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The Foundation of Repentance
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In this
Bible Study I
want to address the issue of how we as Christians
must deal with the sin in our lives. It's important for us to
understand that becoming a Christian does not necessarily nullify the
old nature, but rather introduces a new nature which wars against the
old.
1John 2:1-2 My little children,
these things I write to you, that you may not sin. And if anyone sins,
we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He
Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but
also for the whole world.
We will see that all Christians do sin, how God's grace keeps us in
spite of our sin, what sin does to the Christian, how to receive God's
forgiveness and cleansing and how to live a life of victory over sin.
Why Christians Sin
No matter who you are, even if you think you
are the most perfect person that ever came forth, you still have sin in
your life. All Christians do! No Christian can have
day-by-day victory over sin and live the happy, joyful, triumphant
life, until he or she faces the true facts about sin in their own
nature, sin in his own life, what sin will do and what do about
it. Remember what it says in Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?
Every Christian Has
Two Natures.
To better understand why Christians sin, we must understand the
difference in the two natures we as Christian have. We have an old
nature and a new nature. We are to put on the new nature while
putting off the old nature.
Ephesians 4:22-24 ...that you put
off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt
according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your
mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to
God, in righteousness and true holiness.
What we have to understand is that these two natures war with each
other and the sinful nature sometimes wins out over the new nature and
thus we fall into the trap of sinful behavior as Christians. We
see this struggle in Paul's writings to the Romans.
Since every Christian still has the old nature, and since every
Christian sins, whether or not they are conscious of any known sin,
they are still deceiving themselves if they say they have no
sin. Since every Christian is commanded to pray daily "forgive us
our sins", then we conclude that God Himself must provide a salvation
that includes His own perfect righteousness given freely to the
undeserving sinner.
We Stand In The
Righteousness of God.
Romans 6:1-2 What shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How
shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
We have seen that the Christians sins because he stills struggles with
the old nature, but a true Christian has a new nature that is
convicting Him of the sin in his or her life and moving them forward in
God's grace and victory over sin.
Even though God's grace covers us this does not give us a license to
continue in known sin. When we continue in sin without any
conviction coming from the new nature, which is born after God, we
should question ourselves as to whether the new man even
exists. If it doesn't, then we have not known God.
Does the fact that all Christians sin give us a license to continue in
known sin? Or does God expect us to turn and repent from known sin
and walk in victory?
Romans 6:1-2 What shall we say
then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!
How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
Consequences of
Unrepented Sin.
Unrepented sins are those sins that the Bible clearly states we are to
repent of when we come to Christ. If we fail to repent of these
sins, then they are unrepented sins such as immorality, drunkenness,
filthy language, covetousness, evil desires, anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, lying, theft, hatred, jealousies, dissensions, murders, etc.
Sin Brings Loss of Christian Joy.
Sin Quenches & Grieves The Holy Spirit
& His Ministry In Your Life.
Sin Brings Reproach on Christ, the Church & The Bible.
Sin Causes God to Turn a Deaf Ear to Your Prayers.
Unrepented Sin Brings Chastisement From God.
Sin Prevents You From Fully Entering Into Kingdom Blessing.
Unrepented Sin Can Lead To Blaspheming of the Holy Spirit and Loss of
Salvation.
Applying the Blood
of Christ to Our Sins
Revelation 12:11 "And they overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and
they did not love their lives to the death.
At the very foundation of our victory is the
forgiveness Christ has granted unto us. When we sin and blow it
big time we must do what Peter did when he denied Christ. The
Bible says he went out and wept bitterly over his sin. He was in
turmoil of hate for himself and his sin and loss of joyful fellowship
and usefulness which had been his.
We Must Sincerely
Confess & Forsake Our Sins.
Honest confession means you call it by its name and don't excuse it.
Honest confession means forsaking sin.
Honest confession means restitution may be necessary.
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