One More Sin and I Will Repent?
Many times,
we Christians take God’s mercy for granted who deliberately and willfully commit
one more sin with the hope of repenting and reconciling with God again after
committing that sin. It is a dangerous decision to take that can cost one his
salvation and eternity.
Romans 6:1-2 says, ‘what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Hebrews 10:26-29 & 31 says:
V 26) ‘if we sin willfully after that we have
received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins
V27) But a certain fearful looking
for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries
V28) He that despised Moses’ law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses:
V29) Of how much sorer punishment,
suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who had trodden underfoot the Son of
God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherein he was sanctified, an
unholy thing, and hath insulted the Spirit of grace?
V31) it is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God.’
Sin is a
transgression of the law of God (1 John 3:4). To transgress means to disobey,
to commit iniquity, to violate or to go against the rule.
God is a
Holy God and His angels and heaven and everything about his kingdom is holy. He
cannot condone sin in any form. No sinner or anything unclean will be allowed
into His kingdom. Though God hates sin, He loves the sinner as He is not
willing that he die but come to Him in repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
The one sin
that was committed in the Garden of Eden brought the whole human race under the
present curse (Genesis 2:19) and through that one sin, death came into the
world and all men automatically are born sinners into the world. That one sin
in the Garden of Eden is what we, the generations and descendants of Adam have
been battling with to the present day and will continue till Christ’s Second
Coming. Sin has devastating consequences.
One sin
committed by one man in Joshua 7 caused God to turn away His face from a whole
nation. That was when Achan coveted and took an accursed object which he hid in
his tent. As a result of God withdrawing His support for Israel, the nation was
defeated in battle by a much smaller nation, the city of Ai, and it was their
first military defeat since they left Egypt. Achan and his whole family and
livestock had to be destroyed before God could restore His presence to Israel.
Isaiah 59:1-2 says, ‘God’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy
that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your
God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear.’
Sin makes
God to withdraw His presence from man. One sin, a single sin has the same
effect as committing all sins (James 2:9-10). Any sin, small or large will damn
the soul of the sinner regardless of His claims to salvation because God is not
a respecter of persons.
Grace, love and mercy do not license anyone to sin or
to free him from responsibility for sin. That you are a child of God today does
not mean that your eternity with Christ is guaranteed and cannot be lost.
Anyone who was once saved can also be damned if he looks back (Luke 9:62).
Examples of men who fell from grace based on one sin
1.
Lucifer:
He was an
archangel in heaven who was created sinless but with the capacity to sin based
on choice, but who walked perfectly until he sinned (Ezekiel 28:11-17). His one
sin was pride which caused him to fall out of favour, was thrown out of heaven
and is doomed to eternal destruction in the Lake of Fire ( Revelations 20:10).
2.
The Fallen Angels:
During Lucifer’s
rebellion which caused a war in heaven, one third of the angels in heaven
followed him. They lost the battle and were cast out of heaven along with their
master, Lucifer, now known as Satan, the Devil. They were previously among the
Holy Angels in heaven that were referred to as the Sons of God in Genesis
6:1-4; Job 1:6; Job 2:1 and 38:4-7. When they sinned, their position as the
Sons of God could not save them and were ejected from heaven and are doomed to
eternal destruction too.
3.
Adam & Eve:
They were
also created without sin but with the capacity for sin based on free will. Adam
was also a Son of God (Luke 3:38). He had fellowship with God who visited him
in the Garden. The fellowship was truncated the day he sinned by eating of the
forbidden fruit. Through one sin, they fell from grace and lost the eternal
life that would have been theirs if they had not sinned (Genesis 2:17) (Genesis
3:1-19) (Romans 5:12-21) (2 Corinthians 11:3). His sonship
did not guarantee him eternal life when he sinned. God has promised to punish
any angel or man who commits any sin regardless of sonship or relationship.
4.
