Post by ambassador on Apr 30, 2009 16:55:45 GMT -5
How to Deal With Sin as a Christian
While we believers tarry in this wicked world for the glorious appearing of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, we are on a mission. The Lord has given us instructions to preach the Gospel of Grace, and to bring glory and honor to our Savior’s name in all that we do and say. We need to be cautious, for we are “ambassadors for [the risen] Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). We Christians need to be reminded that our lives are on parade for the lost world to see, everyday: indeed, we are AMBASSADORS, reflecting our Homeland, the Heavenlies where Christ is!
Romans 6:6-13 KJV reads: “6 Knowing this, that our old man [old sin nature] is crucified with Him [Christ], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. 10 For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither 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.”
Now, according to the verses above, you as a believer have the choice of living righteously, or living carnally. Yes, committing sin is fun, but you will be misrepresenting the Lord and bringing shame to His name. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:30, you would “grieve the Holy Spirit,” and make Him sad. Our sin nature is warring against our new nature in Christ; our sinful spirit is contrary to the indwelling Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5:16-26).
God would prefer us not to sin, but He knows that we still sin even after salvation. Sin is going to creep into our lives, and in order to deal with sin, we need to first identify what sin is. If you have a hard time distinguishing between what is and what is not a sin (like most of our world), think of it like this: a sin is anything that is willful disobedience to God, which brings reproach and dishonor to Him. Would God approve of the action? If not, it is a sin.
While it is necessary to interact with lost people on a daily basis, we need to make every effort to be around God’s people (the believers) more often than around everyone else. Keeping company with the lost world for extended periods of time will eventually lead to your living a worldly lifestyle (1 Corinthians 15:33-34).
As soon as we recognize sin in our lives, we need to address it, and straighten up. If we continue to ignore that sin, it will eventually mushroom into something great, and then we begin to backslide (start to live a life of complete carnality, or gutter living). The devil begins to rob you of your testimony. I have seen it, and it is quite sad: professing Christians living no different (sometimes worse) than the lost. But, we as believers have the power of the Holy Spirit to help us overcome our shortcomings, as long as we are willing to submit to God (Galatians 2:20-21).
On the basis of Romans 4:7-8 and Ephesians 4:32, we Christians are already forgiven for Christ’s sake, so do not ask for forgiveness for your sins; God has already dealt with our eternal consequence of sin at Calvary, but we still have to deal with our daily sins. Genuine Christians are never in danger of eternal Hellfire; however, Satan can still tempt us and cause us to stumble in our Christian walk. Yes, even after salvation, we sin! So, in the Dispensation of Grace, what do we do when we stumble in sin?
A believer will feel repentance (change in thinking) once they sin. Then, they feel conviction—this is a positive sign that the Holy Spirit is indwelling you! If you want, you can tell God you are sorry where you have made Him sad, and try to learn from your mistakes, but do not live a life of continual regret: “oh, if I only I did this…if only I did not do that.” Feeling like that will not solve anything; you need to look forward to the future, how you make the most of the future. I feel it important to mention—GRACE AND FORGIVENESS ARE NOT LICENSES TO SIN!
Lastly, it is important to make these additional comments. If you are a Christian, saved by grace through faith plus nothing, your body is a “temple of the Holy Spirit,” so please do not desecrate that temple by disrespecting your body (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). Memorize Scripture verses; so that you can defend yourself when the devil entices you with sin. When you stumble in sin as a Christian, God will be there to help you, and He forgives you.
When we live a life according to the directions God gave us through Paul, we have no room for boasting. Everything Jesus Christ has done for us should constrain (compel) us to represent Him in all that we do and bring Him all the glory and praise that He rightly deserves (1 Corinthians 10:31; 2 Corinthians 5:14, 20). Remember, 1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us that we Christians have been “bought with a price,” and it cost Jesus Christ everything He had… as a Christian, never forget that you are still serving the risen Lord, so make Him proud. He has never let you down, so why do you want to let Him down?
One more thing… 1 John 1:9 HAS NOTHING to do with us. It was directed towards lost, unsaved Jews. But, that is another story....
