THE LIES OF SIN – PART SEVEN

Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,

Hebrews 3:12-14 (NASB)

THE TRUTH ABOUT SIN AND ITS LIES IS WE ARE GIVEN COMPLETE VICTORY OVER IT IN JESUS

All of the lies we have considered have one thing in common. They all lie to us about God.

First God knows the truth about sin. When He tells us about it He is telling the truth. We can fully trust in what He says.

Second He loves us so much that He lets us suffer the natural consequences of sin to teach us that it is wrong. The eternal consequence of sin is to be separated from God. Far better that we would suffer extreme consequences in this life to point us away from sin and back to God than to spend eternity away from Him.

Third God has made a way, through Jesus, for us to be done with sin forever. He has overcome sin for us through his life, death and resurrection. The primary issue of salvation is this – freedom from sin.

He has made a way that our spirit can be reconnected to God. This happens when we are born again. He has provided a way to be presently free of willful and habitual sins.

Through our relationship with Him through the Holy Spirit we are given the power to walk out of sin and walk in freedom from death giving practices. This happens each day as we follow his instructions. 

He has made the way for us to be completely and eternally free from sin. This will happen after we shed this human body which continues to bear in it the nature of sin. When we die our bodies remain here but our reborn spirit and transformed soul will take on a new spiritual body and live eternally in fellowship with God and those who found this same grace here on earth.

This grace is available to everyone. It is entered into by what the Bible calls repentance. This is a willful turning away from death giving practices – sin - and their lies. It is changing our minds about who is telling the truth. It is no longer listening to the lies sin tells us. It is agreeing with God about what He says.

REPENTENCE – THE WAY OUT OF SIN’S LIES

Luke 13:1 Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were {greater} sinners than all {other} Galileans because they suffered this {fate?} 3 "I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.4 "Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were {worse} culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? 5 "I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

Luke 13:1-5

In the Greek language the Bible word for repentance is metanoia. It means a great transformation (meta) of our minds (noia).

It is not feeling guilty though there is a place in the process for godly guilt. It is not feeling shame. There is no place for shame in our lives. Shame only serves to put us into hiding form God, from others and most of all from ourselves.

It is not self hatred. If God so loved us even when we were under sin’s deception then there is no place for self hatred. Though we will experience self hatred as a consequence of our death bringing actions until we know the love God has for us and receive His grace.

Repentance is what happened to my son when he realized the damage that putting his hand on the hot woodstove. He has never done it again because he had a great change of mind. He no longer saw my instruction to not do so as holding back something delightful from him. He saw it as extremely harmful.

Repentance is realizing the love of a father who let his son fall into the canal that would have eventually killed him. He was so loved that his father kept him from dying by a rope around his waist so that he could learn. It is understanding that his wrong actions could have ended his relationship with his father forever.

Repentance is understanding how important it is that we be constantly aware of sin’s deadly trap even when we are aware of them. Like my friend who knew well what a saw could do, he still needed to be diligent to keep away from the harm by continually following safe practices.

Repentance is understanding that following those safe practices does not make us a better person than others. It only keeps us safe. Pride is the greatest sin because it makes us look down on others and not see our own or others need for help.

Finally repentance is being determined to live as far away from sin as possible. After his accidents my friend has taken much more seriously the need to do everything he can to keep his body out of the saw blade. For him to not do so would mean that he did not understand the lesson he should have learned.

Sadly I saw this in a terrible way when I used to go to have my muffler repaired. I noticed that the mechanic fixing my muffler was not wearing safety glasses. I was shocked since he was welding under my car. Eye destroying sparks were flying everywhere. I knew that any second a bead of white hot metal could plunge his eyes into darkness forever. A few years later when I returned for a new muffler I saw it had happened to one of his eyes. The mangled remains bore witness to the power of unsafe practices. But to my horror I watched as he put my car up on the hoist and began welding without safety goggles. In spite of the terrible consequences of his wrong behavior he had not yet learned the lesson.

When we have any other stance than to fight against our own temptation to remain in death giving practices – sin – we do not really believe God. We do not really understand the terrible price Jesus paid to free us from the permanent damage in our lives as a result of sin. We do not understand the cost continuing in that sin will have on us and others. We remain under sin’s deception.

In fact I believe our response to sin is one way we can be assured of our salvation. One day before I came to know Jesus Christ I had no feeling or remorse, regret or even concern about my sins. The minute after I received Jesus I felt the horror of my sin. To this day I feel the same. I did not say that I have completely overcome my sin. I said there is a deep conflict in my soul that is expressed in the Bible as a war between two natures. I believe this is one very clear indication of the reality of me believing in, knowing and following Jesus Christ. While I still fall into sin I hate it. I feel the horror of what sin is. Like a cancer that eats my heart away I know sin destroys my life. To do it willfully or even to take a casually is unthinkable when we understand this.

But when we understand the truth about sin we will seek with all our hearts to move away from it. This is true repentance and it will be met with the amazing grace of God. He will empower us to live above those things that want to destroy us.