The Enemy Within: Chapter 11 (Pt 1)

Since my grandpa Hoover has cancer I am slightly familiar with the concept behind Mr. Lundgaard's opening illustration. The question: How do we fight and beat the sin in our hearts? The answer he gives is "See God." Seeing God is like chemotherapy or radiation as "the soul sees what God is like in his glory, sees what it is like in its sickness, and buries its face in the dirt. Then the healing starts. God's radiating majesty kills the rotten marrow of sin and replaces it with humility. A heart humbled by God's terrible majesty can begin its recovery and grow strong. Sin can't thrive in a humble heart" (128).

In other words, maturing Christians, Christians who are fighting sin, are Christians who study theology. They are Christians who know God. I tell my students that it's not a question of whether or not I do theology or whether or not I am a theologian. The moment you say "God is _______" you're being a theologian. Therefore, the question is not "Am I a theologian?" The question is "Am I a good one?" And "good" is measured by NOTHING else than does what I believe about God match the Bible.

Practically, this means we have to not only read but meditate--which for me means journal and blog--on the passages of the Bible that most reveal God's majesty / glory / holiness, i.e. Genesis 1-2, Exodus 3, 12-15, 19-20, 32-34, Leviticus 10-11, Deuteronomy 6-10, 28-30, Job 38-42, Psalms 93-100, Isaiah 6, 40-66, Ezekiel 1-11, Daniel 2-4, Joel, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Matthew 10, 23-25, Luke 13-14, Acts 5, Romans 1-3, 2 Corinthians 5, Hebrews 10, Revelation 2-3, 6-19, etc.

We have to spend concentrated times in these and other passages, not just skimming them to say we did it, but really slowing down, reading and thinking about the implications of what we read, even writing them down because "if we want to put sin to death in our hearts, we have to swallow the strongest doses of God's terrible majesty we can" (128).

This also means that we should be reading theology books, and if we do so rightly, these books will help us fight sin. It also means we need to go to churches where we hear sermons that glorify God in His "terrible majesty." This is the goal of preaching, to set God before people, which in turn transforms them (2 Cor 3:18).