I Sinned...Now What?

I Sinned...Now What?
Part 1: Introduction and Conviction

The theological term for the process of becoming more like Christ is called sanctification, and it is a concept that seems to be experiencing somewhat of a revival among Christians. A quick look around your local Christian bookstore or online will reveal thousands of books, sermons, and teachings resources that give techniques and strategies about avoiding, hating, and eliminating sin in the Christian life. I have access to plenty of information and techniques to avoid sin as I live my new life in Christ. But what if I sin anyway?

Christians have historically been very bad at answering this question. In the early church, a book called the Shepherd of Hermas heretically seems to imply that believers can only be forgiven for continued sin once after they’re baptized. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, believed that Christians could actually obtain perfection and never sin again. There is staggeringly little honest teaching throughout Christendom on the personal continual battle with indwelling sin, especially in regards to failure. However, the Bible does address this issue and it is good to sort through it and be reminded of the truth. The Apostle Peter says, “Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder” (2 Peter 1:12-13). So let us be stirred up by way of reminder to continue our fight with sin both during and following failure.

Now What?
So what is the biblical response for Christians who struggle with sin? It can be outlined as the following: feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit, repenting, confessing, accepting forgiveness, and resolving to continue the fight. This first blog will explore the first step, conviction of the Holy Spirit, addressing the rest of the topics in subsequent blogs.
Feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit

Depending on the sin committed and the person’s personality, the effects of sin can feel like an instant rollercoaster ride of confession, doubt, passivity, and guilt. People seem to have one of three immediate major reactions to sin: condemnation, passivity or conviction.
Condemnation
We’ve all been in the horrible place of condemnation and guilt after we’ve sinned. It can feel overwhelming; some of us may have even questioned our salvation. Are all those promises in the bible of change and new desires just wishful thinking? You may feel the strong impression or hear a voice that tells you, “You’re a hypocrite; you haven’t changed at all! God’s won’t ever forgive you!” Satan and demons helped along by our flesh (the old self) desperately desire to glorify themselves over God by having us believe their version of reality. In the book of revelation John has a vision that describes Satan’s constant accusations against those who believe in Christ for their righteousness:
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.” (Revelation 12:10).
The truth is that apart from the glorious grace of God the Father demonstrated in the cross of Jesus Christ, Satan’s accusations would be completely and totally right! But thanks be to God that, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). So we no longer need to listen to or submit to the accusations of Satan because we’re freed from condemnation to delight ourselves in God’s lavish grace. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12).
Passivity
Another reaction is nothing at all. You’ve just sinned and you’re not deeply affected. You don’t feel guilt or sorrow or anything. You’ve become numb to it. Perhaps you’ve just completely submitted to a particular sin or perhaps you’ve taken the time and energy to do the mental gymnastics to justify it in your own mind. Right after you have sinned grievously, does your mental defense attorney flood your mind with countless justifying arguments in order to alleviate you from any real emotion? If this is you, pray that God would give you eyes to look outside of yourself because the supreme, authoritative, sovereign God has declared you trapped in your own self-deception: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us… If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10). So, if you find yourself completely checked out from any spiritual battle or just simply justifying your actions and continued (unchecked) habitual sin, wake up brother! You’re deceiving yourself and calling God a lair by doing nothing and conforming to the pattern of this world. There is no such thing as inactivity in a spiritual sense; you’re either making war on your sins or, even by passivity, being conquered by it and conformed more and more into the exact image of God’s enemy. Wake up brother or sister! Wake up! Work and school and friends and family and church – it’s all a spiritual battleground and you may be so self-deceived you can’t even see that spiritually you’re horribly wounded and bleeding out fast. My prayer is that God would grant you the great gift of deep conviction by His Spirit so that you would not be another number in the growing body count of the spiritual dead.
Conviction
The third possible response our sin is conviction. Conviction is evidence of the objective working of God the Holy Spirit in the heart of a believer. Jesus tells us that the outworking of the Spirit’s ministry is His ability to take the fullness and weightiness of the Gospel and gently bring it to bear on our rebellious hearts. This includes after we’ve sinned: “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). God the Holy Spirit isn’t a pseudo-new age “force” but the indwelling presence of God himself within the Christian. God the Spirit makes his residence within the true Christian convicting us of sin and reminding us of Christ’s prefect righteousness, which we have access to through faith. The conviction brought by the Holy Spirit over sin motives Christians towards repentance, which we will discuss in Part 2 of this blog series.