If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
Our Heavenly Father is so gracious, forgiveness is always there waiting for you. Yet, forgiveness always hinges on one critical aspect, acknowledging your sin to God, and asking Him for forgiveness, (Isaiah 1:18, Acts 3:19).
Without these components, God will not forgive you.
We cannot do as verses 8 and 10, and “Say that we have no sin”, otherwise, “We deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Even worse, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
Sin Creeps In…
Though God’s Word is firm and clear on sinful behaviors… These days, good-hearted Christians are persuaded to give a little. Sometimes they are even taught a little, to accept a lifestyle contrary to God.
However, it’s never sold that way. It’s always sold through the concept of “love and acceptance of others”.
This is how sin creeps into our life. Even if we do not engage in the sin ourselves, Christians cannot support the sin. Otherwise, we promote sinful behaviors that creep into our hearts, into our families, and church houses.
Ancient Israel’s Sin
This all reminds me of the foolish ancient Israelites, a people God chose above all others, who failed God above all others, (Deuteronomy 7:6, 10:15).
When God brought Abraham to Canaan, he said his children would inherit the land, (Genesis 15:18). Hundreds of years would pass, and the Israelites finally obtained the inheritance.
Yet, God had one stipulation. Kill everyone in the land. Not a soul was to remain alive in the greater land of Canaan. The Israelites could make peace with distant neighbors, or conquer them and take their women and children for their own, but for the land of Canaan, everyone was to perish, (Deuteronomy 20:10-17).
Regardless, God promised the Israelites, He would be with them in battle, and they would always be victorious, (Deuteronomy 20:1-4).
This may seem harsh to you, but God had good reason, there were Giants, and other wicked people living in the land of Canaan, (Genesis 15:19-21, Deuteronomy 7:1-2). So God wanted them all eradicated, the Israelites were not to become their neighbors.
Do you know why?
It’s pretty simple.
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That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 20:18
God did not want the Israelites corrupted by the wicked sinners around them. God knew, if these people remained in the land with the Israelites, His people would become corrupted as well. It’s easy to see why. The Israelites would make friends with them, enjoy trade, and so on.
Upon their entry to Canaan, the foolish Israelites made friends with the inhabitants of the land. This friendship was founded through deception. Nevertheless, Joshua and the Israelites fell for the trap by not consulting God, (Joshua 9). That was quite literally the beginning of Israel’s downfall, even before their foundation.
While the Israelites enjoyed many good years, they always managed to fall away from God due to worshipping the false gods they learned about from the inhabitants of the land.
Then, the Israelites crawled to God when He punished them for their sin. This happened over and over again, and do you know why?
Israel made peace and friendships with horrid sinners who overtook what was supposed to be a righteous people. Over and over again, Israel came to accept the false gods around them, and reject the only True God that had ever been with them.
That sums up Israel’s entire history. The wicked inhabitants of the land had become a snare to Israel, just as God had warned, (Deuteronomy 7:16).
Israel could have been the greatest nation on earth, they had God by their side, and they were guaranteed victory.
Yet, they did not listen to God’s simple instructions. Instead, the Israelites welcomed sin into their camps by not exterminating it, and allowing wicked sinners to become, their neighbors, (Joshua 16:10).
Sin Creeps In… As We Allow It
Don’t shake your head at their reckless disregard of God’s instruction.
I drew this example for you to reflect on today. Take a look at our nation my friends.
- Are we or any other (once) God-fearing nation any different?
- Are our families any different?
- How often do we make excuses for sin?
Many good-hearted Christians tune into sinful television programming (without realizing it), we send our children to schools promoting sinful behavior, we purchase products from sinful companies. Through this, we become conditioned to certain sins, and we are told these sins are okay. In many cases, by our own pastors.
All because, just like the Israelites long ago, we did not aggressively destroy the sin from our presence. Instead, we listened to the sin convince us, the sin was not a sin at all, and soon after, we embraced the sin, and were corrupted by it.