"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" -1st John 2:1
Christians
at best are people, and people at best are sinners. There is no such
thing as a Christian without sin, which is proof that the doctrine of
Lordship
Salvation is of the Devil. The word "advocate" in 1st John 2:1
is the Greek parakletos and means "one who pleads another's cause
before a judge, a pleader; an intercessor, of Christ in His exaltation at
God's right hand, pleading with God the Father for the pardon of our sins"
(SOURCE: ENHANCED STRONG'S LEXICON). What a wonderful truth...
Jesus is our Lawyer in Heaven (and not like all the lying, cut-throat,
lawyers here on earth). The Word of God comforts us, by informing us
that Jesus Christ will plead on our behalf, for the sins we have committed.
Why would Jesus do this? It's because of the precious blood that Jesus
shed for our sins, and our faith in Him alone. When a Christian
sins, we have a Heavenly Intercessor, i.e., an Eternal Highpriest; namely,
Christ Jesus. If you are unsaved, then you have NO legal
representation. You will stand on your own before the Judge, and be cast
into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:11-15).
What About Professed Believers who Live in Unrepentant Sin?
What about professed Christians who live in unrepentant sin, i.e., they have no desire to repent of their sins? Are they genuinely saved? The Apostle John stated... "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother" (1st John 3:8-10). Obviously, we cannot live above sin as long as we are living in this corrupt, carnal, flesh. 1st John 1:8 confirms this, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." No mortal can live above sin (Romans 3:23).
So then what does 1st John 38-10 mean? It
simply means this--there should be a sincere desire in the soul of every
born-again believer to live righteously to please the Lord. A
professed Christian, such as
Marsha Stevens,
who openly boasts of having a homosexual marriage, is not a true Christian
according to 1st John 3:8-10. When a person truly repents, i.e., has a
change of mind that causes him or her to turn to Christ in faith for
salvation, then a change in that person's life should follow afterwards.
This is exactly what James meant when he said... "Yea, a man may say,
Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and
I will shew thee my faith by my works" (James 2:18). James wasn't
speaking of salvation. In Romans, Paul speaks of the ROOT of our faith
(Romans 4:5); BUT James speaks of the FRUIT of our faith. Although Lot
in the Old testament lived in sinful Sodom, he DIDN'T brag and boast of it;
rather, he felt convicted from day to day concerning sin (2nd Peter 2:7).
So to answer the above question concerning professed believers who choose to
live in sin... a genuine Christian should feel much conviction when they
live in unrepentant sin. This is evidenced in Hebrews 12:7,8, "If
ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he
whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons."
A professed "Christian" who lives in unrepentant sin, and has no conviction
from the Holy Spirit to forsake those sins, is a LIAR, certainly no
Christian in any sense. If Marsha Stevens were a true Christian, then
God's Holy Spirit would convict her continually about the sin of
homosexuality, and her need to repent of such wickedness.
Our Relationship Verses Our Fellowship with God
When a Christian sins, we are to humbly go to the Lord in prayer and seek His forgiveness. This is clearly taught in 1st John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." A man once argued with me, saying that believers were already forgiven in Christ, and there is no need to ask God for forgiveness on a daily basis. He was wrong. Although God lives in eternity, where there is no time, we mortals live within the box of time. If I sin today, then I have a need to make things right with God today. Although my sins are already eternally forgiven in Christ Jesus, I am still expected to maintain a close fellowship with my God. So we must differentiate between salvation (which is our relationship with Christ), and our Christian walk (which is our fellowship with Christ). Many believers today are saved certain in Christ Jesus, but fail to walk with God, and are asleep concerning righteousness. These are the believers who go to church regularly; but never go soulwinning, never contend for the faith, and never do anything for Christ. We learn in 1st Corinthians 3:1 that the church at Corinth was CARNAL. Soulwinning wasn't even a concern to them. They were saved, but not walking in the Spirit (i.e., with God).
If you're a Christian, and you've sinned, then
1st John 1:9 is for you... "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Here's an illustration. I am my father's son, and nothing can
change that. No matter what crime or sin I may commit, even if my
father disowns me, I am still his son forever. Now, I may have a
broken fellowship with my father, but he is still my father nonetheless.
If I return to my father, as the prodigal son did, asking for forgiveness, I
am not asking to be his literal son again. I am seeking reconciliation
concerning my fellowship, but not my sonship. The same is true with
God. When we sin as believers, we are still God's child, but we have a
broken fellowship with our Heavenly Father.
The Judgment Seat of Christ
If a believer refuses to repent of sin, and
chooses to continue in a broken fellowship with God, then these sins will be
dealt with at the Judgment Seat of
Christ... "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" (2nd Corinthians 5:10).
Christians will be judged in eternity, but not as criminals (i.e., the
unsaved). We will be judged according to our works, in a civil court
setting, and many will suffer loss, some believers losing everything (1st
Corinthians 3:15). Of course, no believer will ever be in danger of
going to Hell (Romans 10:11; Titus 1:2).
Forgiveness for the Believer
Oh! Listen my brother or sister, God will forgive you of any sin, if you'll simply humble yourself at the throne of grace. Your sins are already washed away by the blood of Jesus if you're a believer, which gives you a right to BOLDLY come before God's throne of grace... "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." You're not asking God to forgive you in the sense of washing your sins away; but in the sense of a child who has disobeyed and disappointed a loving Father.
When sinners came to Jesus for forgiveness, He never berated them with harsh words. No, rather, Jesus encouraged them as a loving Savior, saying, "Go and sin no more" (John 5:14; 8:11). What's in the past is over--water under the bridge. The past is gone forever. Assuming we've made reconciliation with anyone we may have sinned against, we need to place our guilt of past sins under the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus died so we could have PEACE. "There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked" (Isaiah 48:22). It's the blood of Jesus that brings peace with God... "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).
And let me say this, you cannot have a proper fellowship with God if you are wrong with man (Matthew 5:23,24). If you want to be right with God in your Christian walk, then you need to apologize and/or make restitution with anyone you may have hurt. They may not accept your apology, but at least you tried. God only holds you accountable for your words and actions. Some believers live in a delusional world, thinking they can mistreat people and simultaneously please God. No sir! The hallmark quality of being a Christian is CARING. As believers, we should care about our testimony, and that we honor our Savior in our words and actions. We are to exemplify Christ in our life. Although we will sin at times as believers, because we are still in the flesh, we need to make things right with those we hurt. No wrong should go unrighted. 1st Thessalonians 4:6 promises that God will avenge those we defraud, and vise versa.
Proverb 24:16 states, "For a just man
falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall
into mischief." Every Christian falls. The Hebrew word for
falleth means TO STUMBLE. Hence, no matter how much we try to
live for the Lord in the Holy Spirit's power, we will stumble in this carnal
flesh. The second mention of the word fall in Proverb 26:16
means TO QUIT. The wicked don't even try to live right, because they
don't care about the things of God. So at best, the believer tries to
live right but struggles, falling, and getting up, and falling again, and
getting up. This is pleasing to the Lord because at least we are
making an attempt to do right. This applies to the born-again
Christian of course, as no amount of self-righteousness can get us into
Heaven. I'm speaking about Christian living here, not salvation.
To be saved, you need His
Righteousness. The wicked don't even try to live right, but gnash
upon the righteous with their criticisms and hatred because we are of God.
Forgiveness for the Unbeliever
If you are not a Christian, then you have NO right to approach God's throne of grace. You must first come by way of the cross of Jesus Christ, for there is ONLY one way to God the Father, and that is through God the Son... "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1st Timothy 2:5). Everything that the Bible promises all centers upon your acceptance or rejection of Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.
