The Cost of Sin!

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. Galatians 6:7

As followers of Christ, we know that we have been forgiven of our sins. Not because of anything we have done but because of what Jesus did. What did He do?    He appeased the wrath of God by taking the penalty of sin upon Himself. We deserve death and hell, but we now have eternal life with Jesus.

However, this does not mean that we will not struggle with sin. Until the day we die, we will be in a constant struggle with our flesh. Paul wrote to Romans about the struggle, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the working out of the good is not. 19 For the good that  I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one working it out, but sin which dwells in me (Romans 7:18-20).” However, thankfully, Paul doesn’t leave us with no hope. As he cries out, “wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” he immediately gives us the answer, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 7:24)!”

Even though we are forgiven of our sins, there are still consequences. King David learned the hard way that his sin of adultery and murder would plague him his entire life. The prophet Nathan confronted David, and God spoke to David, saying, “So now, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife   (2 Samuel 7:10).” God loved David, even declaring that  he was a man after His own heart.

We must never give up the fight with our flesh John  MacArthur writes,

“All of us struggle continually with sinful thoughts, sinful attitudes, sinful habits, and sinful desires. It is those who don’t struggle—those who deliberately and eagerly revel in their sin—who need to have their sense of security shaken. So don’t give up in   defeat if you find yourself struggling with sin or     even if you fall into it. Stay in the battle. Fight sin by considering deeply what makes you more vulnerable to it, and then establish godly practices in its place. You may find you need to have accountability with a godly person you trust, or spend more time in prayer, or stay away from things that tempt you. Do whatever it takes to discipline yourself and stop any pattern of sin before it gets started again. That is the key to   staying away from sin—the constant, daily practice   of thinking on the right things and not   making provision for the flesh and its desires (Romans 13:14).”

Christian, we should do everything we can to avoid sin, but when we do sin, we should confess it to the  Lord and make no provision for that sin to be repeated.

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark