Insight is a wonderful thing. It is useful, often even necessary. But it is not enough in and of itself. I have a number of friends in various of what we might call "the helping professions." These include medical doctors, counsellors, pastors, and the like. One of their biggest obstacles is what they call client non-compliance.
I think of Dr. Steve. Steve is a missionary doctor and frequently runs into this problem. A patient comes to him in search of help with a medical problem. Steve is conscientious and works hard to come up with an accurate diagnosis. He combines the patient's description of the condition and his own assessment with his considerable personal experience, the latest research from medical journals and the consultations of his colleagues. After careful deliberation he makes a diagnosis and on the basis of that makes a treatment recommendation. It may be a prescription for a pharmaceutical product or perhaps a referral to a surgeon or other specialist.
Because Steve is the kind of doctor he his, he does his best to be sure that the patient understands what the problem is, what the treatment is, and what to expect both short term and long term. There is no doubt when a patient leaves his office that he or she has had competent compassionate care. Unless there is a particularly difficult communication problem, such as a language barrier with inadequate translation service, there is no doubt that Steve's patients have good insight into their medical problems and what should be done about them. So far so good.
But Steve's diligence and the insight he passes on to his patients are not enough to get the cure that is looked for. I have seen tears in Steve's eyes when he learns that one of his patients has died because he or she did not follow up on Steve's medical advice. It is frustrating enough for a doctor to lose a patient to a particularly aggressive infection, and inoperable cancer, or something else beyond his control. It is frustrating beyond words when patients die because they did not take the prescribed treatment.
Sometimes it is a matter of superstition. The treatment perhaps was not culturally acceptable. Sometimes it is fear. The treatment plan is overwhelming. The surgery too radical to contemplate. Sometimes it is family pressure. A family member has a home cure which will work better than the doctor's. Sometimes it is financial. The cost of appropriate treatment is beyond the ability of the patient to pursue with limited economic resources. Sometimes it is just plain old procrastination. The patient planned to do something about the problem. But maybe it was one of those silent killers - not too much pain - not too debilitating. Then suddenly, it's all over. Whatever was behind the lack of compliance with the treatment advice doesn't matter. The result is the same.
Now let's apply this to you. Sin is sometimes typified as a disease. It is often linked to "leprosy" - an ailment refered to in the Bible which resulted in social isolation, physical deterioration and eventually certain death - unless someone intervenes with a miracle. Sin is a lot like this. It separates us from God and from each other. It leads to moral deterioration and eventually ends in certain eternal death - unless someone intervenes with a miracle.
You can thank God that Someone has intervened with a miracle. The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us from the deadly consequences of our sin. He took our sin on Himself - made it His own, if you like. When He died in our place, God sees us as having died. The price has been paid and now we are free to begin a relationship with God - something that was absolutely impossible before. The way God has arranged this to work is that when we accept by faith what God has already accepted in reality, then we get to enter into that reality. That is, when we believe that God is satisfied with His Son's death in our place, God makes us His children. He gives us His Spirit. This amazes me; He shares His very essence with us as the surety of His keeping His promise to raise us from physical death to eternal life.
Notice that this hinges on faith. God's prescription, if you like, is our believing that Jesus Christ died for our sin and removed every vestige of condemnation. When we do that, God takes away our sin and gives us His righteousness. Here's the catch: it is in believing that all this happens. The easiest thing in the world right now would be for you to be non-compliant with God's prescribed remedy. As sometimes happens with Dr. Steve's patients, there are all kinds of things working against you putting your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and receiving that gift of life which is offered to those who believe.
Do you remember what happened to those non-compliant patients. They died - not because they couldn't get medical advice, but because they didn't act on it. They didn't take it. Today you've heard about the gospel - the good news that Jesus Christ died and took your sin on Himself so that you might have His righteousness. I know there are all kinds of distractions and excuses. Let me tell you a secret. Not only have I heard many of them. I've made them myself. I'm not a salesman trying to sell you a new widget you don't need. I'm a sinful man who has found forgiveness by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not a recruiter trying to get you to join organization or club. I'm a man who was separated from God - living on death row, you might say - who has been set free by believing that when Jesus died, He died for me.
You already know about your sin. It's my privilege to point to the remedy. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.
Ron Hughes
© February 1997