There’s too much to learn. How can you not sin?
Question:
In my frustrated life, I began to search for answers and clues and anything that could lead me to answer what on earth am I here for and found your website. I found it insightful and thought-provoking. My question to you is how can you be sure to know God's plan for your life and not be guilty of lawlessness? This is such a painstaking task, that anyone would give up. Could you answer?
Answer:
After examining many possibilities, Solomon came to this conclusion regarding the purpose of life: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
Now that might appear to be a daunting task. There is so much to learn! Yet the Lord Jesus stated, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30). God's way does have restrictions (a yoke) and there are some difficult parts (a burden), but compared to sin, the restrictions are mild and the difficulties are light. (See: "How Much Does Sin Weigh?" for more thoughts on this topic.) Let me give an example if you had committed murder, which is more restrictive: avoiding murder or being in jail for the rest of your life? Too many don't calculate the consequences of sin as part of the burden of committing sin.
John also points out, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome" (I John 5:3). But where do we start? "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (II Timothy 2:15). If you looked at what it takes to be a doctor, all the facts that need to be learned and all the effort required to master the subject, why it would be ridiculous to even start! But fortunately, there are many people who look not at the effort of the journey but the value of the outcome and decide it is worth the agony. Learning to follow God is not nearly that hard. God managed to put all He wants us to know in one book (II Timothy 3:16-17).
God also provided people to help people get a jump start on living life a Christian. "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ-- from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love" (Ephesians 4:11-16). A part of my duties as an elder and a preacher is to point people to the sections of the Bible they need to learn first or which are most applicable to the problems they are currently facing. This is just one small reason why it is absolutely important for a Christian to become a part of a faithful local congregation. "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:23-25).
Are you going to make mistakes? Most likely. I can't think of an area of study where people don't get at least some things wrong initially, but if you are willing to face your mistakes, pick yourself up, and continue working, those mistakes will become fewer. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us" (I John 1:8-10). You almost sound like a child who decides not to learn soccer: "It's too hard! What if I make a mistake? I'm no good." The answers are: "It's worth it. Most people do, but they fix them. Of course, you haven't tried."
