The preacher of God’s words has many responsibilities. One such responsibility concerns his obligation to charge believers to live their lives in such a way that they may be void of blame. Paul gave Timothy instructions concerning one’s treatment of other believers (especially widows). This is not the only scriptural admonition to avoid blame. In fact, the scripture is filled with instructions dealing with other subjects meant to help the believer avoid being justly blamed. God instructed the man of God to teach and preach these truths in order to guide the believer. It remains each believer’s responsibility to believe the words of God and live in accordance with those words so as not to bring reproach upon the name or cause of Christ.
There are two areas in which a man can be blameless. He can be blameless in his practice based upon his efforts to do right. Additionally, a believer can be blameless positionally, but this is completely based upon the finished work and righteousness of Christ. This second area of blamelessness is the subject of Ephesians 1:4 as is also the case in Colossians 1:22. In the context of that passage, it is clear this blamelessness comes only through the reconciliation of Christ (Colossians 1:21). This means that in Christ, believers bear no guilty responsibility for sins they have committed. Instead, believers are viewed and accepted in the righteousness of Christ (Ephesians 1:6).
The Bible often speaks of sin as a thing of the past pertaining to the believer’s life prior to salvation. This is not because believers are without sin, but the goal of every believer should be to depart from and avoid the sins which once controlled his life prior to salvation. These past actions which helped us to see our lost condition should be viewed as the friend of our past and the enemy of our present and future. This is exactly how Paul spoke of envy in his epistle to Titus. According to Paul, “we . . . were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.” Concerning the sins of the past, Paul further admonishes: “let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints” (Ephesians 5:3).
