Sinners sin, born-again believers are not sinners, “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) We sin, but we are no longer wicked in the eyes of the Lord, the wrath of God abides on the wicked, (John 3:36) we are His servants, His children, heirs to the kingdom of God, the wicked are not, they are “vessels fitted for destruction,” (Romans 9:22) we are not saved sinners, we are saved people who once lived in sin. (Eph. 5:8)
Sin is not a foreign concept to us, we know it well, for only those who have had their eyes enlightened by the Lord can recognize the evilness of sin, the blatant disregard for the Holy precepts of the Scriptures, the rebellion and the wall it places between us and God. When we sin, we have an advocate, (1 John 2:1) when we sin, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) We are chastised because we are loved by the Father, (Heb. 12:6) every born-again believer realizes this, and accepts it in the way it is brought upon us, in love. If we continue in sin, blatantly and without regard for the Lord, one of two things is true, either that person was not truly saved or the Lord will kill that person, removing any more possibility of His righteous name being blasphemed.
Every true child of God has parts within them that they hate, thoughts and even actions that occurred that pain them, and it is the Holy Spirit that convicts us in these moments, we, when we refuse to hear His prompting, are sinning by choice against the Lord, and if these things are not repented of, there will be punishment from our Father, no less than any other loving Father would do. We are being led toward righteousness, we are commanded to be Holy, we are being prepared to be the spotless bride of Christ, (Eph. 5:27) we are to make every personal endeavor to prepare our hearts each day to submit and serve toward that end, the goal must always be kept at the forefront of our thoughts. (1 Peter 1:13)
Everything we do, everything we say, all of our deeds we perform while we are here on this earth matter, not just when we are in plain sight, but when we are alone, and this path is not to be trod in fear. We are loved, His perfect love will cast out our fear, even of Him, especially of Him, when we come to the realization that we are loved. The Lord does not spend His time watching us, waiting for us to sin so that He can punish us, He cares for us, and we are to cast our cares upon Him, (1 Peter 5:7) and not just those cares and concerns that come upon us each day that are related to our existence here, but the cares of our thoughts, the paths that our minds go down occasionally that are not pleasing to Him.
We are not to “beat ourselves up” continually for thoughts or actions that occur occasionally, we are to “work out our own salvation,” (Phil. 2:12) by heeding the prompting of the Holy Spirit, by offering these parts of us up in prayer, with much supplication, with many pleadings of help. We have been saved by grace, (Eph. 2:8) if no work could save us, no work or offering of ourselves to the work that the Lord has for us will be regarded as useless in His eyes, as long as all that we do is for His glory, we will be favored in His eyes, as long as we are submitting to His will.
Every born-again believer sins, and they will continue to, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8) But we will not remain in that sin for an extended period of time, it will become repulsive to us, we will want it gone, and all the desires that come with it. As we mature in Christ, even the smallest of sins will become great burdens to us, and we will look back at each of the previous ones with disgust.
Every moment of every day we have been blessed with the ability to live a holier, more pleasing life to the Lord, but one fact stands true, “For there is no respect of persons with God.” (Romans 2:11) His love for you will not grow, it cannot, for at the cross we were shown that we are loved with an everlasting love. You cannot “live up to” or repay what has been freely given, we must simply accept and praise His name for choosing us, all we need to do is thank Him and follow His leading.