While we believers tarry in this wicked world for the glorious appearing of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, we are on a mission. The Lord has given us instructions to preach the Gospel of Grace, and to bring glory and honor to our Savior’s name in all that we do and say. We need to be cautious, for we are “ambassadors for [the risen] Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). We Christians need to be reminded that our lives are on parade for the lost world to see, everyday: indeed, we are AMBASSADORS, reflecting our Homeland, the Heavenlies where Christ is!
Romans 6:6-13 KJV reads: “6 Knowing this, that our old man [old sin nature] is crucified with Him [Christ], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. 10 For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither 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.”
Now, according to the verses above, you as a believer have the choice of living righteously, or living carnally. Yes, committing sin is fun, but you will be misrepresenting the Lord and bringing shame to His name. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:30, you would “grieve the Holy Spirit,” and make Him sad. Our sin nature is warring against our new nature in Christ; our sinful spirit is contrary to the indwelling Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5:16-26).
God would prefer us not to sin, but He knows that we still sin even after salvation. Sin is going to creep into our lives, and in order to deal with sin, we need to first identify what sin is. If you have a hard time distinguishing between what is and what is not a sin (like most of our world), think of it like this: a sin is anything that is willful disobedience to God, which brings reproach and dishonor to Him. Would God approve of the action? If not, it is a sin.
While it is necessary to interact with lost people on a daily basis, we need to make every effort to be around God’s people (the believers) more often than around everyone else. Keeping company with the lost world for extended periods of time will eventually lead to your living a worldly lifestyle (1 Corinthians 15:33-34).
As soon as we recognize sin in our lives, we need to address it, and straighten up. If we continue to ignore that sin, it will eventually mushroom into something great, and then we begin to backslide (start to live a life of complete carnality, or gutter living). The devil begins to rob you of your testimony. I have seen it, and it is quite sad: professing Christians living no different (sometimes worse) than the lost. But, we as believers have the power of the Holy Spirit to help us overcome our shortcomings, as long as we are willing to submit to God (Galatians 2:20-21).
On the basis of Romans 4:7-8 and Ephesians 4:32, we Christians are already forgiven for Christ’s sake, so do not ask for forgiveness for your sins; God has already dealt with our eternal consequence of sin at Calvary, but we still have to deal with our daily sins. Genuine Christians are never in danger of eternal Hellfire; however, Satan can still tempt us and cause us to stumble in our Christian walk. Yes, even after salvation, we sin! So, in the Dispensation of Grace, what do we do when we stumble in sin?
A believer will feel repentance (change in thinking) once they sin. Then, they feel conviction—this is a positive sign that the Holy Spirit is indwelling you! If you want, you can tell God you are sorry where you have made Him sad, and try to learn from your mistakes, but do not live a life of continual regret: “oh, if I only I did this…if only I did not do that.” Feeling like that will not solve anything; you need to look forward to the future, how you make the most of the future. I feel it important to mention—GRACE AND FORGIVENESS ARE NOT LICENSES TO SIN!
Lastly, it is important to make these additional comments. If you are a Christian, saved by grace through faith plus nothing, your body is a “temple of the Holy Spirit,” so please do not desecrate that temple by disrespecting your body (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). Memorize Scripture verses; so that you can defend yourself when the devil entices you with sin. When you stumble in sin as a Christian, God will be there to help you, and He forgives you.
When we live a life according to the directions God gave us through Paul, we have no room for boasting. Everything Jesus Christ has done for us should constrain (compel) us to represent Him in all that we do and bring Him all the glory and praise that He rightly deserves (1 Corinthians 10:31; 2 Corinthians 5:14, 20). Remember, 1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us that we Christians have been “bought with a price,” and it cost Jesus Christ everything He had… as a Christian, never forget that you are still serving the risen Lord, so make Him proud. He has never let you down, so why do you want to let Him down?
One more thing… 1 John 1:9 HAS NOTHING to do with us. It was directed towards lost, unsaved Jews. But, that is another story....