But It Is Hardly Credible That One Could So Persecute Jesus!
14 I heard a voice saying to me. . . "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Acts 26:14 ESV
Am I set on my own way for God? We are never free from this snare until we are brought into the experience of the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. Obstinacy and self-will will always stab Jesus Christ. It may hurt no one else, but it wounds His Spirit. Whenever we are obstinate and self-willed and set upon our own ambitions, we are hurting Jesus. Every time we stand on our rights and insist that this is what we intend to do, we are persecuting Jesus. Whenever we stand on our dignity we systematically vex and grieve His Spirit; and when the knowledge comes home that it is Jesus Whom we have been persecuting all the time, it is the most crushing revelation there could be.
Is the word of God tremendously keen to me as I hand it on to you, or does my life give the lie to the things I profess to teach? I may teach sanctification and yet exhibit the spirit of Satan, the spirit that persecutes Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is conscious of one thing only—a perfect oneness with the Father, and He says “Learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.” All I do ought to be founded on a perfect oneness with Him, not on a self-willed determination to be godly. This will mean that I can be easily put upon, easily over-reached, easily ignored; but if I submit to it for His sake, I prevent Jesus Christ being persecuted.
Chambers, Oswald (2011-05-01). My Utmost for His Highest, Classic Edition (pp. 19-20). Discovery House Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Whether or not Mr. Chambers and I always see eye-to-eye, his writings consistently make me think. Today's entry from My Utmost for High Highest, is no different.
I do not agree with his statement, "It (obstinacy and self-will) may hurt no one else, but it wounds His Spirit." Is there such a thing as a "victimless sin"? According to Princeton.edu "A victimless crime is an infraction of criminal law without any identifiable evidence of an individual that has suffered damage in the infraction. Typical examples include violations of laws concerning public decency or public order, and include the sale, possession, and use of illicit drugs, prostitution, trafficking in pornography, and gambling. These laws are based on the offense principle, as opposed to the harm principle as opposed to laws based on the harm principle."
Many Christians view certain sins in the same way. Not praying doesn't injure others. Rejecting church attendance harms no one. Refusal to study the Bible is no one else's business.
We don't have any idea how our "victimless sin" will harm others. Skipping morning prayer time in favor of ESPN's Sports Center may deprive us of the revelation God has for us in regards to an upcoming life event. That verse we didn't read may have been the very piece of encouragement a coworker needed today but never received because that extra hour at the gym was more important than Bible study. The hearth attack brought on by stress may have been avoided if we had been obedient to God's command of "be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10 ESV
There are no victimless sins. All our sin grieves the Spirit, injures Jesus Christ, wounds God. But those sins also negatively affect people in a way we may never know. The butterfly effect from our disobedience might remain hidden from us, but ALL sin affects other people and events.
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Victimless_crime.html
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