II Tim. 2:19 ... "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness."
In Rom. 6:3-7 we are told that when a penitent believer is baptized into Christ his entire past record of sin is deleted from God's account and he enters into a new life where sin no longer is his master. This spiritual liberation is not achieved by virtue of what he himself has done. It is rather a blessing from God, an act of grace that brings His love into that person's soul. God reserves that blessing, however, for those who believe in His Son Jesus Christ (Mrk. 16:16), repent of their sins (Acts 2:38), orally confess their faith (Rom. 10:9-10), and submit to be baptized into Christ (I Pet. 3:21). The response to these requirements is equivalent to the phrase "names the name of the Lord" in the text above. That is, Christ claims possession of the soul of anyone who calls upon His name in this divinely charted way, (Rom. 14:8), and then confers His name upon them as a seal.
But having been thus released from a life of sin at baptism (Acts 22:16) and sealed with the name of Christ as a child of God does not make you immune to the unrelenting action of sin, which still pounds upon your soul like the waves of the sea upon the shore. This reality is the situation to which I Cor. 10:12 calls attention: "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." When sin is defeated, it does not withdraw from its intended victim for long. Instead, it immediately regroups, changes the strategy, and renews the assault in a different way. Therefore, the Christian who wins a victory over sin cannot relax his vigilance to relax and exult. Having been separated from sin by God's grace, he is required to exert the most diligent effort to keep separate from it by resisting its incessant attacks. This is the intent of the phrase, to "abstain from wickedness," in the above text. In John 8:3-11, the Jews brought to Jesus a woman whom they had just caught in the act of adultery. (Wonder why they did not bring the man as well!) They reminded Jesus that the Mosaic Law required that she be stoned to death and asked Him what He thought ought to be done. Jesus did not oppose the law, but rather reminded them that every provision of it must also be applied. And one of those requirements was that the one who threw the first stone had to be free of sin. (The implication is not all sin, but the specific sin under consideration, adultery!) Within minutes all of the woman's accusers were gone, evidently because each of the men was also guilty of adultery. Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go your way; from now on sin no more."
We all are like that sinful woman, although our sins may be other than adultery. Jesus is as willing to forgive us as He was that woman, because "God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through Him," (John 3:17). In fact, He is ready and willing to forgive everyone who feels the burden of sin and wants to have it removed. Jesus proclaimed in John 6:37 that "the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." But when He forgives our sins, He also demands that we sever all connections with them and never resume practicing them. His order to us is the same as that to the woman, "Go your way; from now on sin no more." As we continue on the road of life day after day, we cannot avoid coming into the presence of people, things, situations, ideas and activities that are evil. But because we must approach them does not mean we must pause and get involved with them until their sin invades our lives. With our attention and affection fixed upon higher and better things, (Col. 3:2), we must pass these pitfalls of iniquity right by and leave them behind us empty and victimless. The words of Psa. 1:1 & 6 express the course of the Christian path as it must proceed: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! ... For the Lord knows the way of the righteous."
