Sin No More!

Recently, I came across alarming statistics. A study conducted in the USA about three years ago found that more than 50% of Christians consider casual sex between consenting adults always or sometimes acceptable whether or not they are in committed relationships!

If this is taken as an indication of what they would be willing to do if circumstances are right, then over half of people entering relationships would cheat on their partners at some point! Or worse, they are already doing it.   

It’s no different in this part of the world. You just need to take a walk down the social media streets or have a chat with some of your church friends. You will be shocked at what happens behind the scenes.

Not just sexual sins, more and more Christians from church leaders to ordinary church folk are indulging in all sorts of sins. 

And willfully I should add. It’s not an issue of struggling with sin, such persons are comfortably living in sin.

The world has infiltrated the church. Rather, contrary to God’s stipulation, believers are conforming to the patterns of the world at an alarming rate (Romans 12:1-2).   

It’s very concerning. 

However, the standards have not changed. God is dead serious about sin. He still is calling His people to be holy as He is (1 Peter 1:16).

Despite the push from the so-called progressive liberal Christians, we cannot afford to cave in. Compromise comes at too expensive a price. Sin, even more, willful sin, is perilous. It robs the believer of so much now and even into eternity.   

The Pitfalls of Living in Sin

Yahweh is the epitome of holiness. He is wholly holy in whom no speck of sin is or can be found. When someone created in the image and likeness of God and worse if he/ she is regenerated i.e. a believer sins, it is a great assault on God.

It’s not just a God issue, the sinner self-destructs. Sin degrades the sinner to a form far from what the Maker made. Unless the person repents, death (spiritual and eventually physical) is inevitable.

That is precisely why God forbids sin.

Perchance you are caught up in willful sin, I hope that understanding alone will motivate you to change your ways. If you are still debating it in your mind, let me highlight some dangers of living in sin.  

Compromise:

1. Quenches your spiritual fire.

Every human being is born with a ‘sin deterrence system’ called conscience. It affirms a person when they do good and rebukes them if they do what is evil to steer them back to God. 

The big question is, what will you do with the conviction?

If the believer caught up in sin repents, their relationship with God is restored. If, however, they ignore the conviction and persist in sin, it gets worse.

But it’s usually a slow fade. At first, things are hunky-dory. You can put up a face and do continue doing the things you used to do. To an outsider, you are just a good believer.

If only they knew of the war raging within you… The gnawing conscience won’t let up.

With time, guilt grows. Grows to unbearable levels pushing you away from God. Like Adam and Eve, you will find yourself hiding from God. The warm presence of God you once basked in will no longer be tenable.

Feeling too filthy and perhaps unworthy of forgiveness, you simply keep off.  

Personal devotion is usually the first casualty. The prayer closet goes unattended as Bible gathers dust on the shelves. True is the old saying: The Bible will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the Bible.

As much as you can, you will find yourself avoiding fellowship and Christian gatherings, lest you are called out.

Let’s not even go to other spiritual disciplines. They will feel like a very heavy burden.

Before you know it, your spiritual life is cold, stone cold.

It’s more like heating water on a jiko or wooden stove in a leaking cooking pot.

At first, all is well. The fire flames on heating the water steadily. Over time though, the inevitable happens. The little water droplets trickling down quench the burning charcoal/ wood, and eventually, the fire goes out. The water that was well heated gradually grows cold.

Like the leaking water that quenches the fire, sin disconnects the believer from the source –God. Yet God is the source of every element a believer needs to live a fruitful and fulfilling Christian life.

John illustrates it well using the analogy of a vine and its branches (John 15:4-6). Just like the branches of the vine can only bear fruit when connected to the vine, a believer can only bear fruit when connected to God.

Elsewhere, the Psalmist and prophet Jeremiah use the proximity of a plant to the water source to say the same thing (Jeremiah 17:7-8/ Psalm 1:1-3). A tree planted near a water source is amply supplied by the all critical resource thrives unlike one that is far from water.

Sin severs the connection to God (Isaiah 59:1-2)

Therefore, if a believer is to thrive and bear fruit, they have to walk with God closely. That by trusting God and shunning sin or any unequal yoking with sinners.  

Saint, if you desire to live a meaningful Christian life, a fruitful life, and leave a rich legacy, you have to shun sin. Sin will rob your vitality and quench your spiritual fire.

When you sin, repent quickly and turn to God.  

2. Attracts God’s judgment.

I will just sin and“1 John 1:9 it”, someone might be thinking to themselves. Hasn’t God promised to forgive me if I repent?

Well, it’s not that simple.

Indeed, in several places in the Scripture, God Has promised to forgive those who turn to Him in repentance. In fact, the sinner’s prayer is always answered in the affirmative.

However, the same Bible warns against abusing grace (Romans 6:1-4). As much as God Has promised to forgive a repentant sinner, the sinner should not knowingly and willingly indulge in sin.

We’ll delve into that a little more in the next point but it’s tantamount to voiding Christ’s redemptive work. 

That’s not a safe path.

As much as God forgives, you will still bear the consequences of the sin.

God judges sin (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Get this well. Sin comes packaged with its consequence(s). When someone sins, they not only partake of the act of sin but also automatically subscribe to its consequences.

Often than not, the person sinning will not know the consequences of the given sin. Only God knows the form, extent, and timing of the consequence. That means even when it comes you may never recognize it as a consequence in the first place.

And worse, you don’t get to choose the consequence. The apologist Ravi Zacharias rightly noted that while we humans have the liberty of choice, if one opts to sin, they do not have the liberty to choose the consequences of the sin.

