Christians frequently find it difficult to consistently make their practice align with their position in Christ. The saints of God are positionally blameless in Christ, but practically, each believer must strive daily to “be blameless and harmless . . . in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation.” In this world, believers represent the Lord as sons of God. As such, they should “do all things without murmurings and disputings.” Why is this so very important? The importance points to the fact that believers are to “shine as lights in the world.” It is imperative that every believer strives daily to live a godly life and preserves a godly testimony in a world that has little to no knowledge of God (Matthew 5:16).
It is very important that the saint recognize that he is blameless in Christ at this very moment in time because of Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross. Yet, the Bible warns of one’s condition when the Lord Jesus Christ returns for His own. Thankfully, the scriptures also clearly address this event. According to 1 Corinthians 1:8, the Lord Jesus Christ “shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The same truth is expressed in 1 Thessalonians 3:13 when the Bible says that the Lord desires to stablish the believers’ “hearts unblameable in holiness before God . . . at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” How is this accomplished? 1 Thessalonians 5:23 offers the answer when it mentions being “preserved blameless.” This preservation is not through man’s efforts but only through the work of Christ. He preserves the Christian positionally blameless.
Some people incorrectly conclude that someone is blameless only when he does nothing wrong, but the scripture teaches that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The Bible continues by stating that “there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12). In other words, no one ever born upon the earth, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, has ever been sinless. This includes people like Zacharias and Elisabeth although the Bible does say that they were “blameless” concerning the commandments and ordinances of the law. How could someone be blameless and not be sinless? To be blamed suggests a failure to make wrongs right. As such, one can deduce that when Zacharias and Elisabeth sinned against the Lord, they did what the law required to make things right with God. They were blameless in the law.
Anger is not sinful, yet the source of one’s anger sometimes does manifest one’s sinful heart. Perhaps the prophet Jonah best demonstrates this truth. When the Lord first approached Jonah about the need in Nineveh, Jonah clearly displayed his displeasure in seeing the Lord work in the lives of the Ninevites. After experiencing the Lord’s chastening, Jonah appeared to have a heart change. Yet, it did not take long before his anger revealed his true feelings and thoughts. As the hearts of the Ninevites were becoming tender toward the Lord, the prophet’s heart was becoming hardened through anger. His anger revealed that he wanted his own will and not God’s.
The Bible says that God is angry every day. Yet, at the same time He may display His anger, the Bible also says that He is love (1 John 4:8), and righteous (Ezra 9:15), and compassionate (Psalm 86:15), and just (Deuteronomy 32:4), and merciful (Deuteronomy 4:31). The source of God’s anger and the means by which He acts upon His anger sets the standard for what is truly a righteous anger. If man’s righteous acts provoked God to anger, this would signify a sinful nature. The Bible is clear that the opposite holds true. God is provoked to anger by sin (1 Kings 16:2), vanity (1 Kings 16:26), and idolatry (1 Kings 22:53). His righteous anger in each case plainly declares God’s righteous nature. The source of His anger sets forth the only sources by which men should become angry.
