What does sin really mean?
_ I have preached on this topic more than once—but I think we need to examine what sin really means in terms of our relationship with God. When we are “born again” as Jesus says we must be in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven we are forgiven all our sins. From that point on it's inevitable that we will sin again and again. Those sins do not remove us from our salvation—and they don’t condemn us where we must continually try to be “born again”!
Regeneration by the Holy Spirit is permanent and immediate but it’s just the beginning. From this point on we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit! The same power that raised Jesus from the dead resides in the believer. What an incredible promise—and opportunity to use this power for Christian witness, growth, and ministry! But then we sin again. We "quench” the Spirit—what sin does is remove us from our right relationship with the Father.
The Bible tells us that “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become sons (and daughters) of God.” So the Christian is in a personal relationship as a child of the Father. This is more than facing a judge in an impartial court of law. True, the Apostle Paul writes often in Romans about being justified through Christ—being under the law of the Spirit and not the Law of Sin and Death—and we can understand his reasoning for it was true that Christ paid the price for our sins—fully and completely on Calvary. But it is so much more than that—when we are reconciled to God—we are restored to a right relationship as part of a family.
We do not stand before a judge, but a Holy Father who loves us and desires for His children to love Him back through obedience and through our desire to please Him. Think about a family in which the father lays down “rules” and boundaries for his children—and when they disobey the father is crushed, but he doesn’t stop loving his children. Likewise our Heavenly Father doesn’t stop loving us—and hopes for us to be reconciled to Him. This goes deeper than a courtroom and a judge—it goes to the heart of God who wants us to experience the relationship as a father to His kids. When we sin—we are not so much breaking laws as we are breaking the very heart of God. Sin is relational infidelity! Thank God that His forgiveness is infinite—if we will confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive them—and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Regeneration by the Holy Spirit is permanent and immediate but it’s just the beginning. From this point on we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit! The same power that raised Jesus from the dead resides in the believer. What an incredible promise—and opportunity to use this power for Christian witness, growth, and ministry! But then we sin again. We "quench” the Spirit—what sin does is remove us from our right relationship with the Father.
The Bible tells us that “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become sons (and daughters) of God.” So the Christian is in a personal relationship as a child of the Father. This is more than facing a judge in an impartial court of law. True, the Apostle Paul writes often in Romans about being justified through Christ—being under the law of the Spirit and not the Law of Sin and Death—and we can understand his reasoning for it was true that Christ paid the price for our sins—fully and completely on Calvary. But it is so much more than that—when we are reconciled to God—we are restored to a right relationship as part of a family.
We do not stand before a judge, but a Holy Father who loves us and desires for His children to love Him back through obedience and through our desire to please Him. Think about a family in which the father lays down “rules” and boundaries for his children—and when they disobey the father is crushed, but he doesn’t stop loving his children. Likewise our Heavenly Father doesn’t stop loving us—and hopes for us to be reconciled to Him. This goes deeper than a courtroom and a judge—it goes to the heart of God who wants us to experience the relationship as a father to His kids. When we sin—we are not so much breaking laws as we are breaking the very heart of God. Sin is relational infidelity! Thank God that His forgiveness is infinite—if we will confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive them—and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.