The Consciousness of Sinlessness

I'm writing to Christians who want to be sinless, and who want to be conscious of this.  If you are a not a Christian, or you don't want this, I'm not writing to you.  If you don't believe this is possible or probable, I'm not writing this to you.  I'm not writing to debate or prove anything. I assume it is possible to be what God wants us to be:  As Holy As Christ Himself.  So here I go.




To be conscious of sinlessness involves two things:
1. Forgiveness
2. Harmlessness




The first step in being conscious that you are sinless, indeed without sin, is to be forgiven.  You must know that a beautiful exchange has taken place, the exchange of your sin for Christ's sinlessness.  When Jesus died for your sin, He "became sin," your sin.  It was as if He committed every sin you ever committed or would commit, and it was if you never sinned from the point of accepting Jesus' death for you, and thus His sinlessness in exchange for your sin. 


So when you "confess your sin, God is faithful and just to forgive your sin and cleanse you from unrighteousness."  He "separates your sin as far as east is from the west."  He "casts your sin into a sea of forgetfulness."  God "blots out your transgressions for His own sake and remembers your sin no more."  He "keeps no record of your wrongs."  It is as if you've never sinned and never been a sinner. 


This is the first step in the consciousness of sinlessness.  If you know that you have confessed and forsaken your sin, you can know that you are forgiven, and that at the very moment after your confession, you are in fact sinless.  Now the issue is remaining in that state, living without sin.  To understand the next step, we must define what sin is at it's core.  Sin's essence.  I'll define it with one word:  HARM.




To do harm to God's glory, and those who reflect God's glory, man and woman, is sin. 


HARM.




The Apostle Paul said, "Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."  He said that the commandments, and every commandment, could be summed up in one commandment:  Love your neighbor as yourself.  Or put another way, "Do no harm to your neighbor."  Every moral code in every society in every time period acknowledges this basic ethical principle:  Do no harm. 




Now of course, we as Christians seek more than this, but we should seek no less.  And by seeking to be harmless, we can have the consciousness of sinlessness. 




As I thought about this last night, or rather at 3:00 this morning, it felt most practical and applicable.  I can measure my thoughts, words, and actions by whether they are harmful or harmless.  I can have the consciousness of harmlessness and sinlessness.  I can know whether I have intentionally thought, said, or done anything that would harm anyone. 




So can you, if you want to.
If you do, pray this prayer with me:


"God, help me to be as sinless as Jesus."


Confess your sin.
Do no harm.


Let me know how this goes in the comment box.

Your God Given Responsibility

Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; 

that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it. 

1 Chronicles 15:22

 

Your God given responsibility is to use your God given abilities.

This is God's will for you.

This is your calling.

 

You don't need to wait for anything else to be revealed to you to know what God wants you to do.

 

This is comforting for us because we are not called to do or be anything beyond or other than what we are.  In fact, we have a moral obligation to be what God made us to be and do what God made us to do, which means we also have a moral obligation to refuse to be what we are not.

 

I'm experiencing this vividly.

 

In seeking a job, my first inclination is to simply do whatever job I find, whether I'm skilled at it or not.  After all, I have a family, a responsibility to provide for them.  Does it really matter how I do it as long as it do it?

 

I'm learning that it does.

 

To take care of my family does not negate God's glory.  In fact, I believe the only real way to take care of my family is to seek first God's glory, to seek first God's kingdom.  Seeking this first, God will add the provision of my family's needs--through giving me a job!  But not just any job. He will give me my God given vocation, the job by which I will glorify Him by doing what He made me alone to do.

 

The same is true for you.