If Christ dwells in our Born Again spirit, our body and
soul cannot live in a lifestyle of sin, because it grieves God's Spirit to be a
part of anything remotely sinful.
What is a sin? Sin is missing the mark of God's perfect
holiness. The main sin is that of unbelief (John 3:18). We condemn our self to
hell by our unbelief. No one sin is more grievous to God, than unbelief (Romans
14:23).
The Bible gives us several lists of other particular
sins, such as fornication, witchcraft, strife, envy, murder, alcoholism,
homosexuality, backbiters, disobedient to parents, proud, unmerciful, covenant
breakers, profane, whoremongers, liars, divorcing one's mate, thieves, foolish
talk, jesting, covetousness and blasphemy to name a few (Galatians 5:19-21;
Romans 1:26-32; 1 Timothy 1:9-10; Revelation 21:8; Matthew 19:18-19; Ephesians
5:3-7, 18; Mark 7:21-22; 2 Corinthians 12:20).
The Body of Christ will welcome most sinners into the
ministry with carte blanche forgiveness, except someone who has been divorced.
They act as if divorce is the unpardonable sin; even if the otherwise qualified
man did not want the divorce.
Yet, we see that there are other characteristics which
should exclude someone from the ministry. Consider an alcoholic, a murderer, a
liar, a permissive parent, or a sex addict. These are all equal qualifications,
and yet often ignored (1 Timothy 3:1-13).
The good news of the Gospel of Christ is that while we still lived in a lifestyle of sin, Jesus died for us all (Romans 5:8, 11). Jesus became sin for us all, so that we all could become the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The only unpardonable sin is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit
(Matthew 12:31). All other sins are forgiven and covered by the blood of Jesus
for everyone with the courage to call on His name to be saved.
Prayer:
Father God, You consider anger just as sinful as murder,
and lust as hateful as fornication. There are no mortal and venial sins in Your
eyes. One sin is as disgusting to You as another (Matthew 5:22, 28,32). Thank
You for Your sanctifying work in our life, which sets us free from sin and
death (Romans 8:2).
Remind us that if we say we are Born Again, and yet we
sin with immunity and no negative side effects, we are deceiving our self
(Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8). A Born Again Believer may dabble in sin for a
season, or carry a sin with us into our Born Again life, but we cannot tolerate
sin for very long. This is because Your holy presence within us cannot dwell in
a sinful environment.
Thought for the Day:
The sanctification process takes us through our season of
unrighteous living, and changes us step by step to exhibit more Godliness than
unrighteousness; we live as an example of a Godly Believer, full of love and
spirituality.
