Hi there,
So for all you backsliders out there, consider for a moment what you are really losing, when it comes to the Lord and sin. You are not surprising God, in turning from one sin to another and forgetting Him. There is no point at which God says "I have been mindful of sin, but now as the Son, I will not be". No! The Lord Jesus grows more sensitive to sin, more precise in His resistance to specific sins, than He was before. He knows what it was that tempted you to begin with, and how the Devil has made it worse - those works (of the Devil) can be destroyed. If you have followed Christ at all, you have lost nothing!
This is the marvel, of faith in the Holy Spirit, the old way is remembered no more, the new way on the other hand, grows all the newer - there is no way to be a "little" sensitive to sin and still prosper in the Spirit: we must wait on the Holy Spirit as we always do. In doing this we become familiar with sins, sins we did not even know we had, in the beginning! God calls this progress! By confessing that sin has got out of control, we are confessing what sin is: a lack of faith. If then we confess, the more acutely lacking faith becomes, do we not overcome a multitude of sins, we never would have, had we known or stayed as we were?
That is what Heaven is rejoicing over! Is this faithful one not greater again, than those that came before him? That's what they say! Will the sins of this one, not win greater again, than the Devil could have, had he had his way? That's what they wonder! The Great White Throne Judgment, brings out everything in the light of Christ's ever growing sensitivity to sin, even sins that were only just becoming popular (towards the end) can be overcome in the light of this throne - there is a place for confession of sin, that will never be taken away from this throne. What that means is, it is possible to make up for lost time, even as a backslider - what that means is, it is always possible to make up for lost time, even as worse than a backslider, as you imagine yourself.
We can do this! I myself have come back, from leaving Church to attending every week - and in the eyes of Heaven, that is better than if I had always attended, because now, like Christ, I am more sensitive to the wrong that it is, not to rest on the Sabbaoth. Christ continues to draw me to Church, but He does not do so as though it was wrong of me ever to desist - the sin and the wrong have parted ways, I may sin, but Christ does not bring it up, I may confess, but God does not forgive unless He hears it from the heart. In this then, the Holy Spirit keeps me honest: now that I know even more than I did that sin is wrong (sin of not attending, or whatever), I am expected to cleave even more in repentance, to Him - to seek Wisdom, that I put my past sins behind me, no matter how long it has been. This is an abounding reason for celebration, to God!
Oh Lord that I rejoice in your kingdom to come, forgive me now!
I hope this has been an encouragement.
So for all you backsliders out there, consider for a moment what you are really losing, when it comes to the Lord and sin. You are not surprising God, in turning from one sin to another and forgetting Him. There is no point at which God says "I have been mindful of sin, but now as the Son, I will not be". No! The Lord Jesus grows more sensitive to sin, more precise in His resistance to specific sins, than He was before. He knows what it was that tempted you to begin with, and how the Devil has made it worse - those works (of the Devil) can be destroyed. If you have followed Christ at all, you have lost nothing!
This is the marvel, of faith in the Holy Spirit, the old way is remembered no more, the new way on the other hand, grows all the newer - there is no way to be a "little" sensitive to sin and still prosper in the Spirit: we must wait on the Holy Spirit as we always do. In doing this we become familiar with sins, sins we did not even know we had, in the beginning! God calls this progress! By confessing that sin has got out of control, we are confessing what sin is: a lack of faith. If then we confess, the more acutely lacking faith becomes, do we not overcome a multitude of sins, we never would have, had we known or stayed as we were?
That is what Heaven is rejoicing over! Is this faithful one not greater again, than those that came before him? That's what they say! Will the sins of this one, not win greater again, than the Devil could have, had he had his way? That's what they wonder! The Great White Throne Judgment, brings out everything in the light of Christ's ever growing sensitivity to sin, even sins that were only just becoming popular (towards the end) can be overcome in the light of this throne - there is a place for confession of sin, that will never be taken away from this throne. What that means is, it is possible to make up for lost time, even as a backslider - what that means is, it is always possible to make up for lost time, even as worse than a backslider, as you imagine yourself.
We can do this! I myself have come back, from leaving Church to attending every week - and in the eyes of Heaven, that is better than if I had always attended, because now, like Christ, I am more sensitive to the wrong that it is, not to rest on the Sabbaoth. Christ continues to draw me to Church, but He does not do so as though it was wrong of me ever to desist - the sin and the wrong have parted ways, I may sin, but Christ does not bring it up, I may confess, but God does not forgive unless He hears it from the heart. In this then, the Holy Spirit keeps me honest: now that I know even more than I did that sin is wrong (sin of not attending, or whatever), I am expected to cleave even more in repentance, to Him - to seek Wisdom, that I put my past sins behind me, no matter how long it has been. This is an abounding reason for celebration, to God!
Oh Lord that I rejoice in your kingdom to come, forgive me now!
I hope this has been an encouragement.
