Two quick questions, does God punish evil, and is there evil in your life?
The first question is not quite as easy as we might like to think, if we consider 1 John 1:9 into the equation, for then we would need to ask, “before how long,” how long do we have from the moment that we deliberately sin until we can beg for His mercy through this verse. Since the Lord is omnipotent, He already knows the answer, the problem is, we don’t, and if we do not repent immediately, then the fear of the punishment, the chastisement, (Heb. 12:6) if you prefer, can become all encompassing.
This is what happens when we attempt to hide our sins from Him whom there is no hiding from, we begin to fear the punishment instead of accepting the chastisement. So, as I mentioned that question, does God punish sin, begins to unfold some new meanings for us.
Recall here what Paul said in Romans 5:20 “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Here then is another part of the equation, for the sin brings, or is followed perhaps would be a better way to state it, by grace, unmerited favor far and beyond that of the sin, but is 1 John 1:9 in need here, for one must remember, to repent means to turn away from and not repeat, by confessing our sins, we are repenting of them, asking for strength that they not become a “burden of continuing” sin, so to speak.
By adhering to these concepts, we are being sanctified, we are being transformed by the renewing of our minds, (Romans 12:2) we are working out our salvation. (Phil. 2:12) That is why it is called a path, and that is why at the end of that narrow path there is a very strait gate, (Matt. 7:14) because many cannot comprehend the Scriptures clearly in this area.
The most difficult part about sin in our lives is the admitting to it and the forgetting of it, and both have major pitfalls. The first is the one that the majority of those that profess Christ as Lord fall into, “It’s not that bad, it’s not really evil.” It is where the term “white lies” was birthed at, and it has brought the holiness of the Almighty down to a level that man feels he can control. The second, the neglecting to forget the sins, holds us back from growing, for what those cannot, or will not do in this area, is forgive themselves, thereby attempting to place themselves into the position of God, and ending up in a life of continuously repenting of that which they have already been forgiven of. In either case, there is no true repentance. But what of the second question, is there evil in your life?
Again, many born again believers will confess that there is some form of sin in their lives, we are after all sinful creatures at heart, (Jer. 17:9) and the verse in 1 John 1:8 is true, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” But how many will call that sin what it is, evil in the eyes of the Lord? Not many, for the first infers a “lighter sentence,” if you will, while the word evil brings up ideas and thoughts of the wrath of God being poured out upon us. Here is just one verse that will calm that fear within you, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)
And there is the reason that Paul needed to say, “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” (Romans 6:15) And again, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” (Gal. 5:13)
The word sin always means an offence against the Lord God, and sin is always evil, and evil is always punished, but that punishment is not condemnation to those who have been crucified with Christ, it is a welcome guest, it is chastisement, it is how we are lovingly corrected, and it shows to us that we are loved. “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” (Heb. 12:6) It is why we can glory and rejoice in trials and tribulations, not just because we know that we will be loved forever, but because we are assured that we are loved right now.
