TOPIC: AWARENESS OF SINS
TEXT: 1 JOHN 3: 4-8
4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8 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.
INTRODUCTION
In recent times, there have been arguments and discussions whether some behaviours are sin or not. For instance, some people have argued that smoking cigarette is a not sin since it is not mentioned in the bible. Once, I preached to a man and He said to me that you could drink alcohol but you should just not be drunk. I had also seen a comment on the internet where some young boys were quoted to ask whether they could kiss their girlfriends since it was fornication that was a sin but not kissing. Some have also presented some arguments to support one behavior or the other. And yet, Our Lord and Saviour, JESUS CHRIST, is coming to rapture believers that are free from sins and not those who still commit sins.
So, how shall we adequately prepare for HIS return if we still go about arguing whether something is a sin or not, or if we are totally ignorant of what sins are. Therefore, it is expedient to have a deep knowledge of what constitutes sin, from the perspective of God, so that we can know how to flee from it and remain holy unto the LORD, that we might be able to be among the saints HE will rapture.
WHAT IS SIN? AND WHO IS A SINNER?
For the avoidance of doubt, from our text, 1 John 3: 4-8, God defines ‘sin’ ‘sinner ’, ‘the origin of sin’. Let us reiterate them.
SIN: Sin is the transgression of the laws of God. 1 John 3:4
SINNER: Sinner is a person who transgresses the law/laws of God. 1 John 3:4.
ORIGIN OF SIN: the bible says ‘for the devil sinneth from the beginning’. So, satan is the origin of sins. 1 John 3:8
What is left for us is to try to find out what the laws of God are, and what it means to transgress the laws. Let’s assume a driver is driving on a lane of the road and he is to maintain that lane and not cross to the other lane. If the driver stopped maintaining his lane and crossed to the other lane, then he has transgressed (crossed his boundary). The Traffic Management Agency or The Law Enforcement Agency can arrest such driver for breaking the law.
In the same way, if any man stopped maintaining the laws of God and did something else, he has transgressed and become a sinner. Let us thus look at the laws of God that makes a man becomes a sinner if he transgressed or breaks them.
Please, understand that it is only the bible that contains all acts that are sinful by direct mentioning or by inference and it is only the Holy Spirit that can give anyone a full awareness/conviction of sin. What we have below is just a summary of a tiny portion of all acts that are sinful. For full knowledge and awareness of sin, read the bible regularly and seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
A. Violations of the laws of God's 10 commandments: the 10 commandments are in the book of exodus 20: 3-17. We will not be able to list them but you can consult the scripture above for proper list. Though, God had cancelled the covenant of justification through The Law, yet, He has not cancelled each single law of the 10 commandments.
B. Doing the works of the flesh: Galatians 5:19-21. The Bible refers to the behaviours mentioned in the scripture as works of the flesh and says whoever does them will not inherit the kingdom God.
The sins are listed thus; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.
The bible continues to list sinners/sins that are workers/works of flesh in 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10. They are unrighteous, fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate (male prostitute), abusers of themselves with mankind (homosexuals), thieves, coveter, drunkards, revilers, extortioners.
Some more lists are given in Romans 1: 29-32. They are vile affections/lusts (homosexual and lesbianism), wickedness, maliciousness, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, and those who have pleasure in those that do all these things.
C. All Unrighteous behaviours: God tells us clearly in 1 John 5:17a
17: All unrighteousness is sin:
Though, not all sins are unrighteousness, but all unrighteousness are sins. By analogy, not all animals are dog but all dogs are animals. So then, what is unrighteousness? I will define unrighteousness as not being fair/just in dealing with another person, even if they are members of our family.
We cannot list all the behaviours that make unrighteousness but some of them are using unjust balances, unjust weights, unjust measuring scales for trade, exploitation/extortion, fraud, not paying of wages to labourers, not returning what you borrowed, not fulfilling pledge and so on.
