Drowning I've heard that when a man who cannot swim is drowning, he will many times struggle, even when a lifeguard comes to pull him out. Sometimes the struggle will involve grasping at the life guard and flailing in the water in an effort to save himself from the onslaught of water which he has no realistic idea as to how to resist. Many times the drowning mans sincere efforts at saving himself, even in the presence of a lifeguard trying to save him, will actually be the very thing which dooms him. A sad thing indeed but many times the fear of drowning is just uncontrollable. I would like to address those who are having sin problems, whether those who are lost and unbelieving or those who are saved but are still having some kind of sin problem. All who are such have a need to learn that it is our trust and continued reliance in Christ which will allow the Holy Spirit to pull him from the waters of sin. Even as the drowning mans struggle to save himself, even in the presence of a lifeguard, can cause him to prevent the very salvation which he is hoping for; so likewise the man who is struggling with sin, even in the presence of Christ, who is the answer for sin, will invariably only pull himself deeper into sin. Let's imagine that sin is like water. Being born into a sinful world, we are not normally too upset about being in the water of sin for we are born into it. In fact, one who is suffering from unbelief finds it perfectly natural to breath in the water almost like a fish, however, upon conversion and trusting in Christ for Redemption, we no longer desire to take in the waters of sin. The problem is that in our sinful state there was really no reason for us to learn to swim because we did not mind taking in the water but now after trusting in Christ for Redemption, we despise the idea of sin. With this being the case it is necessary to stay on top of the water and either swim or tread water. Being saved has not taken us out of the water (world), it has given us a new nature so that we are not at home in the water. The problem is, how do we swim. How do we stay afloat? Considering the Word of God which proclaims Christ as the answer for the sin problem, let us assume that as a believer we want to stay afloat so that we will not partake of the water but because we do not know how to swim we need a lifeguard. Let us assume that the life guard is our Faith in Christ, which is what God has ordained that we have in order to be delivered from sin. Now just as when the swimmer out here in the lake struggles and tries to put forth his own effort (even though the lifeguard is there trying to help him), so likewise many believers will also struggle with the Faith which God has given them. Faith in Christ is much like the lifeguard, for when the lifeguard grabs onto a drowning man the best thing the drowning man can do is relax and stop trying to save himself, leaving it in the hands of the capable lifeguard. Even after we are in Christ, many times a believer will feel like his efforts will keep him afloat in the water of sin, however, it is not his efforts that are required but rather that he relax into his Faith in Christ. His struggling will only make matters worse because the only effective struggle against the waters of sin is a struggle to trust in Christ (just as for a drowning man, his struggle is to trust the life guard and relax into the safety of his able and knowledgeable arms). When we quit trusting in Christ it is many times because we are struggling to accomplish, what can only be accomplished through Faith in Christ, that is, deliverance from sin. I think a good example of this is found in Hebrews 4:10, which says, "For he who is entered into His (God's)Rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His." And verse 11 goes on to say, "let us labor (hasten) therefore to enter into that Rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." Thus, the man who is drowning in the waters of sin will only be delivered, when he rests in the Faithful Hands of Christ, leaving off his own personal struggle to accomplish freedom from sin. Our own efforts and ability being plied to our struggle against sin show that we are not really trusting and relying on Christ's ability to free us from sin. And that lack of faith in Christ's ability to keep us afloat in the waters (world) of sin will actually drag us deeper into the water, eventually causing our doom. May the Lord of a Merciful Blessings, Bless You Always Dennis Lackie www.itsallincrist.com