We should all do our best to avoid sin. Sin personified is our worst enemy. It is sin that separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-20), and it is sin that leads to people spending eternity in a devil’s hell. The devil uses sin as bait to get us hooked on a life that is contrary to the will of God. It should be the fixed purpose of every child of God not to sin.
Sadly, we all sin from time to time. As much as we try to live a life that is pleasing to God, sometimes the flesh gets in the way, and we give in to our own desires and transgress the law of God.
James 1:14-15 (ESV)
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
What do you do when you sin? The answer depends on who you are, that is, whether you are a child of God or not. If you are not a child of God, you must obey the gospel by believing in Jesus (John 8:24), repenting of your sins (Acts 3:19), confessing your belief that Jesus is the Son of God (Romans 10:9-10), and being buried in the waters of baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-4). But, what must you do if you are already a child of God, and you sin?
One of the great realities of the law of Christ is that it makes provisions for sin. This means, unlike the law of Moses, we do not have to be perfect to be right with God and maintain fellowship with Him. As long as we walk in the light, the blood of our precious Savior will cleanse us from all sin. The question is, does this happen automatically or do we have to do something to activate His blood? John gives us the answer.
1 John 1:9 (ESV)
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
When you sin as a child of God, you must acknowledge that sin and pray to God for forgiveness. Peter gave a little more details about what we must do when he admonished Simon for his transgression.
Acts 8:22 (ESV)
22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.
This is God’s second law of pardon. The first is to repent and be baptized (Acts 3:38). In both cases, repentance must take place. The beauty of being forgiven as a child of God is that when we pray to God for this forgiveness, we do not approach His throne alone. We have a helper.
1 John 2:1 (ESV)
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Yes, God’s own Son makes intercession for us (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). The good news is that our Advocate has never lost a case. This is the blessedness that David described when he spoke of our sins being covered. Justification by faith, in essence, means we can be saved even though we sin from time to time. Still, we must make sure we do our part when we sin—repent and pray to God for forgiveness.
As you wind down for the night, think about these things