12/27/2023
Do you deny the sin within you? Do you say to others that you are a moral man, a good man, and that you harm no one? Do you argue that your morality makes you righteous? My response to you is that you have no idea what sin truly is... or else you are deceiving yourself. Let’s look into this further.
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”
Romans 3:23-24 ESV
In this scripture, Paul tells us that we all have sinned. Not just some of us, or most of us, but all of us. We each have two portions of sin within us... the conscious sin that we are aware of, and the unconscious sin that resides in the darkest reaches of our very soul and nature. Without the redemption of Jesus Christ we might successfully avoid many of the physical sins, but that deeply rooted and engrained sin which is illusive, and lurks at our very center of our hearts can only be relieved by grace... by being born again.
“No man knows what sin is until he is born again. Sin is what Jesus Christ faced on Calvary. The evidence that I am delivered from sin is that I know the real nature of sin in me.” - Oswald Chambers
We read about our unknown sins in Psalm 19 where we are asked a revealing question, “Who can discern his errors?” Many times a question can open a door to truths that we know instinctively, but deny our conscious minds. Here is such a question, and it is followed by a discussion of hidden sin. Let’s read:
“Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
Psalms 19:12-14 ESV
Scripture also tells us about how we can deal with both conscious and unconscious sin by asking for forgiveness. It warns us that by denying our sin we are denying the Word of God, and that this is paramount to calling Him a liar...
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
1 John 1:7-10 ESV
So we have sinned. We have sinned consciously by our outright disobedience, by not doing those things we ought, and unconsciously in such things as pride, hubris, and others that are imbedded in our souls and character. We are also told that we must accept Jesus as our Redeemer before we can truly realize these sins, and that it is by His sacrifice alone that we realize the extent of them and gain the forgiveness of God by His grace.
Are we ready to open our eyes to the sinners that we are? Are you prepared to accept Jesus Christ and allow His light to shine into our very soul, and reveal the true character of who we are? Are we ready to face our failure, and ask forgiveness right now?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your Son Jesus Christ, and for revealing my sins and sinful nature to me through the light that is within Him. In this revelation I throw myself at your feet and pray in His Holy Name that you forgive me of all my sins... those I have committed knowingly, unknowingly, and by abstention. Help me Lord to live a better life and avoid sin in all its forms, but in my failures Father, cover me by your grace and the blood of your Son Jesus. Guide me Lord as I avoid the sins of which I am aware, lead me, by changing my very nature, from those sins I would bear in my heart, and give me the courage and determination needed to do those commandments in my life that would constitute sin by their avoidance. Teach me to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and do all those things you have asked of me. Holy Father, let my desire to be with you, shepherd me away from sin before it even becomes a temptation, and deliver me from the hands of evil in all its forms. Keep me close to you Father, that I might remain righteous in Christ, and thus without sin in your eyes; able to praise you forever. It is true Father that without the blood of Jesus Christ I am doomed to be the foremost of sinners. Forgive me for those things that I feel are unforgivable in myself, and allow me the realization through Jesus that I am free to come home, unblemished, and to able to dwell in your house forevermore.
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”
1 Timothy 1:15 ESV
Rich Forbes