Which of these two would you prefer, “Don’t do what you want to do anymore, do what I tell you to do.”
Or this verse, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
The key word for those whose lives profess to follow Christ, but whose hearts are far from Him is “forgiveness,” for they can still live their lives to some respect in the pursuits of vainglory, self-interest, and the things of this world, believing in themselves that the Almighty is a forgiving God and understands the weakness of mankind, and therefore turns a blind eye, as it were, to those so called unintentional mishaps.
The problem is that they will not call them what they are, sin.
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.” (Matt. 23:14)
To these individuals there are gradients of sin, and the preceding verse seems to substantiate that claim, for would not a terrible, unintentional sin done with malice of forethought require a greater punishment than one done inadvertently, much less one that, even when contemplated and then acted upon did not cause anyone else any grief or pain?
These people believe within their heart that most of their heart belongs to the Living God, that the majority of their service is to the Lord Jesus Christ, but that small part that they have reserved for themselves is not frowned upon by the Almighty, that those little things cannot be considered sins and will be glossed over, forgiven on their day of accounting.
“And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27)
They presume upon the grace of God and thereby believe that a loving Father understands and will forgive, and if punishment is incurred, it will be mild, a simple chastisement of nothing more than a guilty conscience, a momentary regret towards that action they refuse to label a sin.
From the bridling of the tongue to the body being kept under subjection, to every thought being held captive, this is the path of obedience walked by those whose desire it is to glorify the Most High, this is the path of dying to self, and there is to be no intentional straying from this path.
Going past our love for Him and realizing His love for us is the acceptance within ourselves that even the smallest, most seemingly inconsequential sins committed by us is to understand the truth of Psalm 51:4. “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.”
Yes, we indeed love Him who first loved us, but it is the knowledge of the heart that causes us to see this truth, that His love for us far exceeds any love that we can ever offer to Him.
This may take some time for you to contemplate, but it is truth for those who have been crucified with Him, the further we walk on the path that He has set before us towards that strait gate, the less we should need to seek for His forgiveness. Not because we are yet holy, not because we can ever be seen as righteous outside of Christ, but because we should be intentionally sinning less. We die to self more each day.
“As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” (Romans 8:36)
Are there larger sins than others? Yes. Do some sins require greater punishments in this life? Yes.
Eternal life or eternal death, those are the finality of this life, but the one who seeks the face of God for His glory sees the most minor, most seemingly inconsequential sin in his life as a great grievance to his Father in heaven and dies to self daily because of that.
