Sin Responsibly

At small group last night, we were talking about how sometimes we try to negotiate with God or with ourselves to convince ourselves that what we are about to do is "not so bad as long as we don't go overboard or if it is in moderation." Hearing that made me think of the slogan the beer companies use that says "Drink Responsibly" so I immediately blurted out "sin responsibly". This made for a good laugh but the more I thought about it, I believe there is a lesson to be learned from this.

The primary scripture I'd like to focus on is in 1 John 1:8-10
"8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us."

Rather than putting the phrase in the order of "Sin Responsibly" we should turn it around and "responsibly sin" or be responsible (accountable) when we sin.

We may be new creations in Christ, but the old Adamic nature has never left us and will not leave us until we reach Heaven and are perfected. Therefore, if we think that being saved makes us immune from sinning, we have a serious problem. John tells us if we have that philosophy we are only deceiving ourselves. So at a glance it looks pretty bad for us all. Thank God that it doesn't end at verse 8. Verse 9 tells us that if we confess our sins that God is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us. Another way of saying confess is to be responsible for our sins by acknowledging our sin. When we do this, we "sin responsibly".

Conversely, as verse 10 says, if we do not sin responsibly but blow our sin off as not really being sin, we make God a liar and His Word is not in us.

So, what does it mean to "Sin Responsibly"? It means to acknowledge the fact that we are still sinners who sin daily and it means that we honestly confess those sins to God for His grace, forgiveness and cleansing.

Just so we are straight and you don't misunderstand what I am saying... I am not saying that if we "sin responsibly" that it makes it ok for us to abound in sin. Paul addressed this in Romans 6:1 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid." God is faithful to forgive us when we confess our sins to Him, but that does not mean we use that as an excuse to increase in our sins knowing that they will be forgiven.

To wrap this up. Our goal should be to not sin at all, but since this is not possible because of our human nature, we need to quickly recognize our sin, ask forgiveness for it (repent of it), and in doing so, God will be faithful to forgive us and He will cleanse us from it. If we follow this pattern, we will be able with a clear concious to say that we did indeed "Sin Responsibly".