Finally, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, gives us the law of righteousness in Mathew 7: 12 as follows:
12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
The list of unrighteous acts is endless. If you are in doubt whether what you are about to do to somebody is a sin of unrighteousness or not, APPLY THE LAW JESUS gave us. Ask yourself this question: will I be happy if this man or woman did the same to me? If the answer is NO, then that act may be an unrighteousness. Desist from it. If you are still in doubt, pray that the Holy Spirit should help you to decide what to do.
D. Defiling or Corrupting your body: 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 reads:
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
Activities such as bleaching of the skin, drawing of tattoos, smoking of cigarettes and other hard drugs, drinking of beer and strong drinks, indecent dressing, naked/immoral dressing, masturbation, pornography and the likes, fall under defilement of the body.
E. All Abominations: Deuteronomy 18:10-12. These include but not limited to all idols, magic, sorcery (witchcraft), wizardry, soothsaying, asterology (reading of stars), necromancy (consulting with deads), occultism/cultism, incest, divination, charms, incantations, enchantments, spells, consulting with familiar spirits.
8. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars,shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
F. Worldliness or Friendship of the world: James 4:4: reads;
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
This is one area where many Christians are not paying attention. This is one area that has also generated many controversies in Christendom. But the bible is very clear in this aspect. To be friend with the world is to do things like the unbelievers do them and that makes a person to be guilty of the sin of becoming an enemy of God. Worldliness include dressing like unbelievers, getting addicted to viewing football matches and worldly movies, using slangs of unbelievers, vain discussions, ungodly Party celebration, getting addicted to social networking sites and the likes.
If you are not sure whether what you want to do is worldy or not, ask these simple questions:
. Am I doing it because necessity demands it or because of fashion/ en-vogue? If it is outside of necessity but of fashion, then it may be wordly. Be careful about it. Most things that are en-vogue are worldly and sinful.
For instance, necessity demands that you put on trouser but necessity does not demand that you sag the trouser. Necessity demands that you put on shoes but does not demand that you put on high-heel. Necessity demands that a woman wears cloth but does not demand that the cloth must expose her bosoms.
. Am I doing it to please God or to make me be acceptable in the eyes of the society? For instance, You are aware that God is against the painting of lipstick but you are afraid that your friends will tell you that you are not beautiful because you did not paint lipstick, and because of that, you painted the lipstick. Then you have painted the lipstick so that you can be acceptable by your friend. You have chosen not to please God but to please your friend and be acceptable by them. That is an example of how to know worldliness.
G. Not relating with God properly. These include unbelief, lukewarmness, not evangelizing, not worshipping Him, not seeking to know Him more, not relying on Him, not praying, Atheism (confessing or believing that God does not exist), blasphemy and the likes
H. All things that God hate and numerous other sins mentioned in the bible. God hates all sins and He cannot look at them because HE is so holy. All things that bible records that God hates or cannot look at are probably sinful and we must avoid them.
Some of the things God hate include lie, pride, shedding innocent blood, wickedness of heart, evil planning, false witness and more, Proverbs 6:16-19; Not giving to the poor, (Deuteronomy 15: 7-9) Wickedness of heart, (Psalms 101:3-5) and so on.
Let us also endeavour to study the bible on our own and take note of all sins and so that we can flee from all such as we prepare for the return of Our Lord and Saviour.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE NOT SURE WHETHER AN ACTION IS A SIN
At times, we are faced with situations that are so difficult to determine whether they are sin or not. Here are some suggestions on what steps to follow to arrive at a reasonable conclusion.
1. If you have the time, even if it is just one minute, quickly pray and tell Holy Spirit to help you.
2. Ask this question: ”will Jesus do what I am about to do”? I believe You should know the answer to this question. If your answer is ‘NO’, then avoid that act.
