All sin is sin against God. He has devised the Plan of Salvation in response. This daily devotional reviews God’s response and how He is calling us to respond to sin.
Devotions in the Self-Discipline Review series
All year, we’ve been looking at self-discipline. We looked at self-discipline as the operational plan for self-control because it talked about improvement.
We are reviewing everything and hopefully putting all of the building blocks together. What I am doing is going through all of the devotions for the year and pulling out the nuggets.
I am formatting this as a glossary page. If I already have one, I will combine them later.
We will be looking at these based on how we search for and seek God. In the last devotion, we started looking at the fact that we have sin in our lives, and we need to address it.
God’s Reaction to Sin
- God loves us so much that He didn’t want to be separated from us for eternity. He didn’t want us to face the consequences of sin throughout eternity (The Scriptures Last Forever).
- We need redeemed because Adam and Eve chose not to obey God (What Is Election?).
- We can do nothing to save ourselves. If we do not have Jesus in our lives, we are dead in our sins (Are Disciples to be Docile?).
- God looked for payment for the penalty of sin. That payment had to be made with blood. But not just any blood. It had to be the blood of the Perfect sacrifice (The Scriptures Last Forever).
- We are only saved because Jesus provided salvation from our sins (How Are We Made New Creations?).
- Jesus’ payment for our sins reconciles us to God and restored our relationships with Him (Who Is Jesus as God?).
- Both the Old Testament and New Testament have the same theme – Jesus is the Messiah and Savior sent to save us of our sins. Occurrences point back to things prophesied (Who Wrote the Scriptures?).
- Sin had to be destroyed, and Jesus said He was the Man for the job (What Does It Mean to be Crucified with Christ?).
- Jesus loves us. He will love us as we are. He will love us through our sins — as long as we fear Him. Fear of the Lord means love and revere Him (Who Is Jesus?).
- Sometimes, Jesus has to be the Judge. He has to correct us when we sin (Who Is Jesus as God?).
- God’s call for us to accept Jesus in our lives eliminates the separation that occurred as a consequence of the original sin. As much as we may wonder how He can pardon us from our sins and restore our relationships with Him, He can and does — He wants to do just that (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Wisdom).
- Just knowing about God isn’t enough. We have to admit our sins, believe on Jesus as Redeemer, confess God as Sovereign Lord, and demonstrate that commitment by following our job description (Who Is God?).
- God designed the Plan of Salvation to restore us even before we were created and committed the first sin (Walking the Ways of Righteousness through Wisdom).
See Also
Addressing Sin
- God is quick to point out steps in which we can correct our sins. It isn’t because He wants to point out all of our screw ups. He wants us to deal with them so He can forgive us (What Happens When We Repent?).
- Our relationships with God are damaged when sins are present in our lives. That is why God designed the Plan of Salvation. He wants us restored to Him (What Happens When We Repent?).
- It is difficult, but not impossible, to break the habits of sinning. God calls us to fix what is wrong. In fixing it, we are to change our character to be more like His (What Happens When We Repent?).
Results of Salvation
- When God has forgiven us of our sins and made us spiritually alive again, our rewards are huge. The wealth of this world is dwarfed (Are Disciples to be Docile?).
- We don’t get a free pass on sin just because we are disciples. We have to actively be trying to withstand Satan’s temptations and live in obedience to God (How Do Disciples Mourn?).
- We are all captives to sin. We can also be captive to circumstances (Fulfilling Scriptures).
- We may still be struggling with sin, but God doesn’t expect perfection — here (Characteristics of Disciples’ Lives).
- Are we going to be 100% perfect? No, we are still in these sinful bodies. We make a choice to be faithful, to be virtuous (Faith as a Virtue).
See Also
Our Response to Sin
- Instead of being complacent with sin, we have to cry out (mourn) when we consider we our sins, be genuinely deeply sorry for committing them, and are burdened because we know we will continue to sin while we are here on this earth (How Do Disciples Mourn?).
- God doesn’t want us to feel like such failures that we give up. There is only one sin that He can’t forgive — and that is unbelief (How Do Disciples Crave Righteousness?).
- We see ourselves as broken. We see our flaws and sins. We see where we fall short — and don’t think that will ever change. We don’t see ourselves as God does — perfected (How Does Boldness Help Consistency?).
- We should approach God in humility. We have to realize we are sinners — even sinners saved by grace (What Is Piety?).
- Repentance is giving up that sin because, even though it may be pleasurable to us, it is against God’s Will (What Is Piety?).
- Reading God’s Word helps pinpoint the sin we have in our lives. It tells us how to avoid it. When we diligently read the Scriptures, we leave less of an opening for sin to take hold (Why Should We Study Scriptures?).
- Part of the issue with sin is that we want it to stay hidden. God works to bring that sin out into the light so we can work to eliminate it. There is no compromise there (The Battle between Flesh and Spirit).
- God doesn’t want us to flirt on the edge on sin. He doesn’t want us to figure out how close we can get without falling (Focus on Love, not Evil).
