Embedded Files
In my last post, “You Are Forgiven for the Sins of Your Lifetime,” I highlighted the truth that the believer in Christ has been forgiven for their past, present, and yes, even future sins.
Now, if all you did was read the title of that post without reading its content, you might have been led to believe that I’m saying that Christians can just sin all they want and it doesn’t matter.
I’ve actually been accused of saying that when I share the gospel of grace.
Today’s post will speak to this common misconception.
Why don’t you grab a cup of your favorite beverage, relax, and listen to the following words from your Beloved today?
“My spotless bride, if you believe that I forgave all the sins of your past the moment you believed into Me, but from then on you have to remember and ask My forgiveness for each one, your focus will be shifted away from what I have already accomplished for you to what you must do to remain in ‘good standing’ with Me.”
“The best news ever is that I forgave the sins of your entire lifetime the moment you first believed.”
“Christians who believe that lifetime forgiveness of sins is just too good to be true will often highlight one verse from the first letter that My apostle John wrote as the basis for their belief.”
“They use this verse outside of its context to try and prove that believers have to keep asking Me for forgiveness in order to stay clean: ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness'”(1 John 1:9).
“A conundrum, however, is presented just thirteen verses later: ‘I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake'”(1 John 2:12).
“These two verses cannot possibly be true at the same time—unless they are addressed to two different audiences.”
“In the first verse, John was appealing to Gnostics to believe in Me and be saved.”
“Gnostics were those who had infiltrated the early church and believed that they had no sin.”
“In contrast, the second verse is unmistakably addressing believers—’little children’ whose sins have already been forgiven for My name’s sake.”
“Those who teach that believers have been forgiven for the sins of their lifetime often get accused of giving Christians a green light to sin.”
“This is almost laughable to Me—as if sinning is what those who are joined to Me really want to do.”
“Inherent in the believer’s new ‘heart-ware’ are desires that perfectly match Mine.”
“When you fully understand that you have been made clean forever, regardless of what you do or don’t do, you will celebrate the liberating realization that you really don’t want to sin.”
“Your new heart’s desire is to express My cherishing love, exuberant joy, perfect peace, enduring patience, overflowing kindness, all-encompassing goodness, unwavering faithfulness, compassionate gentleness, and self-control at all times.”
(The above words from your Beloved and Scripture List is an excerpt from my book, Fifty Days in His Pursuing Love Devotional.)
The question, “So, are you saying that we can sin all we want and it doesn’t matter?” came up in the apostle Paul’s day, or else he wouldn’t have addressed it in his letter to the church at Rome:
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1–2)
What does Paul mean when he says that believers have died to sin?
“Died to sin” means that the Christian is forever separated from sin’s controlling power.
Sin isn’t their boss anymore because they have been immersed into the eternal life of Christ.
In Romans 6:11, Paul writes, “Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
He’s saying, “You don’t want to sin anymore; your heart’s desires perfectly match Christ’s desires!”
And in Romans 6:17, he writes, “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart.”
This means that your brand-new heart in Christ is obedient and does not want to sin!
So, the question, “Are you saying that we can just sin all we want and it doesn’t matter?” is really the wrong question because believers in Christ don’t want to sin at all.
We want what Christ wants!
Yes, dear Christian reader, you want what Christ wants.
There may be times when you feel like you want to express ungodly attitudes and actions.
That’s the influence of the flesh—the worldly ways of thinking—driven by the power of sin.
The flesh and the power of sin are not a part of who you are.
They are outside influences.
As you get your mind renewed with the truth of your flawless identity in Christ, you will find yourself sinning a lot less and expressing the life of Christ much more!
You can also watch my YouTube video where I share what’s in this post.
***
If you enjoyed this post, I invite you to check out all of my books and my video series based on my first devotional.
Page updated
Report abuse