Thursday, March 12, 2020

Sinning Willfully and Sinning Repetitively

Sinning willfully is knowing between right and wrong and choosing to do wrong. It's sinning against one's knowledge of the truth. You can read about willful sin in Hebrews 6:4-6 and Hebrews 10:26-29. That speaks about someone who is given all the power of heaven to live for God and resist the temptations of the devil but takes the bait and commits sin anyway. There is no guarantee for that person of being able to return to the way of righteousness, which is the way of salvation (cf. 2 Peter 2:20-22).

Sinning repetitively (or habitually) is also willful if someone has not made up his mind to turn away from sin, stop following sin, and instead deny himself, take up his cross to start following Jesus (Mark 8:34). It's being still in rebellion to God, not having repented (James 4:6-10), so not knowing the truth that saves either (1 Timothy 2:1-4, John 8:31-36). It's a symptom of living under the power of sin still (contradiction with Romans 6:14), not having been set free from bondage to sin or saved by the grace of God:

Titus 2:11-14
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all people, 12 instructing us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age; 13 looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ; 14 who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.

Romans 6:12-16
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts (desires). 13 Neither present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace. 15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? Absolutely not. 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, whether of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?


 
 







No comments:

Post a Comment