“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will
not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before
the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.” - 1 John 2:1 New Living Translation
During the course of my 38 year walk with Christ I have encountered
some Christians who firmly belief that if you sin after redemption you were not
really saved. I don’t believe you will find that in scripture. Once we are
saved you are forgiven, but are not perfect. In fact, we will continue to sin;
however, to a lesser and lesser extent as we grow and mature by the grace of
God. The Apostle John, knowing how hard the Christian life can tend to be,
writes his letter in an effort to keep the followers of Christ from sinning
against God. It’s as if he is saying: I’d rather you didn’t sin, but knowing
the way life is, if you do happen to sin you have someone who will readily
intercede for you before Almighty God.
An
intercessor is one who pleads your case; who acts as a mediator, a lawyer in a
manner of speaking. Jesus Christ, who is wholly perfect and truly righteous,
stands before God the Father to represent us regarding our indiscretion.
This
is incredible news for the believer. Even though we are told to imitate Christ
in our daily lives, there comes a time in every believer’s life when we slip up
and say or do something we know we ought not say or do. This mistake will not
usher us off to hell. If we are serious about our walk with the Lord, the Holy
Spirit, who resides within us, will gently prod us that we might feel guilt and
remorse for our sin. That is designed to
lead us to repent and receive forgiveness with the idea that we will not say or
do that thing again. Even if we do, God will forgive us if we ask for it. You
see, forgiveness isn’t some large blanket that is dropped by God over all of
mankind, it is something that must be sought and then received. It is a gift,
but unless a gift is accepted and opened, it cannot be utilized. So try to avoid sinning, but if you fall into
a trap of your own making, stand up, seek God’s face and receive your
cleansing. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!
Resource: The Life Application Study Bible.
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