Continued Sin

Sometimes I wonder if anybody actually reads these blogs, and if they are worth the time that I put into them, but last week’s post opened a discussion that made me realize that if I reach one person, it’s worth it all.

The comment was “Why would you not allow them to be a member? Or in a leadership role? Sin is sin is what this whole thing is about or am I misreading this?”, which opened a great discussion about the difference between sin and continued sin.

We all sin, Scripture is very clear about that.

Romans 3:23
²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

1 John 1:8
⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

But that is not the same as continued sin.  John follows up verse 8 with…

1 John 1:9
⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The word for confession used is “homologeo” which means “to say the same thing” or “to agree with”. So John is saying that if we sin, and confess that we sin, we are agreeing with God that we are sinning. Based on the content of the rest of 1 John, it is insinuated that confession in this manner assumes repentance. The whole letter talks about walking in the light, being obedient, love and fellowship, and you will not do any of those in continued sin.

He tells us in…

1 John 3:6
⁶ No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

If we turn from our sin, that is repentance, so John assumes in 1:9 that is we confess our sins, repentance will follow.

So, if we sin, confess and repent, assuming that we truly mean it, that is normal.  Paul puts it this way.

Romans 7:15-19
¹⁵ For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. ¹⁷ So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing

However, there are situations whereas people are in continued sin. I really believe that the list that Paul gives the Corinthians, covers these sins well.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10
⁹ Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

As you look at this list, they are things that people continued in, sins that people keep doing without repentance, without turning from them.

A person continuing in sin, with no thought of or desire to change is basically in rebellion against God. Imagine telling your child “These are the rules, I expect you to abide by them” and they basically say “I know the rules, I don’t care, I like doing things my way, I’ll do what I want.” How would you feel? Isn’t that rebellion? When we continue in sin, isn’t that the same thing? A person continuing on like that would be welcome in church, but you wouldn’t want them involved in the decision-making process.  If they are in rebellion against God about those matters, why would they care about leading the church in a Godly direction?

In the conversation that was sparked this week, I said that fornication (people living together unmarried) was continued sin, the same as homosexuality, and therefore would exempt them from membership. The question then asked was “What if one of your deacons has a porn addiction? (As I considered his thought with our deacons I wanted to laugh, just can’t imagine that.) That’s continued sin is it not? But that’s ok because it’s not seen in public?” and my response was an adamant, “No, it would NOT be ok”, however I can’t do anything about something that I don’t know is happening.  Under that situation, God will either bring it to light, or will deal with the individual on His own, but either way, it is clearly not right, or good for a church.

The bottom line is that sin is bad no matter what, but if we choose to continue in it, without repentance, that is just open rebellion. If somebody is in open rebellion with God the goal should be to lovingly bring them back into a proper relationship with God, and that’s not likely to happen by supporting their sin.

Thank you for reading this, as always, I would encourage you to spend time in His Word, in prayer and in the fellowship of other believers.  And if you haven’t visited already, I would encourage you to come visit our little church on the hill, it’s worth the drive.

 

Bro. Jason