"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9
We have been talking about what true salvation involves. Jesus taught us that we must be born-again. Once we are born-again we come alive spiritually and take on the resemblance of our Heavenly Father. If there is no change in us then our salvation is doubtful. If we are no different, if we still are living a lifestyle of sin, then it is evident that there has been no new birth taken place within us.
Having said all that, let me say this-- I have been talking about becoming a brand new person and the "old things" in our life passing away and living a brand new life. But this doesn't mean that we won't make mistakes, fall, give in to temptation, nor ever commit a sin again, miss the mark or mess up. I have not been talking about an occasional "relapse", I have been talking about a habitual lifestyle of sin.
So, yes, there may be times we fail and even sin, this is what I want to address this morning. What do we do when this happens? Do we give up? Do we quit and walk away from our relationship with the Lord? I used the scripture a few days again from Hosea that tells us that people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. I want to give you knowledge concerning this today.
This is an issue that is dear to my heart because I remember as a young person giving my heart and life to the Lord but then I would find myself in a situation of temptation and wind up compromising and giving into the sin. Because I didn't know what God's Word said I thought that I had "blown it"; I thought that I had "lost" my salvation. Because I didn't know the truth and how to handle this "failure" based on God's Word, I gave up and turned around and left my relationship with the Lord and lived a "wasted" life for years-- all because I didn't know the truth.
The truth is, though we fall we are not utterly cast down. If we go to God and confess our sin and ask for His forgiveness-- He will. He is not sitting there condemning us because we sinned. The Bible tells us that He is ready to forgive. He is waiting for us to come to Him. And when we do, He will embrace us just like the father embraced the prodigal son when he returned home.
Have you sinned? Have you fallen? Have you missed the mark? Did you disobey the Lord? Then don't turn away from Him, turn to Him. He does not condemn you. He has not turned His back on you. He will not cast you out. He knows you are weak at times. He knows that you aren't perfect. He is right there drawing you to Himself because He loves you. He loves you so much that while you were a sinner (living in sin and separation from Him) He sent His Son Jesus to die for you. Do you think that He would do anything less than love and forgive you now that you have been born-again and become His? He longs to restore you and your relationship with Him-- let Him.
Have a great day. There is a difference in having a lifestyle of sin and committing an occasional sin. But the Lord loves you and will forgive you of both.
Scriptural references:
John 3:7
1 John 3:9
Luke 15:11–32
Hosea 4:6
Psalm 37:24; 86:5
Romans 8:1
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