Suppose a true Christian dies after committing a sin and they never get to confess it – would they go to heaven or hell? They answer is: they would go to heaven and not hell. Yet to this some say, “So we can sin that grace may abound?” But Paul is adamant that the true Christian cannot continue in sin, because as a new creation in Christ they already sin more than they want to.
Suppose that I get up this morning and I’m a little bit unkind and rude to my wife and I don’t really even think about it. And I go off to work, and it dawns on me, that was sin. It wasn’t intentional, but it was sin. The Bible talks about that, you know? Unintentionally sinning. There is such a thing. A lot of it. And you realize it was sin. And I call my wife up and ask her forgiveness. Or when I see her, I ask her forgiveness. I ask God to forgive me. Now, I committed a sin, and maybe it was two or three hours before I even realized… what if I had died in between there? Would I have gone to heaven or hell? Somebody nodded. If you nod, that doesn’t answer my question. You’d go to heaven. You realize what that means? That means that during the time that you committed that sin till the time that you realized and confessed it, during that whole time, you remained in a justified state. The sin was not imputed to you. It wasn’t on your account. Now, suppose I knew. Suppose I was unkind to my wife and I knew that I’d been unkind to her. It was a known sin. I go out the door, I close it a little bit too hard. And go off in a huff to work. I know none of you have ever experienced that as husbands. And all morning long, it’s bothering you and bothering you, you know that was wrong. And you call your wife and you ask her forgiveness and you ask God’s forgiveness. Now, that was a known sin. Suppose you had died between the time that you committed it and the time you confessed it. Where would you go? I hope you’d say you’d go to heaven. You’d go to heaven. Now think of what that means. Their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more. I blotted them out. They’re gone. That’s incredible. The Jews look at that, and they say man, if that’s true, then let us sin that grace might abound. And if that’s what’s going on in your heart. You see, the Pharisees said, well, that will give a license to sin. Do you know why? Because Pharisees read their Bible because they have to, and they go to church because they have to, and they hate being around Christians, but they have to. See the difference? Why is it that it bothered me all morning? Because I’m a child of God. And I remain a child of God. You say, but maybe that will give a license to sin. If you’re a true Christian, you already sin more than you want to. Isn’t that true? Because God says when their sins and their iniquities I’ll remember no more, He says I’ll write My laws on their hearts. And He puts something inside of you that wants to be like Him. That’s the difference between religion and being a Christian. Now the flesh is gravitating all the time towards evil; that’s not who you really are as a child of God. That’s part of who you are, but that’s not the deepest truth about you. The deepest truth is: you want the Lord. He’s made you new in the innermost being. So, the Christian is no longer under condemnation.
