Not only is sin deadly, but it is also a diminishment. There is no creativity in our flesh signature, in the natural sinful bent of our heart. Instead, it relies on redundant patterns. We see this truth in the book of Judges, in which the Israelites repeat a cycle of sin over and over again, doing what is evil in the eyes of the Lord (see Judges 8:34; 13:1).
Righteousness, on the other hand, is an enhancement of life. Each time the Lord delivers His people, He uses a different method, displaying His power, His grace, and His creativity. The story of Samson exemplifies this truth.
A Cautionary Tale
Samson’s story begins in a special way. In Judges 13, we read that the wife of Manoah was barren, and the angel of the Lord appeared to her and told her that she would bear a son. This son was to be a Nazirite from birth—in other words, he was to be set apart to the Lord, marked as special.
While Samson’s parents obeyed the Lord, Samson himself did not. His story is a cautionary tale to us. Instead of trusting in and committing himself to the Lord, he let his penchant for foreign women obstruct his relationship with God. His desire for personal pleasure and autonomy ultimately led to his downfall.
We, too, wrestle with different sins. It may not be sexual temptation like Samson, but we will struggle with flesh signatures of some kind. We ought to prayerfully consider our own flesh signatures, asking God to reveal those sins which are particularly tempting to us. As He does so, we need to surrender to Him and walk by the power of the Spirit.
Learn from the stories of leaders like Samson with Handbook to Leadership.
The Grace of God
The story of Samson reveals that God can and does work for good despite our flesh signature. In Samson’s case, his liaisons with foreign women opened an opportunity to begin delivering Israel from the Philistines. Now, that does not excuse Samson’s sin—he was responsible for his actions and should have chosen to walk with God. But it does show that God is gracious, because in spite of Samson’s disobedience, God still used him to accomplish His purposes.
The story of Samson serves as an example for us. We need to recognize that the grace of God is not an excuse to give in to our flesh signature. The apostle Paul addresses this in Romans 6:1–3:
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
If we have been identified with Jesus, then we need to live in light of who we are in Him. There will still be a pull from the flesh, but we can choose to walk in His ways. When we do so, we will find that He is the true basis for security, significance, and satisfaction.
This teaching is based on Ken’s Handbook to Scripture.
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