Next time the devil dangles that temptation, when the allure seems too good to resist, think twice.

Choices have consequences.

If not anything else, let consequences deter you from knowingly engaging in sin. It’s good to shun sin for the love of God but if it will take the apparent pain of some consequence to stop you dead in your tracks, so be it.

Don’t imagine you are special and you can get away with it. Your sin will find you out, always (Numbers 32:23). You will reap what you sowed (Galatians 6:7-8).

Don’t persist in sin. When you come to your senses, repent quickly.

Though repenting may not stop the consequences of sin, it will restore your relationship with God. With the restoration, you can rely on God’s grace to carry you through the consequences, whatever they may be.

Without that, you not only face the consequences of sin but will also have to grapple with the pain of losing touch with God which far outweighs the pain inflicted by the consequences.

3. Jeopardizes your destiny.

The Epistle 1 John talks about the whole issue of assurance of salvation perhaps better than any other book of the Bible. 

Apostle John singles out holiness as one of the marks of a true believer. Twice, he notes that a believer does not continue sinning (1 John 3:9-10; 5:18-21).

See, a believer is born of God. When one comes to faith, God deposits a seed of His holy nature in them. As they feed the Spirit and grow in faith, the sinful nature should progressively wane as the fruit of the Spirit wades.

Not that a believer should be sinless (for John concedes all have sinned -1 John 1:8-10) but he/ she should sin less as they grow in their faith.

That’s the ideal. What if despite knowing how bad sin is and its consequences a Christian believer still chooses to sin?

Well, their situation is tricky. Almost hopeless in fact.

Having come to Christ –the epitome of holiness- and tasted of the heavenly blessings, a believer is expected to treat sin differently than a non-believer. If they trash all that treasure on the altar of momentary pleasures of sin, what more is left for them?

The writer of Hebrews has an answer. Hear what he says: “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God…” (Hebrews 10:26-31).

Judgment. Only judgment awaits a believer who continues to live in sin.

A few chapters before, the writer of Hebrews says it is almost impossible to restore such a person who falls away (Hebrews 6:4-6).

It’s one thing to sin ignorantly but another altogether to sin consciously and continuously.

It is tantamount to trampling Jesus underfoot, making unholy the holy, priceless, and precious blood of Jesus Christ. It’s an insult to the Spirit of grace.

Overall, it trashes the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross i.e. it’s like crucifying Jesus all over again.

Who does that? You do if you live in sin.

As if that is not enough, apostle John calls living in sin a sin that leads to death.

I like how the Message Bible translation puts it: For instance, if we see a Christian believer sinning (clearly I’m not talking about those who make a practice of sin in a way that is “fatal,” leading to eternal death), we ask for God’s help and he gladly gives it, gives life to the sinner whose sin is not fatal. There is such a thing as fatal sin, and I’m urging you to pray about that. Everything we do wrong is sin, but not all sin is fatal. (1 John 5:16-17).

This is one of the saddest verses of the Bible. Willful sin is a death trap.

If a true believer sins, it evokes remorse. They repent and shun it. That’s a sin that does not lead to death. However, if a believer makes sinning a habit, then it becomes a sin that leads to death.

You don’t want that to be your story. If you had gotten cozy with sin, let this harsh warning jolt you out of your stupor. Don’t jeopardize your destiny.

While you still can and have the opportunity, get off that path of eternal damnation and turn to God in repentance. He is waiting to welcome you back home.

It’s Not Too Late…

God is standing at the door of your heart knocking (Revelation 3:20). Let Him in so He may commune with you.

It’s not too late. As with the prodigal son, God is eagerly waiting for your return. He doesn’t want anyone (you included) to perish (2 Peter 3:9).

Neither are you beyond salvage. Your mess is not too messy. You’re not too filthy for the blood of Jesus to sparkle, and there is no stain of sin it can’t handle.

And it does not matter how many times you have repented and fallen back to the same sin. This could be your moment of final and total deliverance, don’t shy off. Take the offer.

As filthy as you may feel, make your way back to the foot of the cross.   

Don’t wait to clean yourself up first before returning to God. You can’t. It’s way beyond your pay grade.

Which patient waits until they get well first before they go to the hospital? Don’t we go to the hospital when we are sick to be examined and given appropriate treatment?

It should not be different when we sin. Dr. Jesus calls us to go to Him when we are ‘sickest’ in our sin to receive our dosage of healing and restoration.

Hence, when you come to your senses go to God. You may feel too filthy and unworthy to approach God but that’s when you need Him most. Don’t condemn yourself out of restoration. Gather the courage and go to Him, just as you are.

Be Different

Saint, don’t get cozy with sin. It’s normal to struggle with sin but don’t live in sin. Sin is very destructive.

As has been said, sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.

You don’t have to compromise just because everyone is doing it. The grace that saves is the very grace that helps us say no to sin (Titus 2:11-14).

John Piper captures it well.

Grace is not simply leniency when we have sinned. Grace is the enabling gift of God not to sin. Grace is power, not just pardon.

John Piper

Profound.

Be different. Choose to be different. It’s doable.

Put on Jesus Christ and walk in holiness (Romans 13:11-14).

Don’t be the reason God’s name is profaned. Let your actions match your profession of faith.

I finish with Jesus’ charge to the woman caught in adultery. “… Go and sin no more” (John 8:11).

Ps. I have talked extensively about living in sin. It should not be confused with struggling with sin. In the next post, we’ll distinguish between the two. Stay tuned!