Lately I have spent more time thinking about my sin than I have in a long time. Don’t panic – I haven’t done anything stupid. It’s just that I rarely think about my sin as sin. Let me explain.

I know I am far from perfect. I make mistakes.

So let me call a spade a spade and admit that, occasionally, I sin. And when I sin, God corrects me.

So what am I doing telling people God never convicts us of our sin? What am I? Some kind of two-faced hypocrite?

As I have explained elsewhere, there is a huge difference between conviction and correction. The word “convict” found in our English Bibles implies the declaration of guilt and God never does that to the guiltless. Don’t you see? You have been justified through faith in Christ and now have peace with God (Rom 5:1). Justification means just-as-if-I-had-never-done-it. Even if you have just done it. Just now.

You are one with the Lord and as he is, so are you in this world (1 Jn 4:17). In Christ, you are as righteous and holy as he is.

But from time to time we all make regrettable choices and when we do the Holy Spirit will seek to bring about a life-giving course correction. He doesn’t do that by applying the rod of correction or scourging us with sickness. Instead he seeks to steer us away from danger and back towards the way of life. Let me give you some examples showing how he does that:

Example 1: Ugly parenting

As a father of three small children I am regularly stretched beyond my coping abilities. I get tired and frustrated and when I do I become a grizzly bear – I grizzle and growl. I frighten my children and say things I regret. If you are a parent, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

How does God respond when I act this way?

First let me show you how grace doesn’t work. Grace doesn’t come and tell me, What a lousy father you were today! I already know that. I don’t even need the Accuser to tell me. No, grace doesn’t expose my ugliness but rather reveals his beauty within me. How does that happen?

For some grace might manifest as a mental picture of themselves parenting really well. Others might be reminded of a scripture that imparts life into a stressful moment. But for me, the most common experience is I find myself abounding in supernatural love.

This doesn’t happen automatically. And it certainly doesn’t happen when I am walking after the flesh and leaning on my own strength and understanding. But if I make the choice to ask my Father for help, grace comes. For me that typically means I begin to see my kids just as my heavenly Father see me – as dearly loved.

It’s hard to explain but in an instant everything changes. Suddenly their noise and energy no longer bothers me. It’s like my shoulders get widened. Instead of being flattened and overwhelmed I find myself wanting to stoke the fires of their youthful exuberance just to see what happens next. Do you understand? It’s a completely different me. It is literally Christ revealing his kid-loving character through me and it’s awesome! I am transformed from grizzly papa into the best dad in the world!

Example 2: Self-pity

Several years ago I was so overwhelmed by a problem that I sat down in a funk and began to indulge in self-pity. Self-pity is huge sin. It’s far more serious than some of the sins we warn teenagers about. Self-pity is the sin of unbelief in the goodness of God. It is saying, “God, I don’t believe you can handle this situation.” Never give into self-pity because it will sink your boat faster than the Titanic.

But on that dark day I gave into it. I began to feel sorry for my pathetic self. What did Jesus do in response to my sin? Did he stand before me like Nathan pointing the accusing finger? Did he warn me like Elijah of the imminent fire of heaven? Of course not! Jesus is not like that at all.

I remember it clear as day. I was sitting there in my little funk with my head in my hands and suddenly, in my mind, I could see Jesus sitting on the chair beside me in the exact same posture as me. Like me he had his head in his hands and he looked worried. As long as I live I’ll never forget what he said:

“You’re right Paul, this is a big problem. I don’t know what I’m going to do about it.”

Then he threw back his head and laughed and laughed at the absurdity of such a thought. Instantly, I was set free.

Do you see what he did there?

He took my problem in his massive hands and laughed at it. He showed me the utter ridiculousness of the lie that I had bought into. How foolish to think that Jesus hasn’t got this! By seeing Christ I was set free from the lie that had held me captive. I began laughing so hard I nearly fell off my chair.

When Jesus brought me back on course he employed neither guilt nor condemnation, just laughter and joy (Is 12:3).


Ask the right question

“Does God see our sins?” “How does God deal with us when we sin?” Frankly, these are the wrong sort of questions for they completely miss the Father’s heart.