- Paul knew that, as soon as we start justifying the sin and quantifying it, we are on the downhill slide to full out committing the sin (Focus on Love, not Evil).
- We can’t see salvation as a license to sin. “Well, I mostly get it right, so God is going to ignore this sin.” Doesn’t work that way (What Is Obedience?).
- If we choose not to believe — or make the choice by not making the choice — we will pay the consequences of our sins (Getting Obedience to the Heart Level).
- How do we know what sin is? We read God’s Word. It helps pinpoint the sin we have in our lives. It tells us how to avoid it (Why Should We Study Scriptures?).
- Because we continue to sin, we have to pray every day for forgiveness. Since we have to choose every day to obey God, we have the opportunity to sin daily. While the initial forgives of our sins changes us from spiritually dead to spiritually alive, it isn’t a once and done for subsequent sins (What Is the Relationship Between Righteousness and Obedience?).
- Then we have to turn away from the sin. We can’t keep giving in to temptation. Being a child of God does not give us license to go on willfully sinning (How Can We Heal This Land?).
- We are righteous because we are free from sin by following God’s moral laws (How Is Wisdom Righteous?).
- We are still going to sin. But repentance changes our character and lifestyle. We are trying not to sin (A Sincere Acceptance of Salvation).
- Denying that we sin is not repentance. Asking God for salvation without changing our character and lifestyle is not repentance. Picking and choosing which of God’s laws and commandments we are going to obey — and which we are going to continue to break — is not repentance (A Sincere Acceptance of Salvation).
- We have to change our character so that we live our lives according to how He calls us. We are to turn away from our sinful nature and be transformed into a spiritual nature, so we can be like God (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Holiness).
- Being sanctified means we don’t have to feel guilty about previous sins. God has forgiven us and set us on a new path (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Sanctification).
- Disciples must remain alert to keep on guard, so we don’t sin. We are to watch for Jesus’ return, not knowing when that will be (Are Disciples to be Proactive or Reactive?).
- If we avoid sinners, we can’t witness to them (The Way of Wisdom).
- We should regret that we have offended God. He is Creator and is all powerful. We should be listening to Him, not doing the opposite. This sadness, pain, grief, and regret should cause us to repent of the sins we have committed (How Do Disciples Mourn?).
God’s Provision for Sin
- We can boldly approach God because Jesus paid the price for our sins. We can only approach Him through Jesus (How Does Boldness Help Consistency?).
- Jesus shed His blood so that our sins could be forgiven. He deserves the glory and honor (The Promises of Jesus’ Return).
- Jesus’ blood was the atonement for our sins. He paid the penalty for our sins because we couldn’t. Only through this substitution can our sins be forgiven (What is the Tribulation?).
- Jesus was always going to be our Savior because sin was always going to enter the world (What Happens in the Middle of the Tribulation?).
- Jesus was given the opportunity to sin — but He didn’t (Why Jesus Became a Man).
- Jesus earned His kingdom by being God’s Son and by being the Sacrifice for our sins (Conversations with a King).
- Jesus’ whole ministry spoke to accomplishing this work in a holy and righteous way. He never deviated from what He said and how He acted. He came to deliver us from the consequences of our sins (Fulfilling Scriptures).
- If we look at it another way, we were all born into bondage. We were all born into the bondage of sin. The gospel frees us. Jesus has redeemed us and freed us from the consequences of sin (An Unjust World).
- If we had been good boys and girls and always been obedient, Christ would not have had to pay the penalty for our sins. We weren’t — He did (What Is the Relationship Between Righteousness and Obedience?).
Satan’s Response to Sin
- Can’t we as disciples see others today falling into sin’s trap because it is a mystery, unseen, and unknown? That is Satan at his best — subtly manipulating us to turn away from God and sin (What Happens to the Antichrist?).
- The Antichrist will be the champion of all sin. He is going to commit and endorse all forms and types of sin (Who Is the Antichrist?).
- Satan and the Antichrist will be defeated. Sin will be abolished. God will be victorious in the end (What Happens to the Antichrist?).
- Part of the problem is that sin is never going to raise the white flag. Satan is never going to admit defeat. He is never going to give up (The Battle between Flesh and Spirit).
- Satan is always going to try to convince us that sin isn’t sin. He is going to do everything in his power to get us to not follow God (The Lenient Judgment of Others).
New Nuggets
- Once sin has been forgiven by God, it manifests itself through justice and love in our lives.
- Sometimes, we think that, if we are living for God, we won’t have to worry about struggling with sin. Oh, no. That is when Satan is going to have us in the bull’s eye.
- We are born sinners because we are descendants of Adam. We must ABCD to become a saint.
Father God. Because of Your great love for us and through Your grace, You have designed the Plan of Salvation to restore our relationships with You. To do that, You had to address our sin. Thank You. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.
Pingback: God’s Love: A Key to His Character – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Love: It Is Important – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Faith: After Salvation – Seeking God with Elaine