About Sin-DD 8/19/2010

"And if any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
1 John 2:1

Let me be perfectly clear: God hates sin. It is an offense to Him and there is no way that any of us can ever justify it. The root word invokes an image of an archer shooting at a target and missing. It is God's desire that we are never wide of the mark that He set for the pattern of our lives. Adam and Eve missed the mark by going outside of what God commanded and we have been missing that mark ever since.

That having been said, He knows that we will sin. It is part of human nature to do so. Though He does not condone it, He recognizes that it is part of our condition to do so. Be careful not to think that you have somehow defeated sin in your life. "If we say that we have no sin then we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us," 1 John 1:8 Likewise, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" Rom 3:23.

Beloved, the GREAT news is that God is so loving, so benevolent, so caring and so long suffering that He sent a remedy for our sins. Nothing else could redeem us, nothing us could purchase us out of slavery to sin, nothing else could wash us clean but the blood of His son, Jesus the Christ. It is a full and free gift to those who believe, are baptized and lead righteous lives according to Mark 16:16, 1 John 1:7,8 and Revelation 2:10. To those who have already believed and been baptized, particular emphasis needs to be paid to the lives we lead. The continuous cleansing that we require is available as long as we "walk in the light as He is in the light."

That having been said, the question was once asked, "Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound?" The emphatic answer was, "By no means!" Our goal must be to please God through our love and obedience. We should "by no means" fall into the trap of living sinful lives with plans to continually apologize and ask for forgiveness. That is a plan to fail. But for those who just need a little help as we put all of our efforts and energies into leading Godly lives, there is an Advocate. Praise God for this unimaginably wonderful gift!

In Revival,

Lee