What keeps a running back from scoring every time he carries the ball? A defensive player, who is always there to throw a block or make a tackle, he is the obstacle to victory. To have victory, one must score, even in life. What prevents victory in our life? Sin is Satan’s obstacle to our victory, however He is defeated and the victory is ours. So, why not accept it, make this New Year really New, and Fresh.
1 Cor. 15:57 - But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sometimes we sin and we don’t even know that we have sinned! We are all sinners.
1 John 1:8-10 - If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
The overall impact of what Jesus is about doesn’t mean much to those who think they are without sin, or for those who do not believe that Christ suffered and died for their sins. The false teachers of Jesus’ day were like this, they believed they were okay right where they were. They denied that sin breaks fellowship with God. They also denied they ever sinned. But all people sin by nature and habit.
Here is a great an awesome truth about sin. When we become a NEW person in Christ by believing, confessing and repenting, our sins will be forgiven, that includes sins of the past, present and even future sins. Because of Christ’s death even future sins are forgiven! How awesome is that? This does not make it open season for sin however, far from it.
Even NEW people in Christ struggle with sin once in a while and must confess those sins. But a NEW person who is in Jesus Christ and who has a change of heart is not a “slave to sin”. There is a difference.
Colossians 3:5-10 - Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[a] You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Most often, confessing our sins to God or to others takes humbleness and honesty on our part. We simply need to recognize our weaknesses in life and work on those areas we are the weakest in. We should never fear revealing our sins to God. When we pray to God about our sins we can do it silently in our heart, we do not have to speak out loud in front of others to be forgiven by God --He hears our heart!
The difference between a sinner who is a slave to sin and the person who may accidentally sin is simply this: to err is to be human, but to continue in that err is to be a slave to it. We become a slave to what has mastered us. If we cannot turn loose from a sin, then its effects will continue to rob and have a grip on us. If we are under sin we are to confess, repent, and ask for God’s forgiveness. We should never fear telling God about our sin(s) because he already knows what we have done, good and bad. He will not push us away no matter what it is we have done.
Romans 6:15-18 - What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Bottom line is every person has a master – either God or sin. Even Bob Dylan sang, Your gonna serve somebody, right? A Christian is not someone who cannot sin, but someone who is no longer a slave to sin because he or she belongs to God (Jesus Christ). They are dead to sin, alive in Jesus Christ.
Starting fresh takes a serious look at where you are at right now. Are you in the will of God? Are you into His word, service, and connected in prayer? Are others’ lives touched by your life for the good of The Kingdom? Do you have assurance of a heavenly eternal dwelling? Is your hope in the Lord or the things of the world?
Who, or what is your master? …
For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 2 Peter 2:19
It’s a terrible thing to be separated from someone we love, however there is no worse tragedy than to be separated from God for all eternity. The sin in our life is like a wedge that Satan drives between us and God. Our life story does not have to be lived or end this way.
Start Fresh this New Year, humble yourself, and allow God to work His stuff.
