Seeking God's Protection - Protestant Caucus/Devotional

At the moment of your salvation, judicial forgiveness covered all of your sins—past, present, and future. Parental forgiveness restores the joy and sweet fellowship broken by any subsequent sins. But concurrent with the joy of being forgiven is the desire to be protected from any future sins. That's the desire expressed in Matthew 6:13: "Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

That petition seems simple enough at first glance, but it raises some important questions. According to James 1:13, God doesn't tempt anyone to commit sin, so why ask Him to protect us from something He apparently wouldn't lead us into in the first place?

Some say the word "temptation" in Matthew 6:13 means "trials." But trials strengthen us and prove the genuineness of our faith. We are to rejoice in them, not avoid them (James 1:2-4).

The solution to this paradox has to do with the nature of the petition. It is not so much a technical theological statement as it is an emotional plea from one who hates sin and wants to be protected from it. Chrysostom, the early church father, said it is a natural appeal of human weakness as it faces danger (Homily 19.10).

I don't know about you, but I have a healthy sense of self-distrust. That's why I carefully guard what I think, say, watch, read, and listen to. If I sense spiritual danger I run into the presence of God and say, "Lord, I will be overwhelmed by this situation unless You come to my aid." That's the spirit of Matthew 6:13.

We live in a fallen world that throws temptation after temptation our way. Therefore it's only natural and proper for us as Christians to continually confess our sins, receive the Father's forgiveness, and plead with Him to deliver us from the possibility of sinning against Him in the future.

Thank the Lord that He loves you and ministers through you despite your human weaknesses.

Amen and thank you for this simple, sweet lesson I learned as a young child. How often have I thought myself strong enough to withstand sin? As often as I have been wrong. Sin has burdened me not with carrying the burden of sin for I am forgiven, but darkening my spirit in the eyes of others who saw my sin before me and knew my pride and arrogance.

Reading commentary on Jeremiah 22 today, I noticed that he word for the coming redeemer that Jeremiah spoke of was “yahweh somehting or other” (can’t remember the second name) but it meant “The lord of our righteousness”

The Importance of the phrasing means that he is our righteousness- he is the source of our perfect righteousness through him- he alone is what makes us righteous. Try as we might, our nature is opposed to his righteousness, and God k ows that and so provided a way for the desperately wicked, us, to become righteous so that we can stand in his presence perfect and blameless. In God’s presence, there can be no sin, because he is perfectly righteous, and sin and his holiness can not be present together.

I thank God that I do not have to strive to be blameless so that I can receive salvation. He has provided the way to perfect righteousness, and all I had to do was acknowledge that and accept christ as savior.

The fo.lowin was by Luther which proclaimed that christ is indeed our righteousness, and the power that that fact conveys to us.

“You, Sir Satan, your menaces and terrors trouble me not. For why? There is one whose name is called the Lord our righteousness, on whom I believe. He it is who hath abrogated the law, condemned sin, abolished death, destroyed hell, and is a Satan to thee, O Satan.” (Luther, cited in Trapp)

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