another post inspired by my attempts at studying for a midetrm

I've been studying Microbiology at Ohio State for a few years now, and whenever people ask me what my major is like, I sometimes like to tell them that, "it's like regular biology, but smaller." Now of course that doesn't really help them understand what I study, but they get a good laugh out of it, and then they move on with the rest of the conversation.

However, if I were to give an actual answer to what I've been studying over the last year, I'd probably say something about how my most interesting classes deal with how bacteria, fungus, and viruses attack the human body, and the immune response to those invaders. 

Simply put, the human body has special receptors on cells that can "see" invading pathogens, which are marked by special molecules on the surface of the bacteria/virus/fungus. When they "see" these molecules, they begin to mount the immune response, and hopefully they can eradicate the pathogen from the system. These receptors are good at recognizing signals that are specific only to outside invaders, and in a healthy human being, will not detect molecules that are on the surface of other host cells. The body can distinguish between "good" signals from "bad" signals.

Now you may be asking, if the body can see "bad" molecules, how come people still get sick and die?  

Well, I'm glad you asked!

One of the strategies that pathogens have developed to combat the immune system is something called mimicry. And it means exactly what it sounds like. Simply put, the bad molecules disguise themselves as host molecules so that they can go undetected by the initial lines of defense of the immune system. Once they get past the front lines, they start wreaking havoc on your body, and if the body can't adjust, well, bad things can happen to you.

Much in the same way a virus can enter the human body undetected, so does sin.

Yeah it's easy to call out sin when it's obvious. Most people know the ten commandments, the go to list of things that make God angry.

Don't lie? Committing adultery? Why would anyone do that? Put God first and don't have idols? Well God gave us these commandments so I should probably follow them. Following these rules can't be too hard... right?

Except of course we make exceptions all the time.

Maybe I'll just stretch the truth a little bit, just this one time, so I don't get in trouble or make this person upset.

I'm not going to commit adultery, heck I'm not even married. But hey, I'm a sexual being. You can't fault me for being a just a regular guy (or girl) with hormones.

Yeah God is great and all, but he'd want me to enjoy all this money, this big house, this giant TV, this great job right? 

This is how sin infiltrates our lives. They put on the mask of rationalization. But why lie to a friend when true friends can be honest with one another? Doesn't Jesus make it clear in Matthew 5:28 when he says, "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."? How easily do we fill our time with the pleasures that money can buy, that we forget to worship and look to God for ultimate fulfillment and satisfaction. I'm not saying wealth is a bad thing, but at the end of the day, are you putting your hope a God who never fails, or the mercy of a bank account and an unstable economy?

See, we rationalize all these ideas in our lives, and when our sin is finally exposed for what it is by the Holy Spirit, we have a tough time letting go of bad habits. The disease of sin so firmly entrenched in our lives, it's incredibly difficult to remove it.

Yes, Jesus is the answer, the cure to this disease. He is the God who heals us. But will we continue and listen to what Jesus is telling us? Calling out sin for what it is, not allowing it to slip by our defenses. We must, "put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires," (Romamns 13:14). We don't conquer sin or grow in our walks by going about sinning with no heart for repentance, and then come back to God saying, forgive me. Rather, we look at the world through the eyes of Christ, identifying the sin in our lives, turning away from the path that leads to death and destruction. And when we lose sight, we are all the more reminded of why we needed Jesus in the first place.

Because ultimately at the end of the day, our hearts and our flesh will fail, but our God never will.

because the gym is too crowded

I find new years resolutions so entertaining. This week, I'm not going to the gym because everyone is a fitness expert this week, and the gym will be hosting amateur hour, all week long. All the weights and machines will be taken and it will smell (more than usual) and be terribly crowded. We all know that in about a couple weeks, most of these young fitness gurus will return to their televisions and gym attendance will return to normal. But I admire their desire to change and better themselves, but unfortunately, they can't sustain their desires. The few that do continue on usually have a sense of direction. They have an experienced friend who does know what he is doing, showing them what to do, teaching them correct form, spotting them, helping them. They have gone before them and understand that staying in shape is hard work.

The gospel is a lot like a new years resolution. It gives us a fresh new start. When we accept Jesus into our lives, we have a fresh clean start. Our sins have been wiped away. Sins that were as red as scarlet have been made as white as snow. When you first accept Christ, you are swept up in a whirlwind of emotions and you say to yourself, "I'm going to be the best person ever!" And then a couple weeks later, you find yourself mired and stuck in the same sin that you struggled with before, left wondering, "Jesus, I thought my life with you would be changed and different. I thought it would be new." Maybe later in life, you'll renew and rededicate your life to Christ, whether it be because of a traumatic life event, a conference, a sermon, something, and you'll say the exact same things again. And again you'll fail. I don't mean to be a downer, but that's the truth. I've experienced this in my life countless times.

But the beauty of the gospel is that we're supposed to fail. Our failures show us our complete and utter helplessness and shows us why exactly Christ had to die for our sins. We have to continue to come back to the cross. We can't keep trying to better ourselves through our own efforts, through our own strengths. We have to look to Jesus to be our strength. The perfect man lived the perfect life that we could not and died the death that we deserved, and rose from the dead like we never could. There is nothing we can add to that. We can't add anything to perfection.

When Jesus said "It is finished" (John 19:30) he meant it. Hebrews 10:12 says that Christ sat down after he had offered a one time sacrifice for all sins. Unlike our new years resolutions, we can't do anything to add to our salvation. To understand the gospel means to look at where our efforts end and where the work of Jesus begins.

The call in our walks with God isn't to be a better person. Christianity is not about behavior modification. It's about striving to know God better. We want to desire to desire God more, to know Him more intimately. Yes, like the skinny college freshmen who set foot in the gym for the first time ever this year, we will stumble and lose our way as we try to build up "spiritual muscle." But we have to realize that we do very little lifting because we have a trainer with us. Actually, he's more than a trainer. A believer of Christ has the Holy Spirit. By training with the Spirit, Galatians 5 tells us that we will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature, and the fruit of walking by the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self control. Walking with the Spirit allows us to live a life that we long to have, but it is impossible on our own strength. God does the heavy lifting for us. Our role is to show up to the gym, take a step of faith and believe that God is going to be there, and work through us. By wanting more of Jesus, by inviting him into our lives, he makes us grow.

This isn't to say that we just sit back and do nothing. We have to continue to show up to the gym.
"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." Philippians 2:12-13
Do you see what Paul is saying here? He says, pursue God, obey him, recognize know that mighty power, because that very same power will be at work in you. So continue taking steps of faith. Continue chasing after Jesus by spending more time with him, getting to know him better, getting to understand the character of the God of the universe who saw it fit to save us from our sins when we were helpless. By inviting Christ into our lives and making our lives revolve around him, he begins to change us from the inside out. He is the one changing our desires. True change comes when Jesus removes our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). God shows us that it is desirable to get to know him better and do his will for our lives.

Life may not feel easier. In fact it will probably be harder. You will be faced with the reality of living for a perfect kingdom while still in an imperfect world. Only by the Spirit leading you will you be able to continue on. But building spiritual muscle implies that you must tear down the old muscle (old sin). But only Jesus can break you're struggles with sin. You can't. And that's the whole point.

But, if you're not serious about getting into physical shape, please don't go to the gym next week, because I need to do some maintenance on this body, and I don't like having to wait for machines.