"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” —Romans 6:1-3
The danger for many Christians is the temptation to trivialize the sin the commit – after salvation. We often quick to condemn the sins of others – Christian and the Lost alike. There are two camps in the thinking about the consequences of post-salvation sin. One is “once saved always saved” (for which I am a proponent). As a child of God, a new creation, I have been born again, saved once – for eternity. What I am calling post-salvation sins have the effect of building a relational wall between me and the Father, but He is still my Father. For Him to hear me, to bless me, my heart must be clean – free of unconfessed sin (1 John 1:9) and I must be walking in obedience to His word. The second camp is that you can lose the salvation you gained by faith if you sin. Once saved, you might have to be saved again, and again. The first camp engenders a sense of freedom .. the second a sense of fear. The danger of the first camp can be that we no longer consider post-salvation sin as a big deal. I mean, after all, “we are in!” We made the cut. No worries about our eternal future. Well, Paul addressed this issue. (You can always count on Paul!) Let me help you get your Bible reading in for the day.
“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” – Romans 6:5-14
In the Catholic faith, they acknowledge that they sin and go to confession – well some do – the priests provide structure for the confession of sin. So many Protestants prefer to just ignore their sin. So grace may abound. The Bible says to confess to one another and confess to God. (James 5:16, 1 John 1:9) Every day we are faced with a choice .. give in to sin or give in to God. In either case you are offering yourself in submission to one or the other. How can we think it is of no consequence when we sin, even in what we might think is a trivial thing … all the while knowing that Jesus went to the cross for even that trivial sin. Don’t quench the Spirit when He brings conviction .. but yield, confess, and follow Jesus. Don’t be satisfied with anything less in your new life. Fulfill your purpose by being light and salt … bringing glory to God … just like Jesus. Not confessing our sin is like Moses refusing to remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground.
“The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters. Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.” – Psalm 24:1-4
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone
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