The Need For Constant Spiritual Restoration

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God you will not despise.” Psalm 51:10-17

“Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.” Galatians 6:1-5

The process of spiritual restoration is amazing! On Sunday, December 14th we welcomed Sean “Tiny” Stafford back into the fellowship of sold-out disciples as we celebrated our Christmas service! Sean’s heart for God and his actions to seek him are to be imitated. Sean has lived a challenging life, enduring abuse at a young age and other family issues, while continuing to be an A-student. The pressure of the world and the enticement of sin led to his incarceration before he began to turn his life around. After being invited out the church in Syracuse, NY, he was baptized into Christ in 2002. As he read his Restoration Letter to the church on Sunday, he tearfully shared his disillusionment by the controversy and rebellion ensued by the Kriete Letter in 2003, and how it led him to allow the sins of mistrust and slander to become rampant in his life once again. He decided to “fall away” from his relationship with God (Luke 8:13) and moved down to Virginia to engage in a life of grotesque sin. Once he heard about the planting of the Washington, DC International Christian Church, he contacted me and joined us for our Inaugural Service on September 14th of this year. He became eager for advice and discipling in his life and on his own volition decided to drive over three hours to church every Sunday to join us for service! Not only did he drive up to DC and sleep on the brothers’ couches, but he also brought visitors! One of the men who were present at his restoration on Sunday is the Executive Director for the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan: The National Network in Washington, DC who is open to studying the Bible!

David’s heart in Psalm 51 and Paul’s heart in Galatians 6 reminds us of the need to continually renew our heart for God. None of us are too “spiritual” to fall away from God or allow our religious tradition to cover up that fact that our hearts have been far away from Him (Matthew 15:8). From Psalm 51 there are important aspects to consider as we examine our own personal spiritual restoration:

1. A pure heart (vs. 10)
2. A willing and steadfast spirit (vs. 12)
3. Joy about our salvation (vs. 12)
4. Teaching others about God (vs. 13)
5. Confidence in the grace of God (free from worldly guilt) (vs. 14)
6. A willingness to sacrifice (vs. 16)
7. A broken & contrite heart (vs. 17)

Paul reminds us in Galatians 6 that disciples of Jesus who are truly “spiritual” should help to restore others in their walk with God (vs. 1), while making sure that the sins of others do not lead them astray as well! If we obey the Scriptures to “spur one another on towards love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24) we can avoid the possibility of a disciple falling away from God because of being deliberately unrepentant of sin! (Hebrews 10:26-27)

Spiritual restoration is first before God, and then is a matter of being accepted back into the fellowship of God’s Kingdom. It is a process of accountability that helps to bring a disciple back to the truth. If the process of restoration is a continual process, grave and grotesque sin can be avoided, not only amongst the congregation, but also the leadership of the church. Even the religious world recognizes the importance of “restoration.” On November 10, 2006, CNN reporters Gallagher and Arce reported that the “restoration” of evangelical preacher Ted Haggard was not going to “be easy.” Haggard was accused of extramarital relations with a male prostitute and was forced to resign as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and senior pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs. In a letter to his church, Haggard admitted to being a “deceiver and a liar.” He earlier acknowledged that he had paid a Denver man to give him a massage and sell him crystal meth. The man said that Haggard paid him for sex.

One of the men involved in Haggard’s “spiritual restoration,” Rev. Rick Busby, stated that the steps involved in spiritual restoration include submitting, admitting, restitution and being humbled.

Haggard had to agree to submit to an oversight committee of three to six men who met with him once or twice a week for several hours. The process, depending on the sin, Busby said, can sometimes take years. But the process cannot begin at all until the sinner has owned up to his sins. Pastor Steve Sjogren of Coastland Tampa Church in Florida said sexual sin “is not just one sin, it involves a variety of sins like lying, cheating and hypocrisy.”

How many of us need to examine ourselves to see whether the sins of “lying, cheating, and hypocrisy” are present in our lives? Are we lying to ourselves about how we are doing spiritually? Are we cheating God in regards to our sacrifice of commitment or tithe? Are we living lives of hypocrisy while maintaining an air of religious respectability? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then we need to ask ourselves whether we have submitted ourselves to God and his word (2 Chronicles 30:8 / Romans 10:3); whether we have admitted our wrong and sought restitution for our sin (James 5:16 / Jeremiah 8:6); and whether we have humbled ourselves to accept correction and advice (Proverbs 12:1 / 1 Peter 5:6). These are the questions we must ask and the directives we must take as we continue in our own spiritual restoration. As the Lord’s half brother, James stated in his final inspired words of Scripture:

“My brothers if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” James 5:19-20

I pray that we will all keep our faith on fire for God as we help each other to stay loyal to the truth in our hearts! That is a heart that honors God and the birth in the flesh of His son as we celebrate the joy of Christmas. And to God be all the Glory!

Andrew Smellie
Evangelist