Lie 1: Destined to Commit Unpardonable Sin

One way to help identify lies is to find a verse that moves me to tears of longing, a verse that I feel resistant to believe because it is too good to be true. Then to work backward to see what the lie is. I used this method to identify the first lie. There is a passage that has moved me to tears ever since as a child I first heard it in a solo from Handel's Messiah.

Lie: God forgave my past sins, but in the future I will commit a sin that will place me outside the provisions of the New Covenant.

Truth: Jesus Himself is guarding the door of the New Covenant to guarantee that I do not walk outside the boundary of its provisions.

Scripture: "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us." (Romans 8:31-34)

Explanation: I live in terror of disqualifying myself. This fear make me passive by this reasoning: Since I am destined to commit an unpardonable sin, there is no reason to expend any effort to build my relationship with God. Another point of angst is that I am a Calvinist: The presence of this fear shames me since my emotions contradict the doctrines to which my mind assents.

New Series on Lies

I want to start a new blog series. I have really been struggling recently. A friend suggested that I systematically identify the lies that I believe and then find a corresponding truth from Scripture to use a weapon against that lie. I think that this is a good idea. I hypothesize that there are others who also struggle with the same lies that I do, so I thought that I would publish my results on this blog. Here are some assumptions I am making:

• Lie isolation will be iterative. Lie k + 1 might look terribly similar to lie k, but I list k + 1 again because it is closer to the kernel; or because lie k really is a conglomerate of several lies, and k + 1 is one of the components.
• The lies are in order neither of root==>fruit nor fruit==>root. They are just in order of isolation.
• Not all reports will be equally profound or have the same potential to liberate. If I have the pressure to write something profound, I will not be able to write.

If something I write encourages you, please let me know.

小小的我

茫茫六十亿，我是小小的我；

上下五千年，我是小小的我；

东西南北中，我是小小的我；

春夏与秋冬，我是小小的我。

小小的我，为骄傲的资本而努力，

小小的我，为明天的出路而失眠，

小小的我，为眼目的情欲而愁烦，

小小的我，为生命的意义而蹉跎，

有一天，

小小的我碰到大大的神，

六十亿中多了许多弟兄，

五千年中多了许多姐妹，

四极当中有了许多家庭，

四季当中有了许多喜乐，

因着你，

小小的我，找到努力的动力；

小小的我，不为明天而忧虑；

小小的我，眼目充满着神迹；

小小的我，生命不再无目的。