"In Spite Of" or "Any Way"

Pastor Bill Farrow

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Anyone who says they are without sin the Scripture calls a liar. It says that they have deceived themselves and that the Truth is not in them. These are stern words for careful consideration by all who love God. They suggest many things that deserve detailed thought, but none is more significant than what the thoughtful believer should do when they sin.

At its root all sin must be seen to be deliberate. Sin can be accidental, that is it can be unpremeditated.  It can be a matter circumstances. We can be enticed and tempted and we can lose our resolve momentarily. We can be weakened by all manner of happenstance. However, when it is all said and done, it is ultimately voluntary and we are responsible for its occurrence. The question is not ''Who is responsible?", the question is, "What will the responsible party do?"

Ultimately, every child of God will repent of their sin. No one who is in possession of the new nature can tolerate sin in their lives indefinitely. The new nature, given at the time of salvation, is designed in such a fashion as to prevent such an occurrence. We can sin, and even persist in sin for quite a long while; but somewhere, there is is a line over which a real believer cannot step. This is one of the fundamental differences the Scripture marks out between the one who is Redeemed and the one who is not.

In the case of those who are Redeemed there are a number of questions that should be answered. One of those concerns the immediate response of the saved man when sin strikes. Believers respond to the occasions of sin that frequently crop up in our lives.

	There are times when we are overtaken in our fault and we respond with immediate repentance, confessing and forsaking the sin in question.
	There are times when, sadly, we persist in our sin and resist or refuse the repentance offered by God.
	Then, there are the times when, for various reasons, we postpone our repentance. Sometimes, this is simply another form of resistance to grace. At other times, it is because of shame.

How we respond is a function of how we view our sin. For a long time I was far more casual about these matters than I needed to be. I took a ''continue anyway" approach to my sin. It affected me more for reasons having to do with myself and not so much for God. The shame I felt had more of an effect on me than the fact that I had been disobedient to my God. I would "hide" or withdraw myself from Him spiritually for as long as I felt shame and unworthy of being in His presence. I did not really understand my sin in light of His imputation of that sin to Christ and the subsequent full payment for that sin by Christ on Calvary's cross. Nor did I understand it in light of the imputation of Christ's righteousness to me.

None of this should move me to treat sin lightly. Nor should it cause me to view sin either fatalistically or philosophically. I must view it as it is, no more and no less. The fact of the matter is that, as a believer, my sins were imputed to Christ, past, present and future. Those sins were completely and absolutely paid for by Christ on the cross. His Righteousness, in all of its fullness and perfection, has been imputed to me and I enjoy the full benefit of that righteousness at the Bar of God. The truth of the matter is that all of occurred, to the only One who really matters, in "eternity past".