King Saul:
He also fell
from grace and favour through one sin. He was the first King of Israel after
the era of the Judges. He received a new heart and the Holy Spirit (1 Samuel
10:9-13) (1 Samuel 10:21-24). When this King backslided he lost the Spirit of God in his life.
Eventually he died as an accursed person (1 Samuel 16:14) (1 Samuel 31:1-6).
5.
Ananias & Sapphira
This couple
was among the first group of New Testament believers in the early church who
received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They were saved and in one accord with
the church until they agreed to lie to the Holy Spirit and were killed (Acts
4:32 – Acts 5:11). It was one sin that took Ananias and Sapphira to eternal
destruction in Hell.
6.
Judas Iscariot
He was one
of the Disciples of Christ and a familiar friend of Jesus (Psalm 41:9). His
name was once written in the Lamb’s book of life (Acts 1:20) (Psalms 69:25-28).
He had a part in the apostolic ministry (Acts 1:17-25); had the power to heal
and cast out unclean spirits (Matthew 10:1-4), and was also a preacher (Matthew
10:7). He had the Spirit of God in him (Matthew 10:19-20) and was divinely
called to work for God (Luke 6:13).
Judas fell
by sin from his apostolic ministry. He had been committing sin until he
committed one more sin that condemned him. He was not actually an agent of the
Devil from the beginning. But Satan entered into Judas Iscariot towards the end
of Christ’s ministry and he backslid into eternal condemnation.
7.
Moses
One sin,
anger was the reason why God forbade him from entering the Promised Land
despite his great anointing and accomplishments in the struggle and efforts to
lead the stubborn Jews from Egypt to Canaan.
8.
Gehazi
One sin,
covetousness brought the curse of leprosy upon him and his generations forever.
He would have been among the greatest prophets if he sought for the double
anointing of his master. That he was the servant to a great prophet of God did
not spare him from condemnation.
9.
King David
Described as
a man after God’s heart, one sin, the sin of adultery which led him to commit
murder brought the curse of the sword into his house. He served God with a
perfect heart but the day he sinned, God did not spare him from punishment
though he repented.
God is a
merciful God but His mercy is not to be taken for granted. Exodus 33:19 says, ‘…, and will show mercy on whom I will show
mercy.’ Here, God makes it clear that no act of grace or mercy is merited
by any man, but that His own will is the basis of His blessings to men. Men do
not receive God’s mercy simply because they will it to be, but because God is
good, gracious and merciful. However, His mercy is based on His own free
choices though it is His will that men be blessed.
If you think
you can commit one more sin deliberately and willfully and repent later, it
could be that one sin that would take you to eternity in Hell. I heard from an
authoritative source the tragic ending of one Nigerian Christian woman who renounced her
faith in Jesus Christ and died immediately after the third denial.
She was
described as a faithful and devoted Christian woman but was childless. Then
someone took her to consult a dark power who assured her that she would have a
child but on condition that she renounce her faith in Christ three times. The
moment she renounced Jesus Christ for the third time as directed, she fell down
at the feet of the dark power and gave up the ghost. One more sin cost her her salvation and eternity!
God is
merciful, so merciful that He sacrificed His Only Son, Jesus Christ for our
salvation. He assures us in 1 John 1:9 that He will forgive us all our sins if
we confess them before Him. In Isaiah 1:18, we have further assurances of
forgiveness for our sins, no matter how grievous they are. And Exodus 34:6
describes God as being merciful and gracious and willing to forgive iniquity
and transgressions.
Exodus 33:19 says that God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. This means
that He is sovereign in His application of mercy and does everything out of His
free choices, not because man wills it to be. He is gracious and merciful to
all those who turn to Him for salvation but will not force His grace and mercy
on anyone. But He is also a God of Judgment (Isaiah 30:18).
What is the one more sin you are willing to commit? Beware! It may land you in hell.Strive to be obedient and stay obedient and do not risk it taking His mercies for granted!
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