The Christian and Sin

(#79, Ladies Bible Class, Feb 1951; Imperial, 1961)

Read Matthew 12:33-37.

The world has lost the consciousness of the exceeding sinfulness of sin.  The tendency is to pass over sin lightly.  We must not lose sight of the fact that there is sin in the world.  To lose sight of this fact is to forget the great sacrifice made by Christ.  The 32nd Psalm is the instruction of David on sin in the believer's life.

Sin covered.  Psalm 32:1-2.

Happy is the man whose sin is covered.  The term "forgiven" means that sin is "lifted".  God lifted our sin and put it on another.  Here are some expressions showing how God covers sin.

    1.  Casts them into the depths of the sea, Micah 7:19.

    2.  Places them behind His back, Isa. 38:17.

    3.  Blots them out, Isa. 44:22.

    4.  Removes them as far as east is from west, Ps 103:12.

When God covers sin He really covers it.  Happy is the man who accepts God's covering for sin.

Man's attempted covering.  Psalm 32:3-4.

There was a time when David attempted to cover his sin by keeping still. He even took a life to try to cover it but that didn't work because all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

When man tries to cover his sin...

    1.  He does not prosper, Prov 28:13.

    2.  He carries an unnecessary burden that slows him down in his Christian life, Hb. 12:1.

    3.  Fellowship is broken with God, 1 John.

    4.  His prayer life is hindered, Ps 66:18.

Sin to be confessed.  Psalm 32:5.

The condition for forgiveness in the Christian's life is confession, 1 John 1:9.  We must all give account to God (Rom 14:12).  It is God's ideal that "we sin not" (1 John 2:1-2).  However we may fall into sin because of our sinful nature or through neglect of the conditions on which sinning depends.

 

To confess means not only to acknowledge your sin but to hand it over to God.