2 Samuel 11

David, David, David! What you did was unthinkable! You abused the powerful position that God gave you for your own personal lusts. You violated a subject in your kingdom whose father and husband were faithful servants and warriors for you. What were you thinking? You didn’t stop there! Upon the word of Uriah’s wife’s pregnancy, you brought Uriah home from battle to lay with his wife to cover up your sin. Uriah was such a faithful servant that he would not sleep in his own bed and enjoy the comfort of his wife while his fellow soldiers were in battle, (even though you got him drunk to reduce his resolve). Now in desperation, you take your evil to new heights of wickedness by having Uriah abandoned on the front lines and killed by your enemies.

In Christ

The last verse of chapter 11 summarizes David’s actions, “But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord.” That’s an understatement, to say the least. This story has always haunted me. So I’m going to grapple with it again now as I write. Every Christian sins. Sometimes, we even go off the deep end for a period of time, like David did. Sometimes, our actions are completely indistinguishable from non-Christians. Sometimes, there are non-Christians that consistently act better than some Christians. We are called to purity in our lives and our actions. We are called to be lights in the world through our example of Godly living. We are to be disciplined in our thoughts and our actions. It is our calling. Nevertheless, we all sin. Some more than others but the count really doesn’t matter. What it really comes down to is am I “in Christ”. Has God redeemed me, saved me, called me and completely and utterly forgiven me? He does it freely, even to those with a high sin count, who call upon Him and turn to Him.

Condemnation & Consequences

Roman 8:1 is one of the most significant verse in the Bible. Carefully absorb every word. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.” Eleven words of profound substance. As we will see in the next chapter of 2 Samuel, there will be no condemnation for David, but there will be many consequences. God will not abandon Him and condemn him to hell because He is a redeemed child of God. But there are consequences in this world for our sin. So be clear about the difference between condemnation and consequences. Condemnation is God abandoning you and condemning you to hell. God doesn’t do that for His own who are in Christ. Sin, either in quantity or quality (negative quality), does not bring condemnation to those in Christ. Period. But many consequences in this life come with our sin. The call upon us is to live holy lives to both honor the God who saved us PLUS to keep us from bearing the ugly consequences of sin. So let us be in Christ and pursue a life that honors God. Now, that is your best life ever! Amen