As members of the Church of the Eternal God, we each have a commission to obey God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and also to honor our calling by protecting ourselves from sin. We can do this by living faithfully and avoiding evil in our lives. We cannot however lock ourselves away; we live in this world that Satan controls, and therefore we must protect ourselves through prayer and obedience to God. We must distance ourselves from the enemy.
I recently read an account as to how the young Continental Militia sought to protect the new American nation from the British forces. They could not avoid the British presence as the colonies had been governed by England and the King. The new nation had declared independence from Britain in 1776, but the British were unrelenting in their efforts to quell this uprising. The ill-equipped American force realized that fighting such a powerful enemy was often not as effective as avoiding them in the first place. When we are baptized into God’s true Church we recognize that we are joining a spiritual battle against evil, and yet the only way to win such a battle is to rely wholeheartedly on God and never impede Him.
Much as we must protect our hearts and minds by avoiding Satan, it is interesting that the new American militia sought to protect their strategic fortress of West Point, NY, by avoiding the enemy, rather than being desirous of engaging in battle. As the first buds of springtime of 1778 began to emerge, and the ice on the Hudson River in New York State began to break up, the under-powered continental troops of the new republic sought to defend against the British Navy and land forces. The historic West Point Military Academy was constructed at a strategic, yet vulnerable point along the Hudson River. The river provided a barrier between the New England territory and the rest of the Middle Atlantic region of the young nation. The military academy sits atop the cliffs on the west bank of the Hudson, and although the site was defensible to a degree, it was impossible to stop the British from making their way up-river, leaving most of New York and New England susceptible to attacks and sabotage.
A British engineer, aiding the continental forces, designed a 650-yard linked chain that would be laid across the Hudson from West Point to a small island, now known as Constitution Island. Imagine a necklace of iron, but then consider that each link weighed in at 114 pounds and was 2 feet in length. Some 750 separate links comprised the 65-ton chain that would be lowered and raised much as a ship’s anchor, to admit friendly vessels or repel the British warships. The fledgling American force installed the chain each spring/summer from 1778, until it ceased to be needed in 1782. This was referred to as Washington’s Watch Chain, euphemistically nodding to the new president’s pocket watch. The chain’s sole purpose was avoidance and protection rather than engagement.
Washington and his men stood watch and protected the new nation, and as true Christians, we must also protect our hearts and spiritual lives from the enemy. We know that we can all too easily become ensnared in sinful ways, including relying on our own abilities, as we see in Jude 6: “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day…”
Additionally, consider 2 Peter 2:4-6: “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly…”
When we repent and rely on God, we are released from the bondage of sin. We understand that our freedom and safety was purchased by God through the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and so we read in Romans 6:18: “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” We know that sin can be like a bear trap that we stumble into; we did not intend to place ourselves in that position, but we must ask ourselves how we might have avoided the situation and similarly, sin. Consider the wisdom contained in Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” We must be proactive and work, but also never place ourselves in that bear trap of sin. Again, we should guard our spiritual lives as aggressively as we protect our bodies from illness and injury. We recall the words of Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The message is straightforward; in order to protect ourselves from sin, we need to be mindful of our actions and intentions and always guard against and avoid evil.
Being aware of the progression of sin is another good way to protect oneself. We see this clearly in James 1:15: “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” As true Christians, we pray consistently for strength to remain faithful to God the Father and to Jesus Christ and to do as we read in Ephesians 6:10-11: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
We do not need a massive iron chain to avoid sin; we simply need the power and majesty of God the Father and Jesus Christ, and to follow the commandments to lead us to safety and eternal Life in the Kingdom.