Sermon Central
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Love God But Live In Sin???
Contributed by Stephen Belokur on Aug 4, 2017 (message contributor)
Summary: Is it possible to truly love God and still live a life of sin? Not an occasional, regrettable sin but a life of consciously and purposefully dwelling in sin.
Please open your Bibles to Genesis 1:11-12, 20-25 which we will read in a few minutes.
As we prepare to read this we hopefully can remember what we learned last week when those following Jesus asked Him:
John 6:28b NIV
“What must we do to do the works God requires?”
In other words, “What do I need to do to make God happy enough so that He’ll let me into heaven.”
And Jesus replied:
John 6:29b NIV
“The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”
God is working on our behalf to draw us to Himself.
Out work is to accept His proposal.
So, if salvation can be found by placing our faith and trust in Jesus apart from works what does the Lord expect from us once we are saved?
With that in mind let’s go ahead and read: Genesis 1:11-12, 20-25
There is a phrase that is repeated over and over in these verses.
That phrase is, “According to their own kind.”
Let’s read the Scripture again and look for that phrase.
This is a law that the Creator put into place.
- When you plant corn you get corn
- When you plant beans you get beans
- When birds mate the hatchlings are birds
- When fish eggs are fertilized the hatchlings are fish
- In the old days before ultrasound imaging was invented, when a woman went into labor the question always was, “it it a boy or a girl?” The question was never, “What is it?” The parents always knew that the baby would be a human baby.
A corn stalks produces corn cobs.
A chicken produces eggs.
A Christian, a son or daughter of God, out of their very nature produce acts of righteousness.
Anyone who is a son or daughter of God, anyone who is saved, lives in righteousness and no longer lives in sin.
That does not mean that a son or daughter of God CANNOT sin it means that living in sin is not what a truly saved person would do or even desire.
So, what does it mean to live in sin?
It means to consciously disobey the known will of God in a way that is a continual, unrepentant part of your life.
You can either live in Christ or you can live in sin, you can’t do both!
The idea that you can love God and live in habitual, unrepentant sin is a lie of satan.
Think of it like this: On the western front in WWI there was a method of fighting called trench warfare. Both sides would dig trenches in which a man could stand. Sometimes these trenches were only a couple of hundred feet from each other.
What if a person decided they wanted to live in both trenches. What if he thought, “I’m going to go back and forth between the trenches and see who’s got the most food or whose trench is drier and if things get too dangerous over there or if I need help of some kind I’ll just head back to my home trench and get the help I need.”
That’s just crazy talk, isn’t it?
That’s like thinking, “Well, I’m saved now but I still like this sin so much that I’m going to continually and repeatedly enjoy this sin until even though I know that God hates sin.
Can we really live in Christ and Christ live in us and then choose to live in rebellion against Jesus Christ?
Two Biblical facts:
God loves you. God hates sin.
When we are saved Christ comes to live within us.
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
If we have been saved, truly saved, we take Jesus with us wherever we go.
How do we know God love us? He tells us so in the Bible! He shows it by His actions.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
How do we know that God hates sin?
Well. He says so …
Proverbs 5:16-19 AMP
“These six things the Lord hates; indeed, seven are repulsive to Him: A proud look [the attitude that makes one overestimate oneself and discount others], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that creates wicked plans, feet that run swiftly to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies [even half-truths], and one who spreads discord (rumors) among brothers.”
