“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” (Heb. 4:13)
Sin is intentional disobedience to the Word of God in our lives, performed with the full knowledge that what we are doing is against His will.
The wicked who profess not to know Him as Sovereign will have no excuse on the day of their accounting, for those invisible things, His eternal power and godhead, were clearly seen and recognized by them as such. For those of us who know Him, and are known of Him, the sins we commit are of greater magnitude by far, the grace through faith that saved us releases us from the bondage of sin, and so our intentions are recognized immediately when even the thought of sinning against Him enters into our minds.
“Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” (Romans 6:18)
Satan still holds the power of death, Spiritual death, over the unrepentant, that power no longer exists over us by him, and so, in this regard, we are more guilty of the sins we commit against our Father in heaven for we know, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are sins. Yet many, many times in this life we do as Jonah did, we look for a means of escape from Him whom we say we serve in love.
Those seasons of the pleasures of sin my friends, even if they are only in our minds, only in our imaginations, even if they last for only a few moments, are always intentionally done by us. We have no one else to blame for them.
The mind that serves Christ is far too often overpowered in us by the flesh that serves the law of sin. And if you are not careful, the frustrations about these truths may be replaced in you with a hatred for yourself because of them. But that is a good thing.
“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)
We desire what we do not desire, we crave this world and nearly everything that comes with it, we want to be freed from His yoke, to drop our cross and fulfill every thought of the imagination of our hearts. We want to do everything that we want to do without any consequences whatsoever.
“All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” (1st Cor. 6:12)
You know this battle, do not pretend that you don’t. We will sin, and when we do so, we will do so intentionally, every time.
I quote here every man of God who has ever come before me. “If you knew the thoughts I entertain at times, you would have nothing to do with me.”
We who have been born again have been saved from this body of death, but until you are glorified, you will remain in this battle, there can be no denying of this truth. And it is a battle that you are expected to fight, every day, intentionally.
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (James 4:10)
Deny the truths written here today for you and you will remain deceived by your own heart, accept them as truth, and you will seek for His mercy every moment of every day. The flesh, your old sinful nature, is your main enemy, Satan can do nothing to those who are hid in Christ unless he first asks permission to. When, and if he does, these truths, the truth that we are sinners saved by grace through faith, now the righteousness of God in Christ, now saints in the eyes of the Living God, will give you strength to stand against the wiles of our adversary.
And you will do so intentionally.
