Deliberate Sin

 “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left. . .” Hebrews 10:26 (NIV)

    It was one of those moments that, years later, still makes me shake my head. Noah and Lola, both 4 years old, were having a heavy conversation over a lunch of mac ‘n cheese and chocolate milk.

   “Noah, when I’m 10, I’m going to see an R-rated movie,” Lola informed him. Noah immediately answered. “Lola, you can’t see an R-rated movie. If you do you will go to “hail.” But she shook her head “Yes I CAN see an R-rated movie. I won’t go to “hail” if I do.” Noah totally disagreed. “Yes, you will, Lola. You will go straight to “hail” if you see one.”

   The conversation went back and forth for several minutes. Finally, Lola sighed and held up both her hands. “Okay, fine. I’ll go see an R-rated movie and then after it’s over, I’ll ask God to forgive me.” Mercy.

   Obviously, at 4 years of age, Lola had no concept of Hebrews 10:26 but evidently she had heard a conversation somewhere about doing something you know you should not be doing and THEN asking God to forgive you.

   So what does it mean to “deliberately keep on sinning”? I believe it comes down to this: knowing the clear commands of Scripture but choosing to ignore them and do what we want to do instead. Not confessing but continuing our sin; not battling against it but willingly surrendering to it day after day.

   For example, do we focus on loving money to the point that every day is filled with how to obtain more and more wealth? We are told in I Timothy 6:10 that the love of money only leads to all kinds of evil. We know that and yet we continue holding it up as our god. “But we all need money to live!” we declare as we try to justify our sin.

   Or perhaps we are in a sexual relationship outside of our marriage. We know that we are clearly warned in I Corinthians 6:18 to run from sexual immorality and yet we ignore the word of God and continue sinning. “It’s okay because we love each other” or “We are engaged and getting married anyway” we declare as we rationalize our sin.

   Before you say “Yes, but no one is perfect! We all sin!” I completely agree. We all mess up and as Christians, we know our trust and faith are in the only One who died for us and who promises forgiveness when we confess our sins to Him.

   But when we intentionally sin, knowing God’s word is the opposite of what we are doing, we are rejecting the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for each of us.  Jesus became the Ultimate Sacrifice for our sins with His death on the cross. Resolve today, not to deliberately keep on sinning but to deliberately keep on turning to Him for forgiveness and renewal.  

   Father, thank you for your grace and forgiveness. I do not want to ever deliberately sin against you. Help me to stay in your word to seek truth. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

• Can you recall a time in your life when you knew you were deliberately sinning but you didn’t care or repent?

• What was your “justification” for continuing in that sin?

Apply

• Journal anything in your life that you think might be “deliberate sin.” 

• Read through the Word, write Scripture verses that speak to each entry, and then ask the Lord to forgive you and help you begin anew by His grace and mercy.

Power 

• Hebrews 10:26 (NIV) “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left. . .”

• James 4:17 (NIV) “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”

• I John 1:9 (NIV) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”