While asking for and receiving God’s forgiveness when we sin is a great privilege, Christian Israelites believe the greater freedom is to work towards not sinning at all and to thereby become more and more like Jesus Christ – without blemish and able to dwell more and more deeply in God’s presence. To enable us to do this, God provided us not only with Jesus Christ, but the Holy Spirit:
‘I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.’ Galatians 5:16.
‘For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.’ Romans 8:13 (emphasis added. See also verses 8:10).
However, this is a life-long journey and we all fall short from time-to-time. While we are told to keep working towards perfection (Matthew 5:48), God provides us with forgiveness for when we fail and a promise that we don’t have to live condemned for our mistakes:
‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.’ Romans 8:1.
‘But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.’ Romans 5:20.
‘In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.’ Ephesians 1:7.
The first step in overcoming sin is to acknowledge our sins through repentance and confession to God (as David did in Psalm 51) and, where necessary, to others:
‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.’ 1 John 1:9.
Confession is an important part of being freed from sin as it allows it to be brought out into the light, rather than hiding it, for as Jesus Christ said, it’s the truth that makes us free (John 8:32).
We then need to receive God’s forgiveness and refuse to listen to Satan if he continues to cause thoughts or feelings of condemnation within us. These are lies; the truth is we are made anew, as if we had never sinned:
‘Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.’ Isaiah 1:18.
Once we have done this, we can then begin to work towards stopping the cycle of sin altogether.
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