Even the most mature person can harbor unconscious
sin, "Who can say, I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without
sin?" Prov. 20:9. We know about Paul where he laments about how he knows the
right thing to do, yet he continues to do the wrong thing, time and time again
(Romans 7:15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do,
that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do). Well before this
point in history Paul declared that God commands all persons to repentance for
the time is coming where He will return and we should be consciously aware of
our spiritual condition and continual repentant state of mind and heart (Acts
17:30-31 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all
men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will
judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given
assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”).
The question may arise, “But, haven't I been covered in the
blood and therefore ready for the time when Christ returns, and if so, why must
I continue to live in a repentant state?”
“Covered in the blood — 1 Corinthians 11:25
Now, the topic of faith; as related to whether or not an
ongoing repentant heart is a requirement for continued holiness and salvation,
rears its head often. We must have no fear when discussing the topic of sin. We
must strive to maintain a Holy mind of Christ, the place where we dwell the
most; inside our soul, that place where it can get rather mucked up and dirty. We
can have a difficult time handling disorder and uncleanliness, a trait that can
become quite a burden as we look around at the life we live and try to control
from time to time. If we are to live a life fully alive, we must come to realize
and accept the fact that we do not control much of anything, yet as man and
women of Faith, and of the flesh, we fail and attempt to control people
and things we really have no business interfering with.
This conflict is a direct result of the Spirit of the Lord,
we would do well to remember that where Jesus is tension will come. In other
words, our moral compass is directing us inward to see where all the dirt lies,
showing us what we must clean up in order to feel peace and be awarded that
rest which is spoken of in Scriptures (Exodus 33:14 And he said, “My presence
will go with you, and I will give you rest.” also Jeremiah 31:25 “For I will
satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish”).
As we read the word replenish while in a conversation about
repentance, we can begin to understand this state of being “replenished” when
we associate a condition of being in the mindful state of Christ which requires
us to empty ourselves of self. We do this by asking God to forgive us of our sins
and we specifically address our sins and admit them before our Father at the
same time we are desiring to be filled with His presence. In fact, we should be
pleading with God that He be gracious enough to allow the presence of the Holy
Spirit to dwell within us. Our weary minds and souls require rest, and rest is
a reward where we can be satisfied when we empty ourselves of the burdens of
our sins, the conscious and unconscious sins. Circling back to the
question posed previously, since we are covered in the blood and therefore
forgiven, why must we be continually repentant? Hasn't Jesus forgiven our sins
once and for all?
This leads us back to the topic of faith and repentance,
when we lift up my eyes and declare that Christ is alive, we automatically assume
a responsibility to learn how to control our soul. You see, when we accept the
fact that Christ is alive and ask the Holy Spirit to take up residence inside
of us, we become, shall we say, stewards - slaves, to the Lord who so
graciously allows us to dwell in His presence both physically and soulfully. In
turn we must be able to see with clear sight as revealed to us in the Holy
Scriptures, that the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside of us and “dwells”
within us (see 1 Cor. 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and
that the Spirit of God dwells in you?, 2 Cor. 6:16 And what agreement has the
temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has
said, Ezekiel 36:27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My
statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them, Tim 1:14 That good thing
which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us).
“The Indwelling — 2 Timothy 1:14
Our new tenant requires our love and attention. We were gifted this tenant when we responded
to the message and call of Christ, meaning we first believe that Christ is
alive and we are truly sorry for the bad things we have done in our lives. We
have been transformed and no longer can fathom the depravity of our previous
lifestyle and earnestly want to turn away from it. But, after some time the
newness and excitement begin to wear off and we begin to settle in and get
comfortable. We have this calm and restful state of mind knowing that we will
no longer suffer in the eternal state of damnation with all of its worms and
pain. We know that we will be going to heaven. We have been forgiven and all is
well.
Yet another question will arise, and I know that it will
because of my own personal experience and that of others, that question is,
“Once forgiven always forgiven?”
When we invite someone into our home, we treat them with
love, respect and are highly aware of their needs, but over time we can become
comfortable and begin to treat them with complacency and we may even begin to
forget about their needs and focus on our own. This complacent state of mind is
not the same thing as the rest we have spoken of.
Complacency, unfortunately; as time passes, will come with
unrest. We may even start to be desirous of things that are not very
healthy for us to fill up that void which has snuck into our lives. Once our
flesh becomes bored desire begins to tickle at our senses, our once fun, new
tenant may have become a burden and we might be annoyed with their very
presence due to their constant interruptions.
The Holy Spirit (your new tenant) will interrupt you, demand
certain things of you and He will poke at and bother you, pushing you to do the
right thing. That nagging little voice which demands your attention and bothers
you so much will never go away. Try as you might to get away; or if you dare,
for grieving the Holy Spirit is a mortal sin, He will always be there.
“I can never escape from your Spirit! — Psalm 139:7
The longer you ignore the needs of the Holy Spirit the more
chaotic your life will become, you will become easily frustrated, angered, annoyed
and even resentful towards others. All of these emotions are rather corrupt and
not very healthy, they will always end badly and leave you in a sinful
state.
“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit for whom you are sealed —
Ephesians 4:30
A sinful state, yet you were forgiven when you asked God for
his mercy. You were forgiven when you pleaded with Him to allow the Holy Spirit
to live with you. You were forgiven when you cried and were remorseful and
needed him right then and there. And you may have been told by someone you
admired that “Once forgiven, always forgiven.” Ask yourself then, why do you
have sinful thoughts, desires and actions? What are you supposed to do with
that nagging voice inside your head? Perhaps, you should ask for forgiveness
and clean up your house once again so that everything is in order and you can
feel “restful” again. Perhaps repentance is not a one-time event. In fact,
to have rest you must repent everyday if possible, to rid yourself of the sin
of the day.
“I will give you rest — Matthew 11:28
I pray that this teaching has touched your heart and will
spurn you into action. My desire is that everyone to be free of pain, sickness,
and disease from sin. Yet, while we live on this planet; one that is so very
hard to handle and understand, this is not very possible. However, we can be
awarded that rest when we all become consciously aware of our continual sinful
state and become truly sorry for our bad thoughts, ideas, actions and desires.
All we have to do is open our eyes and plead for the Holy Spirit to show us how
to repent of our sin, purify us and set us free, again and again, as Paul so
painfully revealed to us.
Prayer: Father, in Jesus name, I come before Your thrown
of grace and mercy to confess my sins to you. Lord, I am truly sorry and I ask
you to forgive me for these sins. I choose to repent of my sins and I ask You
to help me because I cannot do this by my own power. I ask You to give me a new heart and a new
spirit so that I can be free from sins.
