“She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” (John 8:11)
We know the truth of 1st John 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
We know that there has only been One who never sinned, the Lord Jesus Christ, so our opening verse must be relative, for it cannot be absolute in this life.
No one can attain to a sinless life, no one can completely control their thoughts and so in this life we will sin. Although acting upon a temptation, acquiescing to our fleshly desires is indeed sin, sin against our Father in heaven, to which if we do not turn from, if not repented of and asked forgiveness for, makes the question this, how personally responsible are we for our thoughts of sin that are never acted out upon in the flesh?
“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5)
“But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” (1st Sam. 16:7)
The hypocrite is easily spotted by our Lord, with time we also can recognize them, for in some form they will reveal the intent of their heart, vainglory and not the glory of God rests there.
Can one have a sinful desire in their heart, a desire that is never acted upon in the flesh and still consider themselves born-again? And if so, for how long can that desire remain within them before it is expected to dissipate completely?
How long my friends can one be a prodigal son before they arrive at the realization that they were never born-again in the first place, that all this time they have been a hypocrite?
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9)
And that heart can deceive us as well.
A man who has spent a large portion of his life not simply viewing pornography, but immersed in it, when he comes to the cross and repents of his sins, fully acknowledges the Lord as Sovereign, is saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Chris,t does not have his memory of the past removed, but instead those memories, as all the evil we performed before that moment, become abhorrent to him.
Will he fall to the temptation, will he sin again?
“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” (Prov. 24:16)
Then, over time, when he takes the way out that is revealed to him, when the temptations arrive, he realizes just how much he has been blessed.
The question is, how much time?
No matter what your sins were before the cross, they will come to mind as you grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, the imagination, our flesh that serves the law of sin, will attempt to override the mind that serves Christ.
We have been commanded just as much as the woman in the opening verse of this short letter to you was, to go and sin no more, yet we would be lying, the truth would not be in us if we say we have no sin.
Inadvertent thoughts abhorred or allowing the imagination to run wild are what sets apart the child of God from the hypocrite. Recognizing this truth will reveal to you whether or not you have truly been crucified with Christ.
The seasons of sin in the mind for the sincere man will grow shorter, they will be rebelled against, he will seek and find the strength to battle them from the Holy Spirit, he will begin to despise that which he once relished and sought after diligently.
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
One day you will be glorified, until then this is part of your battle, and you are expected to fight well in it. These sins are relative to us, they are dying but not yet dead.
The sincere man sees these truths.
