I’m pleased to bring you the second part of this series. As I said last week, sin is so evil that God had to send His Son, Jesus, to deliver man from it. Are you saved?
“In whom [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7, KJV).Yes, the riches of his Grace! Have you confessed Jesus as your Lord and Saviour but you’re still wallowing in sin? Saved by grace but ‘enjoying’ sin! Understand that grace is not a license to continue in sin. He that has received forgiveness has been given another opportunity to live right not by his own strength but by depending on the power of Jesus Christ by whom he has received forgiveness.
It will be an abuse of grace to continue to sin on the pretext that Jesus has died for our sins. Paul asked this question: “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Rom. 6:1, NKJV). His answer was unequivocal: “Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Verses 2-4).
Anyone who is truly born again does not continue to play with sin; salvation brings about a change of life.Enjoying the pleasure of sin casts a doubt on the genuineness of a believer’s salvation. John the Baptizer’s words are most appropriate here: “Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God” (Matt. 3:8-9, NLT). Luke 3:8 says a similar thing.
Living a new life in Christ Jesus
So it is not enough to receive forgiveness of sin. Every forgiven sinner must turn over a new leaf. He must live a new life. Old things have passed away, and all things have become new (2Cor. 5:17). You must stop fornication, adultery, anger, lying, backbiting, drunkenness, robbery, kidnapping, gossip, etc. Stop sinning! It is true grace has forgiven you, but you must stop sinning. That was what Jesus preached, and that is what preachers today must preach – not hyper-grace.
John the apostle puts it this way: “Those who have been born into God’s family do not sin, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they have been born of God” (1 John 3:9, NLT). Did you see that? True Christians don’t practice sin – they don’t make a habit of sinning. “We know that those who have become part of God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot get his hands on them” (1 John 5:18, NLT).If true Christians slip into sin, they quickly repent. They don’t enjoy sin – they feel sorrowful and repent. 2 Cor. 7:10 says, “For God can use sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek salvation” (NLT). They don’t sin and continue with their lives as if nothing is wrong. No.
I’m not preaching sinless perfection. I acknowledge that it’s possible for a Christian to sin but his attitude to sin is different from the attitude of sinners.He doesn’t sin deliberately. Heb. 10:26 says, “Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received a full knowledge of the truth, there is no other sacrifice that will cover these sins” (NLT). And even if a Christian sins unintentionally, he doesn’t justify it or continue in it. He genuinely repents andseeks God’s help forvictory over that sin. “If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts” (1John 1:8-10, NLT).Please get it right, this scripture is not encouraging believers to sin but acknowledges human weakness. It is not an expression of believers’ helplessness – God’s help is available to him. That is why Apostle John offers some clarification immediately in the next chapter. “My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if you do sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who pleases God completely” (1 John 2:1, NLT).
I’ll stop here today and conclude the message next week. Be a doer of the Word.
TAKE ACTION!
If you want to be born again, kindly say this prayer now: “0 Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I’m a sinner and I can’t save myself. I repent of and forsake my sins. Please forgive me. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I repent and confess my sins. I confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and surrender my life to him today. I invite Jesus into my heart today. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank you Jesus for saving me and making me a child of God.”
I believe you’ve said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You’ll need to join a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, soul-winning church in your area where you’ll be taught how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon.May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I’ll be glad to hear from you.