Ephesians 4:25-32 states,
25Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and give no opportunity to the devil. 28Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Inside of FHCC there are many new Christians. Sure, we have people who have been attending Catholic or Christian churches all their lives, but the majority of these who now attend FHCC confess that they never were biblical Christians before now. This is phenomenal news, and a testimony to the true purpose of our church, which is to proclaim Jesus and His work, and to lives that give glory His work (aka - Holy (Sin-free) living. The problem, however, is that sinning is still easy to do long after you become a biblical Christian. So what are we to do?
Option #1 - Embrace Pop-Culture Christianity
To remedy the struggle we face against temptation, and to ease the utter guilt and hypocrisy we feel when give in to sin, we could do what most "evangelical" churches do today and EMBRACE sin as an acceptable part of a Christian life. Sure, they still profess sin as the vehicle that keeps us from God, and the cause of our separation from God, but they belittle sin to nothing more than an inconvenience after salvation. Proof of this is in their sermon topics, altar calls, and qualifications for ministry. Rarely will today's pastors preach against sin, call for biblical repentance (a complete forsaking of sin by BIBLICAL standards) on the part of their people, or ask ministers in their church to abstain from sinful practices.
Simply put: A modern Christian's view on his sin after conversion is: a tragic mistake, but understood by God, because God knows that we are just human, after all, and live in a fallen world.
While Option #1 is sure to fill seats long after the trends fail in the church, the truth is that it lacks biblical support, mocks the work of Jesus' death on the cross, forsakes the role of the Holy Spirit, and ultimately kills the physical and spiritual life of the believer. Jesus said that He came to bring LIFE, so clearly this is not a solution for our church.
Option #2 - Love Jesus and Rely on the Holy Spirit
Christians need to embrace the fact that life is HARD, and in many ways gets HARDER after conversion. Now, instead of giving in to peer pressure and sleeping with people who are not our spouses, we actually have to say NO to them and our hormones. After conversion, we are compelled to say NO to drinks after work, office gossip, pornography, cheating on our taxes, and every other form of tolerated sin in our society. We need to embrace the truth that following Jesus means "picking up our cross" and "dying to the world" every single day. This is hard, but we must do it if we love Jesus.
Jesus loves the Father, and He, therefore, loves what He loves and hates what He hates. Scripture tells us that the Father loves people and hates sin. So, it was for this reason (love for the Father) that Jesus came humbly into the world to destroy sin inside the life of a believer (Romans 6:1-14). It was our sin that nailed Him to the cross, it was our sin that made Him suffer, and it was for a "sin free" life for His believers that He went ahead with the act. Jesus did not die so that we may go on sinning (Romans 6:1)! He died to that we may be made righteous (holy, clean, blameless) in His sight and be brought near to God! It was also that work of Jesus that we might receive the Holy Spirit inside of us and remain clean and free from sin!
Every Christian possesses the Holy Spirit. He enters inside at the time of conversion, and serves as an "inner light," "inner Torah/law," for the believer's life. He too loves the Father, and seeks to direct the Christian AWAY from sin, and into righteousness. It is His voice the believer hears when faced with temptation calling him/her away from the situation. It is His wisdom that illuminate the mind of the believer in seeing the complexity of sin. And when a Christian ignores that voice, denies that wisdom and sins, it GRIEVES the Holy Spirit, denies the work of Jesus on the cross, and alienates us from God. Sin sucks!
Simply put: Life is hard. Life as a believer is really hard, but it is the only life worth living. The difficult task of following Jesus honors God, promises eternal life, and provides hope and power to the dismal circumstances of this world. I would much rather struggle against sin, then accept it into my life with all of its lies, turmoil, and death. I would much rather honor the Holy Spirit and the work Jesus did to make Him available to me, then mock and grieve the Trinity and become religious with sin.
To all Christians: please stop grieving the Holy Spirit with your sin. Repent one more time, and honor the Holy Spirit by following His leading. Read your Bible every day. Go to church and join a Bible Study. MAKE CHRISTIAN FRIENDS THAT YOU CAN BE ACCOUNTABLE WITH. Fight the good fight! (I Timothy 6:12)
