They continued to practice sin (Matt. 7:23; Rev. 21:7-8; 22:14-15).

Repeat after me, Class- “IF A = B, and you are abiding in Jesus...you will have ‘ceased from sin’. (1 Pet. 4:1-2; 1 John 3:9; 5:18). See you in class tomorrow? ;-)