“…on the inside you are full of dead men’s bones…”  (Matthew 23)

 

Reader,
In my past I have looked at some persons and saw much sin in their life and I therefore marked them and doubted their salvation and this was noticed by some of these persons and they thought me to be cold. To be sure, there are some sins that should put a professing Christ-ian out of the church, there is no doubt. However, professing Christ-ians should not be put in doubt because there is sin present in his or her life.

Christ teaches us that it is by Christ-ian love that others would recognize us and know us to be His.  He did not say the world would recognize you as belonging to me by your lack of sin.  Granted, he told some to, “go and sin no more.”  John writes extensively in his first (1st) epistle about the decreasing of sin in the life of the believer, and some sins being overcome altogether.  However, don’t miss his point and his point is this: the overcoming of sin is based in love for Christ and others. Is it not written that love covereth a multitude of sin(s)?

Reader, if we be honest with each other, we think things that should not be thought or entertained.  We say things when we are alone or do things when we are alone or act out in negative ways when we are alone.  We even think things, say things and do things in the presence of non-Christ-ians that we wish we didn’t.  We even think things, say things and do things in front of other believers that often go ignored.

The fact is our old man, our old nature, our carnal nature, our flesh still exists and it will exist until we die or Christ comes. However, this nature and sin, and sins do not disqualify us from our faith. This bad fruit alone does not necessarily prove a person to be a false believer.  It is not the presence of the bad stuff that shouts unbeliever, it is the absence of the good stuff that shouts false believer.

What denounces a person as a false believer or a wolf in sheep’s clothing is the lack of love for God, the missing love for the brethren, the neighbor, and the enemy. What sends up the red flag is the absence of Christ-likeness amidst sin and sins in the believer’s life. What marks the unbelieving “believer” is the absence of the Spirit’s fruit and the divine nature, that all believers partake of. A sure sign of a tare amongst the wheat is the dis-interest in the Word of God, in the Person of Christ, in the people of God, in the ways and works of God, in the lack of concern for others.

Reader,
I am in no way, shape, or form condoning a life of licensious sin in the life of a professing Christ-ian, not at all.  I am saying Christ-likeness, the fruit of the Spirit, the divine nature should overshadow the sin and sins in the lives of others.  I am saying if someone only looked at the sin and sins in my life they would conclude that I am lost.  If one ignored my love for God and others, my passion for God, my love for the Word of God, and a mind that is possessed by the Spirit and filled with a God-consciousness, one would consider me lost.

In summary: Sin should be withstood and if sin is to be withstood, it will be withstood, mortified, and crucified by one’s love for God and an understanding of God’s greater love for them.

Godspeed.