Why can’t we be forgiven if we refuse to let sin go

Christ’s sacrifice has provided a legal way by which anyone, even if guilty, can be set free from guilt. But that doesn’t make forgiveness automatic.

Forgiveness requires a response on our part.

Suppose someone is proven guilty of dangerous driving. No matter how much the judge likes the person, he must find the lawbreaker guilty and fine him appropriately. However, it is quite legal for the judge to offer to pay the fine out of his own pocket. It is then up to the offender whether he accepts the gift from the judge.

However, there is one more consideration. If the reckless driver intended to continue the same crimes, he would be a danger to the community. It would be a mistake to forgive someone who plans to continue breaking the law.

Likewise, the Perfect One is obligated to consider our attitude toward sin before freeing us from eternal damnation. He does not insist that we never fall; we just never want to fall. I am not referring to your actions or impeccability, but to an attitude of mind that is vitally important to God. The Bible calls it repentance (for the Scriptures to support this, go to http://net-burst.net/tough/repentvs.htm) – a change of mind regarding sin; God’s willingness to deliver us from sin. It involves placing our trust in him, rather than in our own ability to control our lives; giving more credit to their wise and loving demands than to our own whims. It may be virtually impossible for us to desire a sin-free life, but we must at least want God to give us the will.

Suppose you are trapped in a burning building. Just in time, a firefighter hears your terrified screams, bursts into the flames, and begins leading you to safety. But you fight him. ‘Not!’ You say, ‘I don’t want to get burned, but I want to stay here.’

‘Moron!’ the firefighter yells, ‘This whole building is about to be built. Either you leave this place immediately or you are dead!

Likewise, we let Jesus lead us out of our sin or we will die in our sin.

The essence of sin is disobedience. So to be saved from sin is to be delivered from disobedience. No matter what you pray, heaven knows that you cannot want the Savior to deliver you from disobedience if you want to remain in disobedience.

It is pure hypocrisy to ask God to take away the sins we hate, if we plan to keep the sins we love. It’s blissfully easy to make a sin look small. We can never fool God. Tragically, we often fool ourselves. Adam’s sin, with its catastrophic results, was not mass murder, hideous perversion, or demon worship. In God’s eyes, their sin was so serious that Adam and Eve had to be banished forever from Eden, yet they had lived a better life than any saint.

The Almighty longs to give us holy wishes and victory over sin, but he never abuses his power by imposing this on us against our will. Many people, though they would never admit it, want to keep their favorite sin more than forgiveness. Although it would make God very sad, we will rot in whatever sin we deliberately choose to remain in (for Scripture to support this, visit http://net-burst.net/tough/sinv1.htm). This would result in our entire lives being separated from God.

Just as we cannot allow a jet to take us to heaven while keeping one toe permanently on the runway, neither can we allow Christ to take us to heaven if we stubbornly insist on keeping a part of ourselves out of his will. Our own efforts will never get us off the ground, but we must agree with Christ’s desire to remove every part of us from the world. This has nothing to do with our own moral struggles, but simply allowing Christ to save us from the sins we love, giving Him permission to take away our dear sins.

I shudder to think of the hordes that have tragically missed this point. Another analogy will confirm its centrality.

You are caught in a sea of ​​sin. Bottomless waters lap towering cliffs. No one can tread water forever. The murky depths terrify you, except for one point. You have found a place where the deadly waters seem beautiful and the sensual waves exquisite. How can anyone take your cries for help seriously if you’re splashing around enjoying yourself? And what is the point of saving someone who is hell-bent on coming back after every rescue attempt? No one with a suicidal commitment to a sin can be saved.

How can God take seriously your request to be removed from the punishment of sin if you do not want to be removed from the ‘pleasure’ of sin? The sin you love is as deadly as the sin you hate.

This does not mean that you must start a sinless life to enjoy forgiveness. We are in the grip of the death of sin. Only Jesus can break it. But do you want me to? Do you want to get rid of your favorite sin forever?

The Almighty gives us dignity by respecting our wishes. If we do not want him to be our God, that is, to have total control of our lives, it saddens and scares him, but in his gentleness he will allow us to go our own way. No one has suffered the pain of rejected love like God.

The problem is not the “works”, our attempts to do good, but faith, trusting God’s loving wisdom above our own so that we stop directing our own lives, trying to be our own god, letting God be the God of our lives.

They can never force you to love someone. Nor can he be forced to genuinely desire purity of heart. The Giver has done all he can. It’s your turn.

By genuinely wanting to be removed from both the punishment and the ‘pleasure’ of all sin and by trusting in the forgiving power of Jesus’ sacrifice, you give God free rein to do what he wants to do: pay his debt to justice and credit his account. the moral perfection of Christ. That makes you so pure in his eyes that you no longer need to be isolated from him. Then you can begin an endless communion with the most wonderful Person in the universe.

To read more about what this article just talked about, go to the bottom of this link and read the associated articles http://net-burst.net/tough/desert.htm