God is simply not interested in recording your sins or assigning guilt and blame. Our sins surely grieve the Holy Spirit – they make him sad – but he doesn’t withdraw, condemn, or convict us in response.

In the example I just gave you. Jesus dealt with my sin of self pity without even mentioning it. Do you see? Your sin is not the issue. Your sin was dealt with 2000 years ago at the cross. What really matters to your Father is you and you are not your sin.

Those who worry, “Does God see my sin?” are living in the old covenant. In the new covenant a better question is, “How does the Good Shepherd deal with us when we go astray?” The answer is: gently (see Heb 5:2). When you stumble and make a hash of things, Jesus deals with you gently because he knows what it’s like to be human.

No doubt some serious folk will be offended by the idea of gentle Jesus. They will write to remind me of the Revelation churches. They will say, “Jesus wasn’t exactly gentle with the Thyatirans and the Laodiceans, was he?”

It’s true, those churches got stern rebukes. But don’t you find it interesting that before dealing with those churches Jesus reminded them that he “loves us, has cleansed us from our sins and has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father” (see Rev 1:5-6)? His correction is always motivated by love for us.

I’m not diminishing the seriousness of sin. Your sins can kill you. I’m saying God does not deal with us as our sins deserve (Ps 103:10). Rather, he deals with us on the basis of love. Again; your sin is not the issue. You are the issue and you are the apple of your Father’s eye.

It’s not about your sin

I know this is hard for some to process. We have been raised to beware sin, to resist sin, to run from sin, to overcome sin. With so much emphasis on sin, guilt, and shame, is it any wonder so many of us are sin-conscious instead of Christ-conscious? We need to be set free from this unhealthy obsession with sin!

I said at the start that I rarely think about my sin as sin. Yes, I make mistakes. It’s just that I don’t think about those mistakes in the language of sin and guilt. Paul said, “Reckon yourself dead to sin” (Rom 6:11). How can I engage with something and be dead to it at the same time?

Since I met Jesus I no longer speak the faithless language of sin and death. I choose to live by the law of the Spirit of life. My mistakes are not sins, per se. They are far more serious than that. Rather, they are death-dealing wounds I inflict on myself and others (Gal 6:. They are missed opportunities to receive and impart life.

“Paul, are you saying you never repent and confess your sins?” I do but probably not in the manner you’re thinking.

True confession is not listing your sins like they did in the old covenant – it’s agreeing with God. And repentance is the same thing – it’s not looking down at your navel but up at Christ who is your life.

You can confess and repent in an old fashion if it helps, but understand that those things can actually deter you from the main thing which is getting back on course before you smash your boat on the rocks of life. When Jesus shows up to laugh at the folly of your distrust, you can either (a) put on ashes and sackcloth or (b) laugh along with him. When the Holy Spirit shows you how to be a better parent, you can spend the next hour either (a) repenting for being a bad parent or (b) being the better parent.

I say “Choose life!” Make the choice that releases his life into your situation. Typically this will mean lifting your eyes off your sin and onto him. It’ll mean praising him for his goodness instead of harping on about your badness.

Anyway, that’s just me. Perhaps you think my “sin” stories are unspectacular. There was no alcoholism, drug abuse, or pornography mentioned because those haven’t been issues for me. But most of our sins are little ones and it’s good to experience freedom even in the humdrum aspects of life.

https://escapetoreality.org/2013/03/15/how-does-god-deal-with-our-sin/

Ok

All Sins shall be forgiven except Sins against The Holy Spirit.
And God punishes sins and rewards forgivenesses in entirely His own way. Believe that!
So our stupid Atheists and Agnostics on Nairaland including one who just call Jesus lousy will surely burn in Hell IJN, I COMMAND, AMEN!!!

morning

afternoon

Evening

What is sin? Nature knows no such thing..

Morning

Evening

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evening

morning...

Xxxxx

jiggaz:
morning...

Yeah

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Jesus Christ

Lord Jesus the altogether lovely one...

Lord Jesus Christ

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