Sermon Cloud

When you became a Christian, you died to your old life and were raised, as it were, with Christ to a new kind of life. This is your new life of discipleship in which you follow Christ. But this new life is not automatic. Your life does not automatically start showing the "fruits of the Spirit." When God places the desire in your heart, you still must carry through, take the next step, and do what God has asked you to do. The bad news is that we do not always take this next step; we stumble and fall by doing what God has asked us not to do. The good news is that God is ready to help. We believe that God is our Creator and that he is all-wise and all-good. This means that he determines what is right and what is wrong, and that his judgments are always for our good.

To use a metaphor, God has shown us the middle of the bull's-eye. When we shoot the arrows of our lives and miss the mark, when our attitudes and actions fall short of what God has asked of us, this we call "sin." Sin starts with temptation, with the enticement to miss the mark. But there is good news. Temptation is not sin. Some of the thoughts that flit through your mind are luring you to sin, but they are not sin. You do not have to give in to temptation. God is faithful and has promised to always give us a way to move through the time of temptation without sin. God is on our side. He wants us to gain mastery over temptation and helps us do so. But what should you do if you give in to temptation? Confess; agree with God whole-heartedly that you were wrong and he is right. Practically speaking, we should confess early, confess often, and confess fully. And it is helpful to confess to our Christian brothers and sisters. The power of sin is usually snapped when it is brought into the light. When you do confess, you can be assured that God will fully forgive your sin, no matter how horrible it is and no matter how often you have done it. And when you are forgiven, you are cleansed and can enjoy the freedom that comes only through confession, forgiveness and cleansing.