13 Aug What Happens When I Willfully Continue to Sin?
Sin is part of the life of a Christian.
1 John 1:8 says, “If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
Romans 7:19 says, “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.”
Those rather daunting verses are counterbalanced by two very encouraging verses. 1 John 1:9 counterbalances 1 John 1:8 by saying, “But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Romans 7:20 counterbalances Romans 7:19 by saying, “But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”
So, there is always hope in the Christian life for overcoming daily sin, but what happens if we continue to willfully sin? What happens if we know this, but keep sinning anyway, being unwilling to repent?
Well, three things may happen.
Cause/Effect Consequences of Sin
First, you may experience the cause/effect consequences of sin. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that will He also reap.”
The story is told of a man who, in rebellion against God, decided to take his own life. So, he jumped off the top of the Empire State Building. As soon as he jumped off, he knew it was wrong, and he repented. He said, “Oh, Lord, I’ve been rebelling against you, and jumping off the Empire State Building is the stupidest think I’ve ever done. I’m sorry for my rebellion. Please forgive me.” And the Lord said, “Absolutely. I forgive you. I’ll never bring it up again. And, by the way, I’ll see you in just few seconds.”
So, yes, the man’s sin was forgiven, but it still had its cause/effect consequences that the Lord did not remove. And our cause/effect consequences may not be removed, either.
Spiritual Warfare Consequences of Sin
The second thing that may happen is intensified spiritual warfare. In Ephesians 4:26-27 we read, “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.”
Paul cautioned the Ephesians believers that if they did not deal with their sin of anger in a timely manner, it would give the devil an opportunity against them in spiritual warfare. I’m guessing that this is true, not just of anger, but of any sin not dealt with in a timley manner.
Divine Discipline Consequences of Sin
The third thing that may happen is divine discipline. Hebrews 12:6 says “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone He accepts as his son.”
Just as any loving and enlightened parent disciplines self-destructive behavior of their children, so the Lord disciplines self-destructive behavior of His children, in an attempt to get them to give up their harmful behavior and adopt helpful behavior.
So… while the Lord makes it clear that He loves us, He also makes it clear that His love motivates him to allow negative consequences for our sin to encourage us to repent and begin living in trusting obedience to Him.
You Cannot Out-sin God’s Grace
It is comforting, on one level, to know that we cannot out-sin God’s grace. Romans 6:20 says, “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”
Peter proved you cannot sin so often that God will not forgive you. In Matthew 18, Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive someone who sins against you. Seven times?!? But Jesus replied, “No, seventy times seven.”
Then, when Jesus was being tried before His crucifixion, others accused Peter of being a disciple of Jesus. But Peter cursed and denied that he knew Jesus (that’s a whopper of a sin, in my estimation). Yet just a few days later, Peter was eating breakfast with the Lord on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, in perfect fellowship with Jesus… demonstrating that you cannot sin so badly that God will not forgive you (John 21).
Willful Sin Does Not Jeopardize Our Salvation
As we said last week, we don’t lose our salvation when we sin, but things can get very severe, resulting in God’s “severe mercy.” There are two outstanding examples in Scripture.
The Sinning Son
1 Corinthians 5 tells the story of a church member sinning worse that even the pagan Gentiles tolerated. In response, Paul said, “I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
This man, sinning so egregiously that he is to be kicked out of the church and somehow delivered over to Satan to potentially have his body destroyed, but his spirit would still be saved.
The Sinning Celebrants
1 Corinthians 11 tells the story of Christians who were sinning by violating the spirit of the Lord’s Supper, perhaps repeatedly turning it into a drunken party. In response Paul said, “For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep” (1 Corinthians 11:30).
That is, this had been going on so long that a number of them were weak, some were sick, and some had even died. Then, he went on to say that if they would repent, they would escape the Lord’s discipline. But if not, they would be “disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:32).
So, drawing on these two examples, we learn that if we persist in flagrant sin, God may bring his escalating discipline into the life of the believer with the result that he/she may suffer greatly and even die. But their soul will still be saved.
Conclusion
Everything God asks of us, He does so to give something good to us and keep some harm from us. Therefore, the shortest distance between us and the life we long for is total obedience to God.
The bottom line is “trust.” If we truly trust God… if we trust His character and His plan for us… if we accept that God is who He says He is… we will be “obedient from the heart” to whatever He asks of us (Romans 6:17).
We can avoid these Cause/Effect, Spiritual Warfare, Divine Discipline negative consequences of sin by not willfully sinning and by entering into the fullness of His love for us through trusting obedience to His will.
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