Sin is Sin

Sin is Sin

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?(Matthew 7:3)

Do you know that a thing so small could cause so much pain?

Sin is like that. We may find it as nothing more than a little lie or a minor transgression, but it was plenty to bring Jesus to the cross. Refusing to deal with sin will inevitably cause pain and destruction in our lives.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins. He will purify us from all unrighteousness (John 1:9.)

This was written to believers as an incentive to deal with sin.
This is a promise that when we confess sin, God will forgive us.
God will be faithful to cleanse us from the mess that our sin has caused. 

We are not perfect but forgiven.

To meet that forgiveness fully, be sensitive to sin and quickly choose to do something about it.  God is serious about sin, and people should be, as well.

1. Confess wrong regularly.

Confess means to agree with. It is in the present tense because we must confess wrong continually, without stopping.

2. Confess sin entirely. 

We commit sins one at a time. 
We need to identify them one by one, as easily.

3. Confess sin confidently.

Once we repent and confess our sins, we can move on and leave it behind us.
God is just and fair. He only seeks one payment for sin.
Jesus has already made whole and complete settlement with His death on the cross.

If He does not care about your soul, He is not your soulmate.

One of Satan’s favorite tactics is to restore buried evil.

He will wrap your confessed sin in his futile taunting and useless charges, and will haul it back into focus, hoping that the evil will paralyze and hold your soul from freedom.

Satan can keep you captive if you allow him. 
By believing his lies, we give him access.

To break the grip of sin, we can and should take a stand against the enemy, trusting, not in our feelings but in the word of God. The word of God is timeless and crystal clear.

When we confess sin, God forgives it.

Please pray for me that I will have immediate perception and judgment when I sin. May God give me the strength to turn away from the sin in my life. 

Sin in the life of a Chris­tian is different from an unsaved person. It is much worse.

Light symbolizes the fundamental nature of God while darkness represents life apart from God, away from His righteousness. Walking in darkness is to live habitually in sin.

Sin literally means to miss the point or the target.
Sin is, to disobey God. 
Along with the outward disobedience, the sinner may have hidden resistance and refusal to submit to God's teachings.

False ideas about sin are everywhere. 
Sin is sin. 
It still is. 

Here are some of the enemy's deceptions about sin.

1. If we say we have fellowship with Jesus but walk in the dark, we are lying, and we do not live according to the truth.
2. We delude ourselves when we say we have no sin, truth is not in us. Evil exists in our nature.
3. If we say we have not sinned, God's word is not in us and we just made him a liar. Sin shows itself in our conduct.

SIN is an enemy that we should take seriously. 

We should turn our backs on sin, and despise it. 
Sin is serious, and we must deal with it. 
We can try to hide it by telling lies, but we would still be walking in darkness and living in sin.
We lie to appear righteous and spiritual. 
We lie to appear that we are walking in fellowship with God.

Christianity without integrity is a false illusion.
Sin is always a barrier to fellowship with God.

For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome. (Psalm 5:4)

If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; (Psalm 66:18)

Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. (Isaiah 59:1-2)

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?(2 Corinthians 6:14)

People may lie to themselves after lying to others. 
We may deceive ourselves, trying to convince ourselves that we are blameless.

David lusted, committed adultery and tried to hide his sin. 
He attempted to fix Uriah, Bathsheba's hubby and killed him in action. 
Nathan confronted David with a similar hypothetical situation. 
David condemned the wicked man until Nathan said that it was him.
David felt no condemnation for himself. 
He believed his lie and this progressed into lying to God. 
This is not a reliable method for dealing with sin. 
The results of trying to hide our sin are devastating. 
We could lose the word of God and we stop living according to the truth. 
The truth is not in us, and it turns into lies.

God's word is Truth.
Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.(John 17:7)

• We could lose fellowship with God and His family. Prayer may become empty form and prayer becomes a monotonous routine. 

1. Are you becoming critical of other Christians?
2. Are problems appearing in your family?
3. Do complaints about the church develop? 

A friend of mine is accountable to her leader. She thinks she is decent, but she somehow could not trust her. She feels that something seems to stand between the two of them. Another friend could identify with her, but this friend has revealed to me that unlike our other friend, she has a good friendship with their leader. A few days later, everything became better. Their group leader didn't do anything.

I found out that it was my friend who did the changing. She revealed to me that after careful prayer with God, she decided to be open and honest and confessed that she used to have too much pretensions in her life, but they both knew it was phony. 
She decided to live an authentic Christian life.

• We could lose our integrity. 
• Our body starts out telling lies and ends up becoming a liar. 

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)

Many try to hide their sins, but this would not work if we want to enjoy a real life. 
We can and must confess our sin.

• We should not deny sin, but admit it and receive the grace that God promised and made possible for us.
•  We need to acknowledge before God that we are sinners by nature and by application.
• God will forgive us and cleanse us.  
• We were born with a sinful nature. 
• Each of us has committed acts of sin. 
• Sin hinders God's work.

God is faithful and just.

A just Judge cannot see sin lightly. The cross is the only way God can forgive sin. At the cross, the blood of Jesus was cast to remove our sin away, to be the atonement for our sin. Jesus satisfied God's holy law and paid the penalty of evil with His blood. It is the fulfilling of God's holy law.

Single acts of sin are possible for us, but we should not live a life of habitual sin. 
God has already made arrangements for the restoration for our past, present and future sin. 

When we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we get to have an Advocate.

An advocate alongside is summoned to come to our assistance. 
Advocates are particularly used of defense lawyers pleading the cause of a person on trial. The Holy Spirit will stand as our Advocate. 
Jesus represents us before God, before the throne of grace.
Jesus helps us as our Advocate when we confess our sins. Jesus, who satisfied the law represents us before God's sovereignty. 
His sacrifice made forgiveness of our sin possible. 
He pleads our case.
Rightly deal with sin.

We can conquer our sin.

Despite what society tell us, we do not have to continue to sin over and over again. 
The key to victory is to walk in the light. 
Light does not only make us see, but it allows us to walk.
It gives us right conduct, not just clear vision.

We must avoid hiding our sin to be able to walk in the light. 

Be open and honest with God, yourself, and others. 
Obey God's word. 
It is impossible to live the life of Jesus by yourself, but you can overcome evil by abiding in Him.

 To abide is to continue, to remain, and to linger. 

It means fellowship, communion, and dependence on Him, just like the vine and the branches. 
We need to depend entirely to Jesus to overcome sin. 
Sin in the life of Chris­tian is different. 
Sin is worse for us who claim to follow Jesus Christ. 
Sin is serious, and we must not try to hide it.

Set a time each day to pray and read His Word.

Ask the Holy Spirit to convict you of every sin that stands between you and God.
Confess that sin.
Walk on in His power and grace.

What sins do you need to confess now?
Why did you stay on to that sin?
What wallop has this evil had on your life?
What do you want to alter to turn from your sin?
Do you honestly believe that God can forgive your sins and will forgive them?
Why or Why not?

Though this world is a lost world, it is not forsaken. 
Come to God, and hear the Holy Spirit. 
Be comforted and be filled with the Holy Ghost.