Have you ever sinned and wondered afterward, "How in the world did I get here?"  That is a common thing with a lot of believers - and honestly - too common to me to be too comfortable with it.  But that kind of moment is one where we need wisdom.  The wisdom we need is an understanding of the very question we've asked.  How did we get there?  If we don't know at the moment - we need to know.  The reason we need to know is because unless we know how we got to a point of sin, we will probably not stop sinning in this way.  The best way to deal with this is to know the steps to how we got there.  Let me share something with you that is very helpful to me when I  struggle and fall into sin occasionally.  I call it a "post-mortem" analysis of my sin.

James says this to us, "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death." James 1:13-15

It is good to take a closer look at the day or days leading up to your sin.  What I found was that often I was either being set up or was setting myself up for a fall.  The first thing James tells us is that we are NOT being tempted by God.  Too often we think, "God, why did You do this to me?  Why did you have this temptation come my way?"  We think God is responsible for our circumstances - at least these that surround sinning.  God is most definitely Sovereign over all things - BUT - He does not tempt us.  Not blaming God for our problems is a huge first step towards freedom.

James does mention where all this comes from in life.  He says that we are "tempted by lust" and then when we don't respond to it properly we are "carried away" by it.  First comes temptation - from which I must flee!  Lust here is not referring to sexual sin exclusively.  It is referring to a strong desire that arises out of our self-centered and self-honoring fallen nature.   If I find myself not responding and reacting to these intense fleshly desires immediately. (which I usually did not in this process) my heart would begin hardening to God, to His Word, and to the promptings and warnings of the Holy Spirit.  I was not being responsive to Jesus.  Left unchecked, these strong desires would grow and I would find myself being "carried away by lust."  Soon I would find that not only was I being tempted - but because I was "lingering" - I soon was carried away by my lust into sin.  

Let me ask you something at this point.  Ever have one of those times when you think, "Man it was like I was unable to stop - like I was being carried away!  Well - unfortunately - that was exactly what was happening.  You did not stop sin at the point of your own desires being perverted from the truth.  Therefore they became so strong that you felt like you could not resist.  It was like someone else was controlling you.  That is the power of sin and lust.  It is powerful - and will dominate you if you do not resist early and often.  At this point you are having lust conceive in your heart - and that conception is about to give birth to sin.   

The next step is to give birth to sin.  The strong desire, left unchallenged, has now dominated our minds and our actions.  This means we are about to sin - to choose to disobey God - to choose to disregard Scripture - even to choose to silence the protest of our conscience as we act out in a way that is in defiance to God's standards and commands.  The result of this will be death.  Spiritually we will feel dead.  There will be a grieving of the Holy Spirit and a deadening of our ability to discern what God desires.  Rather than being led by the Spirit - we are allowing ourselves to be led by the flesh.  The Spirit's fire will be doused within us - we may even feel things like a lack of desire for the Word - an aversion to prayer - and plenty of condemnation.  Yeah - pretty much plenty of death is available to us at this point in our sinful escapade.  

A "post-mortem" analysis of sin asks the following types of questions.  

1. What was I allowing myself to linger over in what I saw, what I thought, what I considered, or even what I fantasized about?"  
   
2. What was I doing that led up to the strong desires that came upon me?
3. Was I watching, listening, participating in anything that weakened my desire for God prior to sinning?
4. Was I neglecting time in the Word, prayer, fellowship prior to the sin?  (One of the things that I see most in my post-mortem looks - is that I was neglecting either my quiet time - or prayer.
5. Was there any kind of incident where I became angry, bitter, or unforgiving toward someone?
6. What kind of thoughts were going through my head?  Did I seek to combat them with Scripture?
7. Was there any direct link between the temptation - and anything I've done in the last 24 hours?

When we do this, we will most likely find and identify the things that led up to our sin.  We will see things like television shows or movies that led to lustful thoughts.  We may find that we were wandering from God for days before this thing hit.  We will often find that our minds were definitely NOT being renewed with the Word.  And one other "usual culprit" will be bitterness and unforgiveness - especially when it is toward a brother or sister in Christ - or a close family member.   

The last step in this "post-mortem" analysis is to identify the activities or choices made that led to sin.  But that will not be enough.  We need to deal with these things.  There is a very simple truth here we must grasp.  We CANNOT do these things and remain pure.  We MUST address these things with the Word and with repentance and a purpose to act differently in the future.  This will be the way to turn a sinful situation into one that will not only instruct us - but will in large measure - protect us from things that will lead us into sin in the future.  It will also help us to greatly lesson the areas where we feel that when we take a small step - we are gone - because sin has such power over us so quickly.  Think of it as CSI - Jesus.  The Lord takes apart the crime scene (here a sin-scene) and examines it to show us all the evidence that points to us acting in ways that are going to end up embracing sin and ungodliness.  That will be more valuable to us than gold!

