One actually can’t even sin without Jesus!

Date: 2/18/22 12:45am—2/19/22 9:00am

No believer is ever alone. And wherever there are two, Jesus places Himself, harmoniously, in between them.Jesus: “Without Me, you can do…”

  • all things ☒
  • GREAT & many things ☒
  • small & few things ☒
  • only one or two things ☒
  • NOTHING ☑

John 15:5 KJV

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Consistent with: “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:3 KJV)

Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, composes the indivisible components of all known and unknown matter. He is the Creator of all. You technically can’t even blaspheme His existence —in thought or in deed— without/apart from Him, because it would at the very least require the visibly-perceptible involvement of matter, or the firing of neurons and other mental processes, of which He is not only fundamentally part, but also ultimately enables. If Jesus Christ is part of every element, then a state of “without Jesus” cannot exist anywhere; thus we literally can do NOTHING without Him.

I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me (Phili 4:13), but without Him I can do nothing (John 15:5).

From one extreme to the next; from being able to do ALL things with Him, to being incapable of ANYthing at all without Him…

One thing remains a constant along that spectrum: You.

And the consistency reflected in the night-and-day disparity seen above makes it abundantly clear that we’re nothing more than mere vessels of dirt (Gen 2:7). Literally anything more than what dirt is capable of accomplishing by simply existing, is all God’s power at work within us— for better or for worse. And the dirt (Gen 3:19) itself was made by Him to begin with.

Yet we humans are so quick to boast…

  • “Look at my law-keeping; behold, and marvel at my ability to OUTWARDLY keep the watered-down version of God’s holy standards. You’re not worthy.” (see Matt/Mark/Luke/John)
  • “God? Who is this “God” you speak of? I’ll hand Him my business card; for look at what my hands have built! And I owe it to all these natural resources conveniently lying around…” (see Deut 8:17)
  • “Yeah, I don’t acknowledge any God in the equation of my lucky life of lavishness either. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have my own form of righteousness, dictated by my personal sense of right vs wrong, rooted in my very own sense of justice. Which totally isn’t inspired by the Dos & Don’ts delineated in the Ten Commandments given by some imaginary deity atop a mountain— NOOOPE…!”

There’s opinion, there’s fact, and then at the very top of that 3-stack —the highest reality— there’s truth; here’s a dose of unfiltered truth…

Our nature is a fallen one (thanks to Adam’s sin in the garden) that is predisposed to absolute darkness (John 3:19), so any aversion to sin you may wanna boastfully “claim” as being attributed to your own holiness isn’t at all inherent (until salvation— thus new creation; 2 Cor 5:17) and hints at a moral fiber embedded within your irredeemable flesh which you can’t legitimately take credit for. For instance, how did Joseph know sin (Gen 39:9)hundreds of years before the Law would eventually be given at Mt Sinai…?

Answer: “And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man…” (Gen 39:2 KJV)

In other words, more than dirt was present among the dirt.

To reiterate: And Jehova was with His dirt, and His dirt was very successful.

The Law is essentially information, engraved on stone by the finger of God. And by the Law is the knowledge of sin (Rom 3:20). Therefore any knowledge of sin predating the Law’s introduction would have to be revelation as opposed to information. Revelation comes by God— there’s no other way to outsource unavailable information except by demonic association.

Had God not been with Joseph upon Potiphar’s wife’s sexual invitation, it’s possible that Joseph might’ve accepted, but even if he still refused her, his refusal wouldn’t have been a result of any measure of moral & spiritual excellence; he could’ve just said no because he found her unattractive.

Regardless, the bottom line is “your” praiseworthy aversion to sin is not your own, as it can only ever come by Christ in the first place. Thus the praise belongs to Him and not you.

Any departure from sin predating the death of Christ on the cross is either a) conveniently preferential (you just so happen to be at peace w/ the light at the moment— maybe even in favor of one shade of darkness [fornication] over a darker one [adultery]), or b) attributed to the behavior modification incentivized by the Law (post Mt Sinai); but even that capacity to depart from evil you can’t rightfully claim a pat on the back for, because…

John 15:5 KJV

“…for without me ye can do nothing.”

You are the righteousness of God in Christ

Don’t ever let anyone who’s better than you at abstaining from a specific sin make you feel condemned as a believer. Because apart from the blood of Jesus, we would only be as strong as our weakest resistance to sin. What do I mean?

You can perfectly keep 9 of the 10 Commandments and just because you miss the mark in that 1 area, you’re automatically guilty of breaking the ENTIRETY of the Law. This means that from God’s perspective —the truest reality— the man who sees his friend’s Air Jordan Vs and lusts after the idea of having them to himself, is equally as evil and deserving of hell as the murderous bank robber or serial rapist; even if his material covetousness is the full extent of his only sin, ever. Jesus agreed with the Rich Young Ruler, that he truly was managing to keep all but ONE point of the Law, from birth— God Himself agreed that a man had accomplished this amazing feat! Yet it still wasn’t sufficient…

James 2:10 KJV

For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Without the blood of Jesus making ALL of we born-again believers righteous by faith with Abraham, effectively putting all of us in right-standing with God, we would instead be equally deserving of the flames; regardless of the perceived severity (i.e., opinions) of our personal shortcomings. The fire isn’t any cooler for the whoremonger than it is for the atheist, nor do the worms chew more tenderly on the liar than on the fearful (Mark 9:48, Rev 21:8).

Find solace in the fact that your righteousness is assured and built on a never-shifting foundation, backed by the never-changing mind of a Heavenly Father who sees every partaker of the Abrahamic covenant as if they all were Jesus Himself. Without whom you could do absolutely nothing, but with whom all things are possible (Phili 4:13, Matt 19:26).

Yes & amen  

<3 ,

Kiwi