1 John 2:1-6 – My little
children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if
anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for
the sins of the whole world. And by this we know we have come to know Him – if
we keep his commandments – whoever says I know Him but does not keep His
commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word,
in him truly the world of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in
Him. Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which he
walked.
These
couple of verses clear up some questions I have had for a long time. I may
still be a bit off but I’m getting closer, I hope. So let me speak for myself.
When I was very young, I walked down the church isle and asked God to save me
and to come into my life. I’ve done this many times since. I’ve also many many
times after giving or rededicating my life to Christ chosen to embrace sin and
continue with old habits. Not a good idea but it happens all the time all over
the world. I have often asked myself the question, when that happens, are we
still saved? I think the answer is yes, but I’m not really sure! I’ve also
asked the question, if we were really saved, why we wouldn’t just turn from sin
and live a life from that point on the way it asks us to in the verses above.
Have you guys ever thought or asked yourselves the same questions?
Today
as I look back on my life I’m still not sure if during those periods of back
sliding or turning toward sin and away from the Lord if I had died I would have
gone to heaven?!! I just am not clear on the answer and have not been able to
find the chapter in the Bible discussing the topic in a form that I can
understand it. I think that if that is the case and we could live a life of sin
after giving our lives to Christ people would just use that as an excuse to do
what they want! I’m pretty sure that is not what God wanted. I believe that
when we truly turn from sin and give our life to Christ we will want to pursue
all that is good and nothing that is not! Having said all this I realize that
we will still make mistakes, we will still sin, but I believe our manner of sin
will change. There’s a lot to explain on this subject “sin and how it manifests
in our lives” and whether it is meditated on or just an accident. Did we
welcome it with open arms making no attempt to flee from it? Or did it just
happen without notice? Maybe habit? Or bad timing? I’m still unclear on if
there is a difference in the types of sin and how they come about but this is
what I do know.
Matthew
1:21 – and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus:
for He shall save His people from their sins. Acts 13:38 – be it known
unto you therefore, men and brethren, that thought this man is preached unto
you the forgiveness of sin:… 1 John 3:5 – and ye know that He was
manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin. 1 Peter 2:24 –
who his own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead
to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes we were healed. 1
Timothy 1:15 – This is a faithful saying, and worthy of full acceptance,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Isaiah
53:5-6 – But He was wounded for our transgression, He was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we
are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone his own
way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. John 1:29 –
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith, behold the lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Galatians 1:4 – who gave
himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world,
according to the will of God and our father. Matthew 26:28 – For this is
my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins
(spoken by Jesus himself).
I
could keep going but my fingers would fall off from writer’s cramp. I think you
will see my point and my point is this: If you are really ready to turn your
life over to God and save your soul, why wouldn’t you want to do everything you
could do to put a smile on the face of Jesus, the man who gave His own life so
that you could live yours? I don’t know what has happened to me in the past but
I think I just wasn’t truly ready to give it all to God. I had reservations and
like it says in 1 John 2:1-6 “…whoever says I know Him but doesn’t keep His
commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him…’ So like it said, I had
reservations and I was lying to myself. I was obviously not living for God. I
was still living for myself. I see today that half measures get you nowhere and
it’s either all in or not in at all.
Prayer: Father
God, I pray that you would keep you children close to you and that we would all
live our lives in a manner that would leave no doubt in the worlds eyes
of who we belong to and who our God is.
In Jesus name, Amen
Thoughts: Would God be
happy with your efforts and the way you are living your life today? Well guess
what? He knows how you are living. Are you ready for Jesus to come home? Or do
you need to clean the house a bit before He gets here?
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