My good friend Jennifer often says, “It’s easier to say, “I’m sorry” than it is to say, “Will you forgive me?” And upon first hearing her say this, I instinctively knew this was correct, but it’s only been in the years following, as I’ ’ e reflected on it more, have I understood why.
Saying “I’m sorry,” to another invites forgiveness, but in an indirect way. You aren’t asking for anything in return, you simply state the posture (hopefully) of your heart as you recognize you have hurt another and have done them wrong. But asking them to respond by asking, “Will you forgive me?” puts you in a vulnerable position, knowing there may very well be rejection at the end of the answer to your question.
Perhaps this is why our repentance to God is often temporary . . . because we know the answer will always be,
“Yes, I forgive you.” It’s far too easy to take advantage of God’s unending grace and mercy. Even before we step into our sin, we might find ourselves saying, “Well, I know God will forgive me, so. . . .”
The ellipsis (the . . . .) is important here, I think. Here is why:
Deliberate sin is perilous to the soul.
What do I mean by this?
If we view our life in Christ as one of “sin = punishment” we are not living a life of grace. But we also take advantage of that grace, and recognize that we have no eternal punishment, only earthly consequences. And when the earthy consequences don’t seem that bad, it’s easy to give in to the sin.
Our choice to sin or not should be made with these questions in our mind: Is this what God deserves? Is this honoring to him? And when wrestling with why repentance only lasts for a time, it’s wise to ask, Do I love him above my own sin? And going even deeper into our heart motives: If I did love him more than my sin, wouldn’t I always choose him over it?
The answer to the last question feels like it should be “yes.” But it’s not, because it doesn’t take into account the Fall.
When Adam and Eve brought sin into the world – the time we call “The Fall” in Scripture – we became so broken that our hearts would always choose sin over obedience. Thankfully, that is not the end of the story, because Christ’s sacrifice on the cross means we are now free to resist that sin.
“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.” -Romans 8:1-3 (New Living Translation)
Because of what Christ did, we no longer have the same relationship with sin we once did. As a disciple of Christ, we are no longer captive to sin. But sin is still very present in our hearts and in the world around us. The Fall broke us; Jesus reconciled us. But sin didn’t disappear, nor did the temptation to sin disappear. God just made it so we could fight off the desire to sin with the help of the Holy Spirit. Our new self has a choice in the matter and yet we still give in to sin. So our repentance is often temporary, taking advantage of God’s grace and forgiveness.
This is why deliberate sin is perilous to our soul. Because it comes too dangerously close to the mindset of, ‘The devil made me do it,’ instead of the mindset that says, “Jesus can overcome it.”
So we have a bit of a conundrum, just like much of the Christian life. The “already/not yet;” the “sinner/saint;” the
God’s sovereignty/our responsibility;” the “faith/works;” – all these antimonies (unresolvable tensions) exist in the Christian faith. This is not what is perilous to our soul.
What is perilous to our soul is deliberately choosing to sin when Jesus gives us the power not to. It’s choosing to be the sinner when Jesus has already declared us saints. In Christ, Pastor Stephanie
