“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10
Visualize a giant ship with all its strong structure, engineered for efficiency, safety and comfort; with state of the art equipment and extremely sea worthy. It can have the best crew and the most able captain, whose knowledge is unsurpassed. This ship meets or exceeds all maritime regulations. But all it takes is one hole to sink it!
A gigantic tank, that is built to withstand storms and earthquakes; that is constructed out of materials that will last for decades, and is theft proof, all it takes is one hole for it to lose all its contents. Just one hole in a dam can lead to the collapse of the entire dam.
“Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines.” Song of Solomon 2:15
James 2:10 challenges Christians to be sober and vigilant in, and about all things. We can have strong convictions on many things, and we can take confidence that we are strong on many things. We can tout our stand and challenge others with our strong position on many things. But all it takes is negligence in one thing to become the leak that will sink our spiritual ship and drain our tank of spiritual integrity. “A little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump.” Galatians 5:9 “Do not err my beloved brethren.” James 1:16
Whatever it is that we are doing faithfully, will not answer for the things we leave undone. A farmer can build the best fence, but if he fails to shut every gate, the livestock will still escape, the same as if there was no fence at all. It is the thing(s) we leave undone that will be that hole that can sink our spiritual ship. “These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” Matthew 23:23
“Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Galatians 3:10 All it takes is one sin to condemn the soul, the same as all it takes is one hole to sink the ship! Thus, a person’s good will not outweigh or redeem them from their bad, any more than the good things of the ship will prevent water from entering into the hole. To be saved, one must have an account for their soul that has no sin whatsoever, and only the righteousness of God. This is impossible for man to achieve. That is why God foreordained the substitutionary offering of Christ to be the account by which the believer’s soul is made acceptable to God.
SHARING
