Sin in the Camp

All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron to be found in Jericho were devoted to the Lord and were to be placed in His treasury. Joshua warned the soldiers carefully to keep away from these items, that to touch them would bring destruction on the individual and on the rest of the camp as well.

Achan disobeyed the clear injunction. He and his family were buried under a pile of stones as a result. Also, as Joshua had predicted, Israel lost the next battle.

For two thousand years the Christian churches have tried to fight the battles of the Lord. Their successes have been limited because there has been sin in the camp.

We can talk all we want to about grace, imputed righteousness, and the rest of the excuses for ungodly, self-centered behavior. But when there is sin in the camp our hands are weakened. If even one person in the assembly is disobeying the Lord the ability of the entire assembly to wage spiritual warfare is affected.

The Lord simply will not help us when we are unrighteous, unclean, or disobedient. We are entering a new era in the history of the Christian Church. Programs that may have worked in time past are no longer adequate. The spiritual darkness is increasing daily.

There is a new challenge to righteousness, to holiness, to obedience to God. Those who would march with Jesus today must put away all sin and disobedience and seek the Lord with a perfect heart. Nothing less is acceptable.

The opportunities for entering the Kingdom of God are greater than ever. So are the dangers. Many will be deceived and fall away from the faith in the days to come. Those who truly know their God will increase in strength and perform exploits.

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. The Lord of Hosts is ready to enter the everlasting doors of the hearts of His elect. He is the Lord, strong and mighty in battle.

But to ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in his holy place requires clean hands and a pure heart. It is absolutely necessary the believer not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false (Psalms 24).

The great delusion of our day is that God accepts our works because we are "saved by grace." This is a wrenching of Paul's doctrine to our destruction. The grace of God is never an excuse for our sin. Divine grace is what we call today a jump-start. We are forgiven our past sins so we may make a fresh start with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit has been given to us so we may be able to keep the commandments of Jesus Christ and His Apostles.

When we regard our forgiveness as a permanent amnesty such that our behavior does not affect our standing with God we have departed from the New Testament. We are following the traditions of man, particularly those found in the destructive model of biblical interpretation termed "Dispensationalism."

It is time for us now to abandon these traditions, realizing that God is looking for those who will read the New Testament and do what it says.

Christians who persist in the delusion that Divine grace is excusing them from keeping the commandments of God will perish in the darkness that is coming upon us just as Achan and his family perished under the heap of stones. No believer who refuses to obey the numerous commandments found in the New Testament is a genuine disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has been deceived, not having loved the truth.

After the sin of Achan had been dealt with severely the Lord blessed Joshua and the Israelites with great victory. When we put the sin out of our life God will bless us with more victory than we have ever known.

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