Why Christians Fall CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
We often wonder why Christians fall. There are numerous reasons found throughout the Bible. However, in is text we find four of the most common reasons. Rather than preach this text to simply answer the question why Christians fall, we will preach this passage to show you how to keep from falling.
Stay connected to the body – Eph 4:11-16 – when you were saved, you became a member of the body of Christ. Your local church should be a representative organization of this larger organism. In other words, our church is to function as a body. And in the body, you have a place to be “fitly joined together.” When you are, you “come in the unity of the faith… unto a perfect man… unto… the fullness of Christ.” And when you are not joined together with the body, you will not “grow up into him in all things,” you are more susceptible to being “tossed to and fro,” you will miss what “every joint supplieth,” and you will be “carried about with every wind of doctrine.”
Quit walking as the Gentiles – Eph 4:17-19 – Other Gentiles, those who are not saved, “walk in the vanity of their mind.” Every man does that which is right in his own eyes. Even so, a Christian can walk this way and end up being just like an unsaved man. As such, his understanding is darkened, he becomes “alienated from the life of God,” he is ignorant, his heart is blind, he goes “past feeling” [like having his conscience seared with a hot iron, 1 Tim 4:2], and gives himself “over unto lasciviousness.” You and I may have walked this way before we were saved, but after we are saved we cannot walk this way at all. We must turn completely away from the walk of other Gentiles, lest we become just like them.
Put on the new man – Eph 4:21-29 – Our old man is corrupt and so we must put him off. Our new man is created in “righteousness and true holiness.” And so we are to follow “the truth [that] is in Jesus, allowing his righteousness and holiness to work in us, to be exercised in godliness and to “be renewed in the spirit of [our] mind.” To do this, we are to put away lying and speak the truth. We are to get our temper under control. We are to quit giving place to the devil. We are to quit stealing and start working so that we have enough to tithe, pay our bills and have some left over to help others. And we are to clean up our speech so that we “may minister grace unto the hearers.”
Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit – Eph 4:30-32 – To do this we must put away ALL bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, evil speaking and malice. We are to be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving. The truth is that Jesus has been far greater to us than we have been to others and he has endured far more from us than we have had to endure from others.
Conclusion: Christians who don’t follow these four simple instructions end up in a mess. They get out of a good local church and end up in a weak church if they end up in one at all. They start walking in lasciviousness as the other Gentiles walk and you and they can’t even tell if they are saved. They walk around in the old man and many have the behavior of an addict. They grieve the Spirit and let bitterness and anger control them and their unforgiving spirit. So, Christian, follow these four simple instructions and grow and flourish in your Christian life unto the fullness of Christ!!