What is Sin?

A short answer can be found in Romans 8: 7.  “The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” Sin is a terrible thing…it hurts us and it hurts others.  But the worst thing about sin is that it hurts God.  Do you know why it hurts him?  Because he loves us so much.     

Even though God loves us, he cannot overlook our sins or pretend that he does not see them.  He must punish sin.  The Bible speaks of a definite punishment for sin, “The wages for sin is death” Romans 6:23.  This means separation from God in Hell forever.  How terrible!

 God created us, God sustains us, and God sent his son, Jesus, to take the punishment for our sin (Romans 8:3-4). In accepting Jesus Christ as our lord and savior, we have accepted a rebirth in him, submitting our will to his. We can never atone for our own sins, but through the blood of Jesus, we have a way to be cleansed of the stains sins put on our soul by confessing the sins to Jesus and those we have sinned against, and repenting. 

 So how can we experience God’s forgiveness? 

Experiencing God’s forgiveness comes through confession and repentance. In (Psalms 51:3), David had written a confession to God after a particularly sinful episode in his life. David was truly sorry for his adultery and for murdering the husband to cover it up. He knew that his actions had hurt many people. But because David repented of those sins, God mercifully forgave him. No sin is too great to be forgiven! Do you feel that you could never come close to God because you have done something terrible? God can and will forgive you of any sin.

KEY BIBLE VERSE: If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. (1 John 1:9) 

God wants to forgive us. He allowed his beloved Son to die just so he could pardon us. When we come to Christ, he forgives all the sins we have committed or will ever commit. We don’t need to confess the sins of the past all over again, and we don’t need to fear that God will reject us if we don’t keep our slate perfectly clean. Of course we should continue to confess our sins, but not because failure to do so will make us lose our salvation. Our relationship with Christ is secure. Instead, we should confess our sins so that we can enjoy maximum fellowship and joy with him.

Honest confession includes turning away from sin. True confession also involves a commitment not to continue in sin. We wouldn’t be genuinely confessing our sins to God if we planned to commit them again and just wanted temporary forgiveness. We should also pray for strength to defeat temptation the next time we face it.

Confession reestablishes relationship with God. If God has forgiven us for our sins because of Christ’s death, why must we confess our sins? In admitting our sins and receiving Christ’s cleansing, we are: (1) agreeing with God that our sin truly was sin and that we are willing to turn from it, (2) ensuring that we don’t conceal our sins from him and consequently, from ourselves, and (3) recognizing our tendency to sin and relying on his power to overcome it.

What is a hurt?  Hurt is something that someone else has done to you…probably a sin that they have done to you, and that you need to forgive them for.

Why should we forgive one another and how can we do it? 

Joseph is a model of genuine forgiveness. Joseph was rejected, kidnapped, enslaved, and imprisoned. Although his brothers had been unfaithful to him, he graciously forgave them and shared his prosperity. Joseph demonstrated how God forgives us and showers us with goodness even though we have sinned against him. The same forgiveness and blessings are ours if we ask for them. 

KEY BIBLE VERSE: Don’t let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good. (Rom 12:21) 

Forgiveness is a mark of the Christian life. If we love someone the way Christ loves us, we will be willing to forgive. If we have experienced God’s grace, we will want to pass it on to others. And remember, grace is undeserved favor. By giving an enemy a drink, we’re not excusing his misdeeds. We’re recognizing him, forgiving him, and loving him in spite of his sins — just as Christ did for us. 

Forgiveness is contrary to the pattern of the world. In this day of constant lawsuits and demands for legal rights, Paul’s command sounds almost impossible. When someone hurts you deeply, instead of giving him what he deserves, Paul says to befriend him. Why does Paul tell us to forgive our enemies? (1) Forgiveness may break a cycle of retaliation and lead to mutual reconciliation. (2) It may make the enemy feel ashamed and change his or her ways. (3) By contrast, returning evil for evil hurts you just as much as it hurts your enemy. Even if your enemy never repents, forgiving him or her will free you of a heavy load of bitterness. 

Forgiveness is an act of the will. Forgiveness involves both attitudes and actions. If you find it difficult to feel forgiving of those who have hurt you, try responding with kind actions. If appropriate, tell such people that you would like to heal your relationships. Give them a helping hand. Send them a gift. Smile at them. Many times you will discover that right actions lead to right feelings. At the very least tell God that you forgive them and then pray for them!  Remember forgiving them isn’t saying that what they did was right and it doesn’t mean that you have to forget…..it is for YOU not for them.

KEY BIBLE VERSE: If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matt 6:14-15) 

If we expect to be forgiven, we need to practice forgiveness. Jesus gives a startling warning about forgiveness: if we refuse to forgive others, God will also refuse to forgive us. Why? Because when we don’t forgive others, we are denying our common ground as sinners in need of God’s forgiveness. God’s forgiveness of sin is not the direct result of our forgiving others, but it is based on our realizing what forgiveness means. It is easy to ask God for forgiveness, but difficult to grant it to others. Whenever we ask God to forgive us for sin, we should ask ourselves, have I forgiven the people who have wronged me? 

Real forgiveness follows God’s pattern. Because God has forgiven all our sins, we should not withhold forgiveness from others. Realizing how completely Christ has forgiven us should produce a free and generous attitude of forgiveness toward others. When we don’t forgive others, we are setting ourselves outside and above Christ’s law of love. 

Jesus told us there are two roads in this life…the broad road and the narrow road.  He said, “Enter in at the straight gate; for wide is the gate that leads to destruction and many there will go in threat…straight is the gate…narrow is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it”. Mathew 7: 13-14.  He said there were many people on the broad road and few on the narrow road.  He told us where each of these roads leads.  He said the broad road leads to destruction (Hell) and the narrow one leads to Heaven.  He urged us to choose the narrow road.  Heaven is more beautiful than we can ever imagine.  It is a place of perfect happiness and joy.  In heaven there are no tears, no heartaches, no hurts, no sickness, no hunger, no loneliness, no hatred, no sin and no death.  That’s where I want to go and I’m sure you do to.  But there is something we must do if we want to go to heaven.  We must choose the narrow way by choosing Jesus Christ as our Savior.

Why do we need to do this?  The Bible says, “There is none righteous.”  Romans 3: 10, 23.  This tells us that we ALL have sinned and done wrong.  In God’s words he tells us what is right and wrong, but we have NOT kept HIS commandments.  We have been proud, we have been unthankful and we have selfish.  We have chosen our way instead of God’s way and this is SIN. 

God doesn’t want us to sin; he speaks in love and tells us to turn from our sins before it is too late.  The Bible says, “God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).  Experiencing God’s forgiveness comes through confession and repentance.

What does it mean to REPENT?  It means to “turn around”.  The reason we need to turn around is that we have been going the wrong way…we have been doing things our way, not God’s way.  We must turn around if we want to be saved.  Jesus said, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”.  Luke 13:5.  Repentance is not just feeling bad or shedding tears over your sins, it is turning to God and saying that you have been doing wrong and ask for his forgiveness and for his help to turn away from sins.  Once you truly ask for forgiveness and repent God will forgive and he does forget. 

So my final question for you is which road will you take?