Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

                                                                                                                     Isaiah 59:1-2 

God desires a relationship with each of us. He has gone to great lengths to make that possible. But when we choose to sin, we disrupt our relationship with Him. Although the Spirit of God lives on the inside of us, we can grieve and quench the power of the Spirit. But what we need to know absolutely is that sin is not the end of our salvation or acceptance by God. The cross alone is what achieves our righteousness and it will always be by faith that we enjoy our standing with God.

So as we read today’s passage, we need to keep in mind that the establishment of the new covenant has ushered in the opportunity for us to fail and yet rise again to continue in service to the King. It is only when we allow the enemy to convince us otherwise that we will find ourselves defeated by our past, present, or future failures.

First, as believers, we will still sin. This may or may not come deliberately, but failure will continue to be a part of living in this fallen world. The Spirit is our guide and power for saying “no” to sin but there will still be times in our lives when we find ourselves “doing the very things we hate.” Consider Paul’s description of this battle:

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.

                                                                                                            Romans 7:18-19 

When Paul speaks of, “the willing is present in me,” he is talking about his spiritual side. As a Christian, we do want to do what is right. But then Paul adds, “but the doing of the good is not (present).” In other words, we know what to do and what not to do. We concur with the Law of God and readily acknowledge that it is good, pure, and right. But what we struggle with is the doing of those things. Why? It is because we live in human flesh. The Spirit bears witness to our spirit that we belong to God but there are still times when our fleshly side wins the day.

Perhaps we have lost our cool and chewed someone out. Maybe we have been dishonest about something that has taken place. Perhaps we have done something like gossip or hold resentment in our hearts toward another. Unfortunately, when people think of sin, some immediately run to the “big” sins mentioned in scripture while overlooking the reality that sin can take root in our lives quietly as a matter of attitude or motive. When we fail to recognize our tendency to sin even in the face of our new nature, we deceive ourselves. And those who believe that perfection is the only way to heaven will most likely be the unhappiest, most bitter, and most discouraged people around. Why? They are simply trying to live up to God’s expectations through their own works rather than resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

And that leads us to the second point. Salvation, justification (being made right with God), and righteousness all come by faith. Consider Paul’s description of the means by which anyone is justified by God:

…nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

                                                                                                                 Galatians 2:16 

It really cannot be any clearer. Our justification comes from trusting the work of Jesus on the cross. Born again believers in Jesus will then receive the Spirit of God and begin a new life in Christ. All of this is because of the grace of God and the work of the cross.

But what about sin? Will it fade away, leaving us perfect beings for the remainder of our earthly lives? Of course not! Sin is still there and the temptation to fall into it can be very real. But we now have the power of the Spirit in our lives, not only instructing us, but giving us the necessary resources to do battle and win against sin (Galatians 5:16). So why do we fail? We fail when we listen to the world and its philosophies rather than adhering to the Word of God. But sin is not the end of our salvation rather it merely puts a strain on our relationship with God. And that brings us to the last point.

If a married couple has a fight or if one of them is unfaithful to the marriage in some way, the marriage is strained. If the problem is the former, it will probably be mended in short order. If the problem is the latter, it may take more time to build back trust and, tragically, this may never happen. But in both circumstances, the couple is still married. A strained marriage is not productive but it is still a marriage.

The same is true of a wayward child. There are no guarantees to parents that when their children grow to a certain age that the love they have given to the child will be reciprocated. That certainly is the way God intends for it to work, but this is not always the reality.

As the wayward, rebellious child begins to make decisions contrary to the parent’s wishes, the relationship can become strained. The further the child removes himself from the parent’s influence, the deeper the hurt and betrayal can feel. But even in this dark time, the parent-child relationship is still there. This wayward, grown man or woman never stops becoming the parent’s child. The relationship is strained but the love that the parents have for the child is still very much intact.

The same is true for our relationship with God. Described, in scripture, as a marriage (figuratively) and also as a parent-child relationship, our belonging to God remains intact even when we sin. What does happen is that the relationship is strained.

Something to keep in mind that can help us in understanding this important point is that sin hurts us. When we sin, God is not pleased because He wants what is best for us. When we look at the following passages, we cannot help but understand that God hates sin because of the destructive power that it has in our lives. Consider the following:

The Love Of God Brings Confidence

We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 

                                                                                                                   1 John 4:16-18 

God is not out to “get us” rather He desires to bless us. Consider the following:

The Benevolence Of God Brings Confidence

 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

                                                                                                                        Matthew 7:11 

God is willing to give what is good to anyone who will just ask! And finally, consider from where our adequacy to be ministers of the new covenant comes:

The Cross Of Jesus Brings Confidence

Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

                                                                                                            2 Corinthians 3:4-6 

Sin robs us of the abundant life God desires for us to enjoy. It also gives the enemy a foothold in accusing us. The enemy desires nothing less than to convince us that we are unworthy of our calling. This is why God hates sin.

So the next time you are feeling tempted or fail in some way, remember that, as a believer in Jesus Christ, God still loves you, you still belong to Him, and He desires to show you something infinitely better than you could ever ask or imagine! (Ephesians 3:20)