1 John 1:8-10, 3:8-10
One of the great challenges we face while working on maintaining an abiding faith in Jesus Christ is our penchant to keep on sinning. When we get saved, we at times tend to equate salvation with an ability to live a perfect, sin free life.
If only.
The fact of the matter is this side of Heaven we will live on as beings who sin. Every single day. Sometimes we sin without realizing it, other times its with great intention and forethought. The good news for us is that we will never be able to carry more sin in our heart than Jesus has grace. But realizing that isn’t enough. Knowing how to access that grace is the thing that brings transformation to our lives. If we’re fixed on developing an ever-growing, ever-deepening relationship with Jesus, in time our sinful hearts tend to reject sin more and more and seek Jesus instead.
Take a look at this, 1 John 1: 8-10…
“If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts.”
So, let’s walk through this. First, we need to again humbly accept the fact that we are sinners. We can rationalize our sin, justify our sin, explain away our sin but here’s the deal. Sin is anything that crosses our mind, any attitude we adopt or any action we take that runs counter to God’s will. That covers a lot of ground. Once we accept that we’re sinners given over to sin, Jesus gives us the best possible news. If we confess… if we turn to Jesus in our moment of conviction and confess to Him that we know He is the only One capable of setting us free from that guilt, He is faithful. He is fair. He takes the stain of that sin away and reminds you that the light of His forgiveness is fixed and immovable. It’s always there. You may choose to step out of that light to spend some time in darkness, but Jesus is always ready, willing, and able to take you back, to return you to the light of His forgiveness. To make you righteous despite it all.
It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or where you’ve been or who you’ve been with. Again, we aren’t capable of “out-sinning” Jesus’ grace. Paul puts it quite nicely in his letter to the Romans, chapter 5, verse 20.
God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.
Our tendency to fall into an ongoing sin pattern can lead us to believe that Jesus has forsaken us or has no intention of granting us His grace. When that lie creeps into your mind, remember no one will ever love you more than Jesus does and that His one desire is to make you see that all He really wants for you is to draw away from sin, get closer to Him and know the joy that comes from being released from Satan’s grip.
His grace is forever and its always enough. When we are weak, He gives us all the strength we will ever need!