“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:15)
That guilt you feel, that shame that keeps gnawing at you that will not allow you to get a good night’s sleep, that makes it difficult to look someone in the eye when you’re speaking to them, that’s sin.
For the lost there are two options, repent and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of their soul, or be given over to a reprobate mind. For the saved there are also two options, confess your sin before the Lord, employ 1st John 1:9, or prepare for chastisement.
I do not believe the Almighty gives His chosen ones over to a reprobate mind, He does not cast us off, we are hid in Christ and that is where we will be for all eternity, but as far as I can recall at this moment the only time that anyone was forgiven by the Lord after trespassing against Him without asking for forgiveness was never. You have to ask for that forgiveness.
Here is where, in part, the saved have begun to err greatly, many have started to categorize sin, they have started to give levels, if you will, to them. Lusting after a woman in the mind is not quite as sinful as actual adultery, and even that moment of sin is attempted by them to be justified as not so bad because of the extenuating circumstances. “It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.” (Prov. 21:19)
The unrepentant sinner is going to the same place that Judas Iscariot is at right now, those who will not taste of the second death will enter into the Kingdom of the Living God, but to what reception. Was there applause when Paul first stepped before the throne of grace, or did all eyes turn to the Almighty and offer Him praise? Will you hear “Well done, thou good and faithful servant,” or simply “Welcome” from an angel, and not the Lord Jesus Christ Himself? Will you enter into His courts saved as if only be fire?
The Living God is Holy, He expects you to be the same, He hates sin, He expects you to do the same, and not only the ever growing sin of this world, but that residue of sin that remains in you. We are not to treat any sin, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant as a lite thing, the Lord does not so neither should you. You cannot be sinless here. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1st John 1:8) But you can recognize that continuing trait within you and beg the Lord to give you the strength to deny it, you can recognize the temptations when they arrive and plead with the Lord to show you the way out of it.
The effort of refusal of the flesh, to sin or not to sin, has been left up to us, we are accountable for our actions, deeds and thoughts. The prodigal son, David’s sin with Bathsheba, Moses striking the rock, Peter weeping bitterly, God chastises His own, it is a family matter and dealt with as such, with love but in firmness.
There is no such thing as degrees of sin for the believer, all sin is now an offense to Him who loves us. We cannot be perfect in this aspect, but we are to try, we are to repent when we fail, and then we are to get back to work. The continuance of shame and guilt is not our path, run to Him if you find yourself on it.
