Mercy, Judgment and Sin

We have been considering God’s mercy and judgment and now we would like to consider sin. What is sin - really? Most people have a very wrong idea of what sin is. You might think sin is doing something like stealing, killing or maybe some sexual sin. True, those ARE sins, but that is not ALL that sin is. The Bible says, sin is disobeying God’s Word. It is as simple as that.

First we must realize there are different aspects of sin. There is the NATURE of sin we are all born with. Rom. 3:9,23; Gal. 3:22. Our father Adam sinned and all his seed is born in sin. Jn. 3:6. We cannot change our nature with which we were born. We cannot by good deeds, or by any other effort change the fact that we are born with a sinful nature. The only way this can be changed is by taking on the nature of God Himself. This is accomplished by accepting the life of Christ. We ask Him into our hearts and then, Scripture tells us, we are “justified by faith,” His righteousness becomes my righteousness.

This nature of sin is still in the believer who accepts Christ as Savior. This we call our “old man” (Rom. 6:6; Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9) or “carnal mind” (Rom. 8:7) or “flesh” (Rom. 7:18). All of us have experienced the frustration of wanting to do God’s will and failing miserably. The Apostle Paul expresses his frustration in Romans 7:15-25. The Apostle John also tells us, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth in not in us.” I Jn. 1:8. How do we gain victory over sin? First we come to KNOW that God provisionally has taken care of the sin question by identifying us with Christ. “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Christ...if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” Rom. 6:1-10.

How can this become practical in our lives so we are not held in bondage to sin all of our earthly existence? We RECKON (count or agree) with God that we are indeed dead unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom. 6:11. This is a double counting - dead on the one hand, but alive on the other. Not until we see ourselves sinless in Christ by death and resurrection, have we found the way of approach to sinlessness in life. Do we definitely believe what God says, that we have died to sin with Christ? This reckoning has nothing to do with experience. Experience is the result which follows. But there is no deliverance without our reckoning.

We must remember that we are new creatures in Christ. We need to YIELD ourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and yield our members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Rom. 6:12-16. When we accept as true the fact that we are “alive unto God” in Christ, we realize how impossible it is to continue yielding our members to sin. Instead, we yield them to God as instruments in His hands to work righteousness. The secret of victory is in reckoning (laying hold by faith in what God has said is true) and yielding to God. Some say I have tried that and failed. Why the failure? Notice, Rom. 6:17,18, “Thanks be to God, that, whereas ye were the servants of sin, ye became obedient FROM THE HEART to that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered; and being made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”

When we cease to pray, study our Bible, and do not fellowship with Christians, we may fall into sinful practices. Our spiritual life suffers and we no longer have that close fellowship with God that we once had. That New Life does not die, but seems to lie dormant. What do we do? We messed up...maybe several times...maybe all the time! It’s really simple once we understand it - come to Him for forgiveness and fellowship. I Jn. 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Some say Christians aren’t perfect. I say AMEN to that. We aren’t perfect but we have One living within that IS PERFECT. When I sin, I can come to Him ask forgiveness, and I am immediately cleansed.

What about Christian that live in sin? Someone who claims to be a Christian but is living in open sin needs to be told that there is a price to pay for living in sin. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap...Gal. 6:7,8. Sin is a very deceitful thing. It creeps in very slowly, barely noticeable. That is why we must judge the smallest things in our lives, so they do not become big sins. If we judge these sins in our lives, God will have no need of judging us. How should we treat someone who is a Christian but is living in sin? I Cor. 5:11 tells us, not to keep company with them, not even to eat with such. What about love and forgiveness? God does not overlook sin, but in His mercy and love forgiveness is available for all. We must knock, ask, seek. YES, love, God’s love, covers a multitude of sin. Do you want victory over sin? Cry out to God. To ask is the action of faith which lays personal claim, appropriates the benefits of the Cross, and blood applied.