Do You Sin?

Well – do you sin?

Snap! So do I.

Are you still a sinner (but saved by grace)?

Snap! So am I.

Now it starts to get a bit more difficult...

Do you know you can sin physically, mentally and spiritually?

Even emotionally?

(No, we can’t just say “emotions are just emotions”. An emotion is how we are in the face of life’s daily quirks. Do we react, or do we respond?

A reaction shows that we are unprepared and even wrong. 

Whereas a response is well thought out and based on our inner beliefs).

Okay, let’s get back to the first question – do you REALLY accept that you still sin? Then you will know that sin of ANY size, shape or hue is hated by the Lord. Yes?

If that is so, what do you think God requires of us when we sin, perhaps even on a daily basis? Just say “Sorry” and shrug our shoulders? Or, maybe say nothing at all and make an excuse?  Perhaps inwardly thinking a sin now will be outweighed by a good we do later?

Oh dear – that won’t work with the Lord.

Do we feel utter devastation when we sin, no matter how ‘small’?

Or, do we take it in our stride and just carry on, as if we just painted a door the wrong colour?

Does the sin play on our mind until we repent and change?

Do we do this daily, leaving no sin unrepented of?

Do we go the other end of the scale and keep repenting when we have already repented once, thus turning ourselves into nervous wrecks?

Or, do we view it as our sad state until we reach Heaven, hand over our souls to God, and seek to do even better in the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour?

Do we REALLY know what sin is, and what it does to us?

Do we realise that sin can affect us bodily, mentally, spiritually and emotionally, leading us down a dark path towards greater failures? This is where anxieties and depression come from).

Do we REALLY know how God sees us when we sin, and then, when we repent?

Do we understand just how significant sin is and how it corrupts us down to the very marrow? Or, do we ‘tut-tut’ when OTHERS sin and think we are better, or that the sins we often see in them will NEVER be found in us?

Then I can assure you that Satan will make it his business to trip you up on that exact sin. Know why? Because it will crush your false self-confidence and, hopefully, turn you away from the Lord to enter a spiral of despair. So, it is worth understanding yourself, and sin, and what we must do about it. NOW, not later.

On the other hand, when we know what sin is and how it affects us and God, we can live realistically, forewarned about our own state and mind. This enables us to keep a sharp look-out in our souls, and we can obey the ‘little niggle’ of guilt or remorse; we can listen to conscience; we can repent immediately and turn away, seeking to live to the full - in Christ and not in us.

We all sin every day. Unfortunately, some folk sin sins that are utterly shameful and can never be made known to others. How many are ruined for life by what they have done?

Even if they repent? Friends, we are ALL capable of the very worst of sins, though some almost congratulate themselves on how little they sin, or that their sins are somehow less vile than others. And if no-one else knows about our favoured sin, does that mean we can run with it untouched?

No. Every sin corrupts. That is why each one MUST be dealt a death-blow immediately we are convinced of it by the Holy Spirit (we won’t do anything unless we are convinced).

Being human these moments will be repeated. But, we must respond properly. 

Be open with the Lord – because He already knows about your sin. Indeed, He knew you would sin even before it entered your head! We can’t hide anything from God.

Just talk to Him as your Father and seek His face Understand the evil of sin. Repent truly.

Then determine to change and avoid that sin in the future.

But, that’s not all.

The above is merely ‘fire-fighting’.

We must learn to seek out what is good and do what is good, so that it displaces those nasty thoughts of sin we all get. Part of this is to learn sound doctrine. And that doctrine includes knowing what we are truly like as sinful human beings.

Let us be disciplined by love for the Lord, so our daily lives are run not by secret desires after sin, but by outward desires to please God in all our ways. In this lies strength and holiness and purity. Go to it, friends! The time is NOW.