3. Ask again: “will what I want to do glorify God”? If the answer is ‘NO’, also avoid that action.
4. If you are still not sure whether the action is a sin, then, don’t it until you are sure that it is not a sin.
CONCLUSION
SIN, though, just a three-lettered word, is the only effective weapon, Satan has been using to conquer and to destroy children of God and by extension mankind. It is a weapon of both self-destruction and mass destruction. Every other weapons of Satan like deception, enticement, threat, poverty, riches, disease, fame and so on are not on their own effective in destroying children of God. Satan only uses his other weapons to eventually push a child of God to commit SIN and make God to reject that child so that He (Satan) can then destroy that child because the child had become defenseless. So, armed with SIN, Satan is confident of destroying anybody, I repeat, anybody, or any group of people (even a nation), if such person or group of persons allow him. Once, Satan destroyed the destiny of Adam with SIN and now, He is roaring about to destroy anybody with SIN, even you, if you allow Him.
Now that you have known what sins are, make a determination that satan will not use his weapon of sin to pull you down, no matter what appearance the sin has.
PRAYERS
If you will like to confess your sins and accept Jesus to save you, say the following prayers, sincerely and faithfully and make a determination never to commit sin again.
Lord, Jesus Christ, I am sorry for all my sins. I confess them with my mouth and I ask for mercy. Please forgive me and wash me in your blood. I accept you as my personal Lord and Saviour. Write my name in the book of life. Give me power over sins and fill me with your Spirit and Joy of Salvation. When rapture trumpet sounds, let me make it. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, I pray.
Begin to read bible. Begin with the book of John. Pray always. Fast regularly (you can begin with once in a week). Forgive people. Watch. Drop all worldliness. Ask Holy Spirit to fill you. Attend a bible believing church where they teach repentance, holiness, salvation and fellowship with them. Pray before you go. Don’t just go to any church. There are a lot of deceptions out there. If you need our assistance, we can recommend for you, if you email us. Always run away from SINS.
· Repent of all SINs and pray that Jesus Christ cleanse and sanctify you with His blood. Please do this as many times as possible daily.
· O Lord, Please forgive me all sins that I have ever committed.
· Lord Jesus, forgive me all sins that can take me to hell.
· Lord Jesus Christ, forgive me all sins that can make me to miss rapture.
· Lord Jesus, do not allow the needle of sin to pinch my garment of righteousness and holiness.
For more information, question or contribution, please send email to us at raptureglorious@gmail.com or jesuscoming@yahoo.com or visit our blog at www.jesuscoming1.blogspot.com and please tell others to join us. We teach people deep word of God about holiness, righteousness and how to prepare for rapture. We also send breaking news of end-time events that happen around the world to people with bible verses that matches them. You can send email to us to receive them, free.
We will like to get as many people as possible ready for rapture. We wish nobody goes through the great tribulation. What are happening now are child’s play.
TO MAKE RAPTURE:
Confess Your Sins To The Lord, JESUS CHRIST And Ask Him To Save You.
Repent Of Your Sins Constantly On Daily Basis And Run Away From Sins.
Be Filled With The Holy Spirit.
Live In Holiness And Righteousness.
Do All Restitutions.
Cut Of All Worldliness.
Forgive All People.
Pray And Fast
Consecrate And Study The Bible
Watch.
Shalom.
JESUScoming.
Many Christians of today don't want to hear anything call sin again. They only want to hear and talk about grace. Yet, the Lord Jesus Christ, who brings us the salvation by grace, would not forget to charge a person He healed or delivered to [u]go and sin no more[/u].
ReplyDeleteChristian Youths are out there engaging in fornication and abortion and it is becoming big crisis in churches and yet they say we not rebuke sin nor talk about sin.
That gospel that says we must not talk about sin must certainly be the gospel of antichrist and not that of Christ, My Lord.
Repent and be converted. Jesus is coming. Prepare in holiness and righteousness.
LORD GOD, for I know that naturally man leaketh, I pray that you enable us that this your word leaks not.
ReplyDeleteAt all times we shall be 'AWARE OF SIN' through the convictions of the HOLY SPIRIT.
Let many other receive salvation dear LORD.
thank you FATHER in JESUS name, Amen!