I wanted to take a one week break in the midst of this series of articles to ask a simple question.  That question is this, "Are you fighting?"  That may seem like an interesting question to ask - but it is very applicable to the battle of being a godly man.  Let me quote a pamphlet with that same title, Are You Fighting? which was written by J. C. Ryle.  

"There are thousands of men and women who go to churches and chapels every Sunday and call themselves Christians . . . but you never see any 'fight' about their religion!  Of spiritual strife, and exertion, and conflict, and self-denial, and watching, and warring they know literally nothing at all.  Such Christianity may satisfy man, and those who say anything against it may be thought very hard and uncharitable; but it certainly is not the Christianity of the Bible.  It is not the religion which the Lord Jesus founded, and His apostles preached.  True Christianity is a 'fight.'"

As we've walked through Psalm 101 we've seen some pretty strong language used.  One might even say that this language is the language of conflict - of battle - of war.  My answer to this is simple - IT IS!  Our fight is perennially one against the flesh, the world, and the devil.  These three are our main enemies - and if we are not engaged in a fight with them - we are most likely enslaved by them.  One thing the Bible promises to us is that these enemies will not be idle.  They are constantly looking for ways to make inroads in our lives.  They want to set up beach heads that will serve as launching pads for further incursions into our lives morally and spiritually.  What I am trying to say is that if we are not having any "fight" in our religion - we are losing a battle of which we not even aware.

Raging all around us currently is a war currently for the souls of the men of our nation.  The main front of that battle is for the menl of the church.  But even that front has multiple avenues where we are being attacked.  Let me mention a few (and please know that in no way is this seeking to be an exhaustive list).  

#1 - Guys . . . are you fighting with your eyes?  I know this is a battle that seems to rage everywhere you go.  From the grocery store where they put immoral magazines right at the checkout lines (and no I am not referring to Playboy, but to the women's magazines and tabloids in saying this - anyone want to argue with me biblically on this point?) to the television, to movies, to the way that women dress in our society, the battle is raging.  But guys, we need to fight with our eyes - by turning them away from lust.  Jesus put it this way, "if you right eye makes you stumble - rip it out and throw it from you."  That sounds like a fight to me?  But are we fighting?  May God grant us grace to battle the lust of the eyes daily.  I know that it is tough - and that at times we grow weak - but we cannot give in to the immorality of the world - the lust of our own flesh - or the lure of the devil in this.  We need to FIGHT!  

#2 - Guys . . . are you fighting with your mind?  This is closely related to the first - but it is important.  What is filling your mind?  The world will offer you a smorgesboard of things to fill your mind - and none of them will draw you closer to Christ - or encourage you to walk in His ways.  Our flesh will rise up and fight getting into the Word - but do it anyway.  With younger men this battle rages through the world of games - both on game consoles and on the internet.  The amount of time that is wasted by our young men in this pursuits is monumental.  Hours upon hours are spend filling our minds with worthless quests into an electronic world that provides escape from the real world.  The frightening part of all this is that these escapes are from reality - and from the real issues of manhood that should be wrestled with at this age.  To bring this up, I realize, is to possibly alienate myself from a whole younger generation.  But unless someone says something - we are going to either delay an entire generation from becoming real men - or - lose them altogether.  We need to fight for our minds.

#3 - Guys . . . are you fighting for your morals?  Here is a third area where we are being destroyed by the world, devil , and the flesh.  I am speaking about pornography and gratifying our flesh.  Recently I went to a sight that helps men get free from these things - and saw that they have had over 320,000 clients come to their site for help.  According to their reasoning - this represents about 1 in 10 of the men in the church who struggle with these sins.  If that is accurate - we have a problem in our country.  There is reason to believe that somewhere in the rage of 3 million men, IN THE CHURCH, have these problems.  I am not saying this to make you feel condemned, but rather to call all of us to action.  If we are not free - we need to be - as soon as possible.  Once we get free - we need to continue to FIGHT - not just for ourselves - but for our brothers in Christ as well.  

#4 - Guys . . . are you fighting for your integrity?  This goes beyond the battle in our minds - to the battle for our daily actions in our jobs, our homes, our churches, and anywhere else we walk.  This is the fight to take what we learn from the Word and make it a part of our lifestyles.  Here is the reason why so much is falling apart in our society - a lack of integrity.  Every scandal at its core happened because someone somewhere did not maintain their integrity.  When you multiply that times over 350 million Americans - you are going to have serious problems.  Are you willing to fight for integrity - even when your competitor does not?  Are you and I willing to trust the Lord to prosper and keep us afloat - even if we do not cut corners and "cook the books" for our benefit?  The worst crisis we face as a nation is not financial.  Our worst problems are not healthcare, jobs, or security.  Our key crisis is one of integrity.  Without men of integrity our nation will not continue to stand.    Will you be one of the first to embrace God's call to integrity - and fight for it even though many other men around you will not?  

