Dealing with sin
How do we deal with sin? This is a big question and plagues each of us in our lives. The understanding of a proper answer, based in scripture, is so important to our mental health and relationship with God. The epistles indicate the following:
Obey
The predominant response to sin for Christians in the epistles is simply to obey (Romans 6:12-16; Romans 12:1-2). We are to be God’s worthy servant! Importantly, we love God and others by obeying Him (1 John 5:1-3). Replace bad behavior with good, learn scripture and serve God.
Perceived sin
Make sure your sin is biblical and you’re not responding to:
- A self-imposed expectation
- Social Christian expectation from family or friends
- Legalism from other believers
- For example, watching a movie is not a biblical sin but you may feel guilty based on self-imposed restrictions, your reasons for watching the film (careful: might include sin), or the perceived expectations of your church or Christian colleagues. As 1 Timothy 4:4-5 states, everything we do and use in this world should be filtered through prayer and God’s word.
- Remember if you do see the movie (or do anything), do so out of faith, because anything we do without faith itself is sin (Romans 14:23). Further, only see it if you do not make fellow Christians stumble (Romans 14:13-21).
Hate sin
God hates sin as it is contrary to His righteousness (Hebrews 1:9). Sin ultimately hurts us. Part of maturity as a person of God is understanding the ill effects of sin and to hate it as God does (Proverbs 8:13).
Defeat sin
We are to destroy sin in our lives. We can do this for two amazing reasons:
- The Holy Spirit – God gave us His powerful Spirit to help us defeat sin (Romans 8:13).
- Regeneration – The Holy Spirit regenerated us (Titus 3:5) at salvation to a new person who is not bound by sin (Ephesians 2:1-3) but it’s free to serve God (Romans 6:2-16).
We are forgiven (Romans 3:23-26; Colossians 2:13)
We do not need to ask for forgiveness because Christ covers our sins by our faith. Some view 1 John 1:9 as saying we should ask for forgiveness; if so, it’s the only such passage in the epistles. Although verse 9 is controversial, this passage presents a foundation for fellowship among believers through our salvation in Christ, before the author proceeds to discuss in chapters 2 through 4 how a believer acts and believes. It is key to observe that John assumes a concept of sin (1 John 3:4-10), and of not obeying the commandments (1 John 2:2-6), as a continual action that if it defines a person’s life they probably are an unbeliever. Therefore, John is not using the term ‘sin’ in 1 John 1:9 as a daily sin of a believer that must ask routinely for forgiveness. The verse relates to unbelievers who need forgiveness to salvation, as defined in subsequent verses. Nonetheless, it is healthy to recognize our sin (Romans 8:13) before our holy Father and change or life (please see next point), but forgiveness is not in view.
Spiritual warfare
Remember our fight is against Satan and not merely against institutions and people in this world. Our tools to defeat Satan, beyond our salvation, are:
- Be alert – Satan wishes to devour you (1 Peter 5:8).
- Remember his methods – Keep from giving him a place and ability to snare you (Ephesians 4:27), caused by:
- Not knowing biblical truth or being mature in Christ (Hebrews 5:14; 1 Timothy 3:7).
- Incorrect emotions such as anger, lack of forgiveness or temptation! (Ephesians 4:27; 1 Timothy 3:7; 2 Corinthians 2:7).
- Resist him – James 4:7; Ephesians 6:11
- Put on the whole armor of God – This is vital and is discussed in the section about the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 6:10-17).
What not to do
There is no need to feel guilty, kick yourself, and act defeated. Instead get up on your feet and obey the word of God! Get over it and get busy allowing God to use your good service to Him.
Unpardonable sin
This important passage is in Matthew 12:31-32. These verses are often misunderstood and Christians apply them to themselves.
- Remember, you should interpret the gospels through Jewish eyes! In this passage Christ was addressing the Pharisees, who were Jewish leaders. They had the witness from the Holy Spirit, descending upon Christ at His baptism (Matthew 3), which indicated He was the promised king bringing salvation prophesized in the Old Testament (Isaiah 59:20-21; 2 Samuel 7:12-16).
- The Pharisees rejected the testimony of the Holy Spirit and so rejected the message of the kingdom and the gospel. Of course, this was unpardonable (rejecting the gospel).
- For true Christians, we have not rejected the gospel but are saved through faith in Christ. Accordingly. the passage does not apply to Christians.
William C. Stewart, MD
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