Faith
Wednesday February 27, 2008
Hartsville News Journal
Page 2C
FAITH COMMENTARY
"Repentance Takes Away Our Sin "

What is sin? It is something we all do so let us check out the Greek word for sin; the one translated from the manuscripts to the King James Bible:

Strong’s hamartano, ham-ar-tan'-o; perhaps from Greek 3313 (meros); properly to miss the mark (and so not share in the prize), (figurative) to err, (moral) to sin :- for your faults, offend, sin, trespass.

The Greek word in the manuscripts describes sin as trespassing and [missing the mark] which represents missing heaven. Understand that God is pulling for us to (hit the mark) as He wants to share heaven with us.

Many choose to continue their sinful ways instead of exercising restraint in an attempt to avoid sin. This leads some to question:

(1) Do we understand what causes sin and what we can do to combat it?

(2) Is sin included our lives and if not is there anything can we do to prevent or minimize it?

We begin by recognizing the fact that Satan has great authority and his use of camouflage and sweet talk is coaxing us into his world of sin. The flesh is weak and our bible reminds us that it repented (sorrowed) the Lord to put us through this test on earth. Moses writes of this in Genesis 6:6 KJV as it reads:

And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

A sinless life is not possible as Jesus is the only one who walked in the flesh without committing sin. God does expect two things from us:

(1) That we make an honest effort to refuse the temptation of Satan and

(2) We seek His Forgiveness when we fall short.

Do we recall how proud God was of Job when Job stood up to Satan? Job repented and he refused to give in to Satan’s authority.

Sin is easy to come by but so is repentance; the irony here is that sin is so costly while repentance is free. God wants us to know that while in the flesh, we are going to sin and this requires repentance. Sin that has not been repented for must be accounted for; Paul explains this accountability in 2 Cor. 5:10 KJV.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Our good works as well as our unrepented sin will accompany us to judgment day. God teaches us how to accumulate works as well as how to deal with sin.

Good works involve helping God’s children make something of their lives. We are His children too and if we are to help others,

 

we must first help ourselves. One way of helping involves repentance: We receive forgiveness every time we repent as he shed His Blood for this very reason. Repentance is the foundation Christ laid from the Cross and we receive good works when we support this foundation.

Recognizing sin is also important for it shows us when to seek repentance. Sin is anything we do that offends God and our conscience lets us know when we sin. Our conscience works like a steering wheel; it gives us direction.

We are all sinners and our conscience lets us know when we do wrong. We cannot ignore this feeling as the Blood of Christ places forgiveness within our reach and repentance keeps salvation in tact. Christ calls us to repentance in Luke 5:32 KJV. He states:

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

There is one exception to repentance: God does not hold us accountable for a “sin of innocence”. Sin committed without knowledge of it being sin, is no sin at all. We experience this sin and we do learn from it but we are not accountable; it is a sin of innocence. We are accountable for sin that we knowingly commit but when asked, God forgives it; He forgives it that very moment; no questions asked! He knows our heart and our sins are sins no more as 2 Chron. 6:30 KJV shares this truth with us:

Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)

Sin continually surrounds us and when we fall short, God waits for us to repent. His forgiveness takes away our sin and everything’s all right again; it is as though we never committed the sin.

We must take God’s forgiveness serious by accept it when it is offered. We do not want to be guilty of being repetitious when we repent, that is repenting over and over for the same incident. That would be the same as crucifying Christ all over again. He fulfills His promise and gets it right the first time; He forgives us the moment we ask and He does not want to hear about it again. Now if we repeat the sin, we repent again and He forgives us again.

“Repentance Takes Away Our Sin” We summarize:

Sin is not our downfall; failure to repent is.

Our exposure to sin serves God’s purpose as seeking forgiveness shows our real feelings for Him; it shows our love.

Sin is transgressing God’s Law but we are not accountable for a “sin of innocence.

God gave us a conscience that will show us when we sin and do wrong.

When asked, God takes away our sin and this means it no longer exists. He gives us a clean slate in the Book of Life.

Any remaining sin plus our good works will follow us to judgment at which time God gives them their full weight.

Added knowledge helps us to see the big picture of Satan and the role sin plays in our relationship with God. Repentance takes away our sin while God’s forgiveness removes Satan’s fangs. He makes this clear in 1 John 1:9 KJV as it reads:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Confessing our sin shows God that we accept responsible for what we do; it also proves that we give Satan no authority over us. We close our discussion of repentance by giving credit to Jesus Christ for He is the Word; He teaches well!

Do you have confidence in God’s ability to take away your sin? Do you trust Him to remove Satan’s fangs from your life?

 

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Pastor Billy Johnson can be reached by email at billy@lakeshorebible.info or viewed online at www.lakeshorebible.com