These are just four areas where the battle rages - or should be raging.  What is sad is that many shun the fight.  They just want a comfortable life - one without difficulties or the struggles it takes to "fight the good fight of faith" the Bible presents to us.  But as long as we remain on a fallen earth - filled with fallen people - who do fallen things - and who promote fallen lifestyles - there is going to be a fight.  So hear me brothers as I seek to encourage you today!

Brothers in Christ . . . we are called to be MEN OF GOD!  We are called out of this present darkness into His glorious light to embrace the conflict that WILL begin the moment we are saved.  We are not perfect - but we are in the process where God is perfecting us!  We are not sinless - but oh how we are called to both hate and battle sin in our lives.  We are called to put on the armor of God - daily putting each piece on so that we can stand - and after we have fought to the last ounce of strength which God provides - to keep on standing!  We cannot afford to quit!  We cannot afford to be lazy and undisciplined!  We fight for our families!  We fight for our children - esepecially our sons, who are watching and begging us to be men they can follow!  We fight for the church - the bride of our Lord - the pillar of truth - and the manifestation of God's grace - and the place where the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ should shine forth the brightest!  

But in this hour, my blessed brothers, we are fighting for our lives!  The devil and his world system feel they are on the brink of victory.  They flex their muscles through the media and government thinking that they will win the day.  We face onslaught after onslaught - attack after attack - and battle after battle.  They fight us personally in our minds - relationally in our homes and churches - and morally in our national discourse.  But like those who have stood in what seemed like impossible battles - we stand.  Like the 300 Spartans who stood alone against the invaders who landed on their shores - we stand against hordes of those who fight against our God and against His Word.  But know this, brothers, we will stand.  We will stand upon the Word of God that has faced countless attacks and yet stands firm as the revelation of God.  We will stand upon the grace of God in the gospel that has won millions upon millions in every generation - under every form of government - in every trial - and under every type of oppression.  Finally, we will stand with our Lord Jesus Christ - Who has vanquished sin, death, and hell by His cross.  Who has stood strong against the attack of every false prophet, every false philosophy, every false religion, and every falsehood the devil has thrown at Him.  We will stand in Him knowing that He has won the victory - not just at the end of the age - but He has won the victory in every generation.  Now is not the time for us to faint.  Now is the time for us to FIGHT!  

May God truly establish you this day—this week—this year—the rest of your life on His grace and only His grace.

     Understanding and knowing God’s grace will change everything in your life.  It is this one truth that is more misunderstood yet is more needed than just about anything else in our lives.  God’s grace centers around the issue of our sin, our acceptability to God, and how we get there.  For the next couple of articles I want to begin to camp out on the grace of God.  Truly if we can “get” this doctrine—this truth active in our lives—it will indeed change everything for us.

     Let me begin with what we will have to grasp in order to understand God’s grace—and that is our         sinfulness and inability to stand before God in anything but His grace.  This may seem like a strange place to begin our journey together, yet it is often because of misunderstandings here that we wind up with             misunderstandings about the grace of God later.  A wrong view of our sinfulness will lead to a wrong view of God’s grace as well.  Our sinfulness before a holy God is absolute.  There is no other way out of our sin than the grace of God.  We do not have any alternative if we want to be in a right relationship with God and out from under His wrath that will be poured out upon sin as punishment for it.  Either it is His grace—freely given through the Lord   Jesus Christ and what He did to pay for sin on the cross . . . or . . . It is the horrifying specter of one day     facing that wrath on the day of judgment.  There is not a time in our lives, nor will there ever be one,  when our relationship with God is not entirely dependent upon His grace.  It is grace for our rescue from sin’s penalty, grace for our daily rescue from sin’s power, and grace from our ultimate rescue from the wrath of God on the day when all men will give an account to God for their lives.

     Too many view sinfulness and the ruin that comes with it as something other than our absolute inability to be in a right relationship with God.  They see it as a problem—but it is one “they” can work on in their own strength.  Christians see sin as a problem solved by getting saved—but then it is up to them to “keep-up”    salvation by their own obedient actions.  The truth from the Word though is that we do not need better       behavior, we need perfect righteousness at all times to stand before God.  Even if we got this initially at our salvation—we could never maintain it.  We would surely blow it—and that in short order.  The fact is that we daily depend (actually we depend on God’s grace every millisecond of every day) on God’s grace.  It is His gift of “declaring us righteous” as an act of His grace that EVER allows us to stand.  And it is that glorious grace that allows us to walk daily (millisecond-ly if you will) in God’s peace—knowing His acceptance of us based solely and completely out of the wonderful grace that is ours in Jesus Christ.