I believe with what you are saying. When God sees us, He sees the blood of Christ. However, if we willfully sin then God will have to discipline us. I do struggle with sin, especially two certain ones, in which I try to run to God with. I have full confidence in approaching God for my struggles but at the same time I like my sin too much. God helps me at times by showing me the power and holiness of Himself as He did with Job. I am truly thankful that God is holy and just because it proves that he is a God that doesn't take anything less than perfection. I am comforted by that. I hate my sinful nature with the deepest of passion and I am thankful that God hates it too. It makes me thankful for Jesus all the more.
However, I do sometimes lose hope that I will ever get over some particular sins in my life and yet at the same time, when I am the lowest of the low when I don't even have any strength left to even pray, God gives me just enough hope to survive. I wish for more though. I want more of Jesus and less of myself. I want it more then water and food. Oh God, I want you, I need you!
Thank you, machew, for caring so much. I am greatly encouraged by what you wrote.
Heb 12:1 'Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.'
We are so caught up as believers that when we sin we have to repent and if we don't repent we think we have some kind of problem with our heart not being right before God. This is what happens, we tell God that we repent of the sin we committed and later we do it again. Then we live in guilt or condemnation and question whether we truly repented with the right motive, because someone told us that if we truly repented we would not do it again.
This verse in Heb 12 is speaking of a sin that besets us. A besetting sin is one that is always around and clings to us like a heavy coat that drags us down and hinders us from running the race. The scriptures are perfectly clear as to what we are to do about this clinging sin. We
'lay it aside' , which means we strip it off and take it off like we would a coat. Laying aside that sin has nothing to do with repenting but just put it off or take it off and hang it up. Don't let that sin do what it is doing to you, don't let it have dominion and weigh you down. Don't put that coat back on because you are running a race.
There is no guilt when you lay it aside, no one has to counsel you about repenting the right way and get you involved in all these mental gymnastics of having the right motive. Have many people have gone to a brother who has a besetting sin and they get all serious and tell them they have to repent or they will have to bring it before the church. That's not wisdom or even intelligent nor does it have any grace in it. All they needed to say to their brother was, 'Hey this thing is weighing you down, making you unhappy, just get rid of it and put it away. Getting sin out of your life should be easy not difficult. Jesus said this in
Mt 11:29,30...
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
He was saying put off the sin that besets you and put on My yoke and learn of Me. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. That sin won't give you rest because it is weighing you down, but you will find rest in Me when you put Me on.
Rom 13:14 'But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.'
Eph 4:24 ' And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.'
Col 3:10 'And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.'
Eph 4:22 'That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.'
Col 3:8,9 ''But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.'
Instead of repenting, we put off the old man and the former conversation and put on Christ and the new man that is renewed and created in the righteousness of God. When we are tempted with sin through the lust of the flesh we put on Christ and that is how we walk in the Spirit, so that we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh / Gal 5:16. When you have a problem with sin, put it off and put on the Lord Jesus Christ for His yoke is easy and His burden is light and you will find rest for your soul. That s a promise from God and e can not lie Titus 1:2.
