God will not FORGIVE the SIN that we CONTINUE to LOVE

The truth is...most people LOVE their SIN.

And...THAT is what is so WRONG with what I will now call "the gospel of ENCOURAGEMENT."

Let me explain:

There is one thing that we MUST recognize if we are EVER to gain WISDOM found in the TRUTH of God's Word:

God HATES sin.

Proverbs 15:9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him who pursues righteousness.

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Proverbs 6:16-19 These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.

God HATES sin.

Somehow...SEDUCTIVELY...DECEPTIVELY...the Church has been sold "a bill of goods"....as the modern presentation of "grace" seems to DIMINISH the SERIOUSNESS of SIN.

SIN has not CHANGED...and God's HATRED of sin has not changed.

This passage of Scripture is STILL true today:

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

DEATH is STILL the "wage" of SIN...what we EARN as we SIN.

Do you GRASP that reality!

When we SIN...it is as if we have EARNED "wages" for our "work"...our SIN...just as we earn a WAGE as we WORK for an EMPLOYER.

Just as we MUST be PAID for the HOURS we WORK...so TOO must SOMEONE pay the "wages" of our SIN.

If we CONFESS our SIN...then JESUS accepts the "wages" we have EARNED...by His DEATH on the CROSS!

But...can we use GRACE to MINIMIZE the SERIOUSNESS of SIN?

No...we cannot.

Romans 6:1-2,12,15 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?....12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God....15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!

We can NEVER make LITE of SIN simply because of GRACE!

NEVER!

Today...PULPITS do just that...make LITE of SIN...telling those BOUND by SIN...those who REPEATEDLY commit the SAME sins OVER and OVER...that "God will forgive!"...as if the fact that someone will NOT stop SINNING is of NO CONSEQUENCE!

That is simply NOT TRUE!

You see...the SIN that we REFUSE to GIVE UP is the SIN that we LOVE!

And...we CANNOT love God AND love our SIN!

We MUST choose ONE or the OTHER.

Romans 6:5-11,16-19 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord....16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

Then...notice Paul's words that fully describe what is to be our FEELINGS about SIN:

Romans 6:20-23 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul denotes that we should be "ashamed" of our SIN.

Do we find that in the Church today?

No...we do not.

Instead...it seems PULPITS do everything POSSIBLE to help MINIMIZE the SHAME that SHOULD BE felt because of SIN!

Let me get PERSONAL for a moment:

I have NOT been PERFECT in life. Far from it.

I once sinned GREATLY...and...I am THANKFUL to God for the SHAME I felt and EXPERIENCED.

I am a living example of what Paul spoke to the Corinthian church:

2 Corinthians 7:9-12 For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. 9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. 12 Therefore, although I wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you.

I thank GOD that I felt SORROW...REGRET...and...yes...SHAME!

I thank GOD that my SORROW led me to REPENTANCE.

But...the REPROACH of my sin remains.

That is the PROBLEM...the DANGER...of SIN...as we can NEVER regain what was LOST by our FORAY into SIN.

Yes...my PAST is FORGIVEN...but my PAST also carried with it CONSEQUENCES that remain to this very day.

Church...we have allowed SIN to be MINIMIZED...even TRIVIALIZED...as if GRACE negates the SERIOUSNESS of our SINFUL ways.

NOTHING...and I mean NOTHING...can negate the SERIOUSNESS of SIN...nor the CONSEQUENCES of sin.

SIN brought DEATH...and it CONTINUES to do so today.

It cost Jesus His LIFE...with SCOURGING and BEATINGS and CRUCIFIXION the PRICE that had to be PAID for our SIN.

And...what does the Bible say our SIN does TODAY...as we CONSISTENTLY insist on our FORAYS into SIN?

Hebrews 10:26-29 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

There IS a CALL of God to ABSTAIN from SIN:

1 John 2:1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Notice John begins by saying that he writes these things for one purpose:

"...so that you may not sin."

Yes...we have an "Advocate with the Father" if we sin...but NEVER are we given the FREEDOM to continue to WILLFULLY sin...allowing us to say or think "I can sin and still be OK. I will just ask forgiveness. After all...it is all about grace!"

No...that is making a MOCKERY of grace.

In truth...MOST pulpits today ENCOURAGE people IN their sin...instead of REBUKING people WHEN they sin.

Yes...I said REBUKE!

Scriptural?

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

If we are called to be SHEPHERDS...then we will seek to INSTRUCT the sheep in "righteousness"...through proper "doctrine"..."reproof"...and "correction"...so that the SHEEP in our care will be "complete" and "equipped."

But...to do so...we must FIRST recognize that the Church is now FULL of GOATS who LOVE their SIN.

And...as such...an "encouraging word" simply CREATES and/or FURTHERS the inherent DECEPTION of SIN in their lives.

You doubt that reality?

It is the very reason we now hear the term "Gay Christian."

DECEPTION...DELUSION...as PULPITS have made LITE of SIN.

The TRUTH?

God will not FORGIVE the SIN that we CONTINUE to LOVE.

Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Where is YOUR "treasure" today?