Lay it aside

James 1:21
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Some of us take the idea of laying aside all filthiness to mean something that it isn’t. What I mean by that is this: this is not an action that can be taken by a person to stop sinning, but rather the repentance, that is, the changing of the mind to no longer dwell in thought on the filthiness (sinfulness). You may be asking, “What’s the difference?”; I’m glad you did.

Making a conscious effort to stop doing a certain thing depends on you and your strength. Take, for instance, addictions. Alcohol, drugs, sex, food, or exercise, whatever the addiction, to stop depends on you. If you’re addicted to pornography then it’s up to you not to buy that magazine or log onto that website. Oh sure, you can go to AA, prayer groups, CR, or a doctor for assistance, but in the end, it’s up to you and you alone to stop doing whatever it is you’ve been doing.

Laying aside your addiction, however, isn’t the same thing. Laying it aside is like putting it in the trash can. It’s not gone yet, but it’s not staying either. The idea when you lay something aside is that even when you are committing the act (i.e., drinking a beer when you know you are an alcoholic), you’re reminding yourself of something else: Jesus.

When we become Christians, placing our trust in Christ, we don’t become non-sinners; we still sin. We’ll never stop sinning; it’s who we are. God knows this; He knew this, that’s why we have Jesus. When we sin, and sin we will, that is the time that we are in our greatest need of Christ. That is when we are in our darkest hour and that is when we need to be reminded, either by ourselves or our brethren, that Jesus already paid the price (Mark 2:17, Matthew 9:11-13).

By no means am I saying that we should sin. I am acknowledging the fact that we’re going to sin. But scripture tells us that where sin abounds, grace super-abounds (Romans 5:20). When sin enters, we have two options. We can focus on ourselves and our struggle with (insert issue), or we can focus on Christ and lay aside our thoughts of sin.

The knowledge of Jesus’ full sin-payment is what allows us to lay aside our sin. It’s not that it’s gone; but it’s in the trash. Now we can focus on Jesus. The result, as James puts it, is that we are able to receive the implanted word, which is able to save our souls. What is that word? It’s the Gospel truth that Jesus is the Christ. It’s the word that Jesus has defeated the Devil, fulfilled the law, disarmed principalities, reversed the curse, and saved the lost.

Because of Jesus, God no longer thinks about your sin (Hebrews 8:12,10:17, Jeremiah 31:34). If He’s not thinking about it you don’t have to either. It’s time to rest and receive the implanted Word. This is grace: you don’t even have to work to think about Jesus, or to have Him in your heart. All you have to do is receive what He has placed in you: salvation, His salvation!