Some of the most powerful words in the Bible are:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation of wrong, for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8: 1, 2)
As I said in my last blog, all humanity’s sins past and future are forgiven. The only one that has not been forgiven is “unbelief”. A person must trust in, rely on, and stick to Jesus for their sins to be forgiven. In doing that one recognizes Jesus’ death on the cross as a substitution to pay for their transgressions.
But once a person does that, why should they try to not sin, for if all sins are forgiven … what difference does it make?
In order to address this, “sin” must first be understood.
Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness (violating God’s law by transgression or neglect and being unrestrained by His commands and will) (1 John 3:4).
Note the verse addresses sins of commission and of omission. Every time a person falls short of the glory of God through action or inaction, that person sins. But, Romans 8 clearly states a Christian has been freed from punishment for sinning. So why bother trying to not sin?
The surface reason is we may be the only Bible people who we encounter ever reads. They can be positively or negatively affected by our actions. If they happen to know we are Christians and see us doing the same thing non-Christians do, they may have no motivation to learn about God. They might miss seeing the power a Christian has to deal with life’s complexities and not know they should pursue it.
A deeper reason to not sin is the consequences. When someone does a wrong, somebody must pay for it. The one who sins often ends up paying with repercussions; relationships could be destroyed, personal embarrassment might occur, loss of money, reputation, or property might happen, or even the loss of one’s life.
An even deeper reason to not sin is the effect sinning has on a person. When one violates God’s law, there is an internal weight that begins to limit the ability to live “abundantly”. Yes, asking forgiveness from God removes that weight, for Christians know God will forgive when asked. But, what if one does not seek forgiveness?
The chief reason we should not sin is every time one transgresses God’s law he takes a step towards “unbelief”. If a person continues to sin (continues to take steps in the direction of unbelief), God, not wanting to lose the person, will begin discipline.
I have experienced discipline from God and let me tell you … it is not fun. The more a person does not respond to His instructions, the worse the discipline becomes. But if a Christian continues to not make a behavioral change to God’s strictness, there will come a time when that person stops believing. When a believer reaches “unbelief”, he is totally lost with no recourse to ever be saved from eternal death again.
For it is impossible to restore those who have been once for all enlightened, who have consciously tasted the heavenly gift and have been sharers of the Holy Spirit, and have felt how good the Word of God is and the mighty powers of the age and the world to come, if they deviate from the faith and turn away from their allegiances; it is impossible to bring them back to repentance , … (Hebrews 6: 4-7).
Sinning is stepping towards unbelief in a very real way and when a Christian reaches “unbelief”, there is no future except eternal death. This is major, so everyone should strive to avoid all sin.