Romans 6:1-2, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.
Such an attitude, deciding ahead of time to take advantage of God shows that we do not truly understand the seriousness of sin. Jesus paid for our sins with His very life so we could be forgiven. The availability of God's mercy and forgiveness must not become an excuse for careless living and moral laxness. In other words, we cannot deliberately do something we know is wrong and justify our fleshly wants and desires by saying, "it will be all right, God will forgive us for doing this because we want it so badly"!! And woe be to us if we cause another to sin also!! This goes back to a previous blog about the choices we make. If we choose to sin, we may not even believe anyone else is going to get hurt, or worse yet, we think it is okay if only one or two people get hurt! The choices we make ultimately affect more than us whether we think they do or not. The devil would have us think we are not hurting anyone but ourselves but just by our very witness to others we could be causing hurt, confusion, anger, anxiety. What if someone turns completely away from God just because they observed our behavior. God forbid!
God is holy and He WILL NOT be associated with sin. If your desires are contrary to any of God's laws-He is not in it. Again, God will NOT arrange anything for us that is contrary to His word. Therefore, if it isn't God, we must conclude it is satan once again trying to make a wrong look right. 1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
We can try to rationalize sin any way we want to but sin is still sin. In these last days even many preachers and pastors will be led astray. Many of those will lead others astray. 1 John 2:3-4 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Romans 6:12-14 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
1 Peter 5:8-10 8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.10But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
We have assurance in God's word that He will deliver us from temptation, He will always provide a way of escape, it is, however, up to us to take that way and follow Him instead of our own fleshly desires. Do we want the world? Do we want God's permissable will? Or, do we want to walk in God's perfect will? Are we truly seeking His will or only our own? Those are the questions.
We are ALL called of God, teachers, preachers, singers, visiting the orphans and widows, cleaning the church, sharing the gospel in the grocery store, etc. all is a calling. We all have a responsibility to make sure we do not use our calling nor our gifts for personal gain. 1 Peter 5:2 2Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Our calling and our gifts from God are to edify Him and for the betterment of others, not to tear anyone down or justify our own desires. Ephesians 4:1-6 1I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Ephesians 1:4 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Clearly to sin or not to sin is NOT the question.
Until next time,
His servant, tawanab
Pray for peace in Jerusalem
So what are you doing to have to write such a Blog you over there sinning again???? or accusing someone else of it.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for stopping by and to answer your question, neither. It comes partly from my study of false prophets in the end times and partly from sermons I've heard recently. Actually 1 John 4:1 is something you have said many times in conversation (although I don't think I knew where it was at the time). I've heard you say try the spirits many times. I'm not perfect by any means but I don't think I'm sinning deliberately. I think God is just helping me study and learn His word and allows me to share it. That is my prayer that He gives me wisdom, knowledge and understanding of His word. It is most definitely NOT an accusation to anyone from me, I will be the last person to throw stones at anyone. I am but a sinner saved by grace, susceptible to all the same temptations as everyone else. You know the old expression, there but for the grace of God go I. God bless.
ReplyDeleteAs it is written - All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. Whoever says he is without sin is a liar. I confess myself as a sinner and sometimes, a deliberate sinner, just as recent as last night. Praise God He is showing me this and burning it out of me.. from glory to glory, into the image of His Son. Praise God that I am not too prideful to hide myself as a sinner. Praise God that I can stand in agreement with God, humble myself, and put to death pride. Praise God that His word will hurt and offend until there is nothing left to hurt or offend. Thank you Jesus.
ReplyDeleteThe hardest thing ever in these type of discussions is pride. Pride protects pride, otherwise it wouldn't be very prideful. Sometimes we don't like what we are hearing and then we have a choice: 1) Accept it as truth and let God do what He's doing (see the kingdom of God) or 2) play the hide-n-seek game with distractions (blinded by our own understanding)
I urge this reading: http://serious-things.com/wisdom-and-choice/
Funny that I came across this today because the first thing on my mind today was the loosely used phrase of: "God hates sin, but loves the sinner."
This is not a phrase found in the bible, but it is a phrase uttered from many mouths of wo/men. It can be used wrongfully.
Does God hate sin? Absolutely. It's an abomination. God cannot face sin. Thus, if I have sin, how does God face me? How does He love the sinner if He can't face the sinner?? Here is what that phrase should mean when it comes to God loving the sinner:
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
God is Love. He must Love. He can not choose to not love because it is who He is.
Ah, but also, we can't forget.. God is also JUST. Justice must be served. It is as if a judge in a court of law must condemn a guilty murderer.. and this murderer is a family member. He still loves the sinner, but justice must be served and someone must pay the price for the crime. In this scenario, the Just Judge who so loved His family member, jumped off of His throne and said "Take me instead.. this is just payment for this man's sin because I am sinless, and I am God. Do you believe I have done this for you?" Yes: Saved from the guilty verdict. No: Serve the penalty yourself.
So yes: "God hates sin and loves the sinner" means: God hates sin and so loved the sinner that He sent His only begotten Son that whomever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Thank you again for your very apt comment :) and thank YOU Jesus for I do believe You did this for me (for all of us). I will check out the site you listed. Your comment should be posted as a blog for everyone to read, very very apt illustration of Justice. Thanks and God bless.
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