Articles
Danger After Repentance
Long ago, after Cain failed to offer the sacrifice that God wanted, God warned, “Sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Gen 4:7 NASB)
In the dark days after David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered Uriah…and those were dark days! David agonized over his own guilt…he said in Psalm 51; “my sin is ever before me.” When his sin was exposed by God’s prophet, and the punishment was pronounced by Nathan…the agony grew. The consequence was known. An innocent child will die. A life for a life, the child’s life for the life of Uriah. David prayed to God, “Make me to hear joy and gladness, let the bones which you have broken rejoice.”
So often, when we sin, and the enormity of our guilt and shame washes over us, we feel we will never know happiness or feel whole again. As the consequences of our sin mount and we begin to realize the price of innocence lost, we think we will never know good days again.
God loves us. He hates our sins, but He loves us. “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines and He scourges every son whom He receives.”
David prayed in his despair; “Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.” In our modern parlance we might say it differently, “Please make
it all go away.” When we are overwhelmed with shame and hurt, we do want it all to “just go away.” Consequences remind us of the enormity and bitterness of sin. It is pain that teaches us not to do it again.
David continued, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit away from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.”
David did not want to be cast away from God because being cast away from God meant only darkness and more despair. To return to God’s presence, David’s sin guilt had to be wiped away, and so he prayed, “Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation, then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.”
In David’s repentance, he realized that God does not desire sacrifice for sin. God desires our obedience. God desires a heart willing to submit its will to the will of God; “For you do not desire sacrifice, otherwise I would give it, You are not pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
We are fortunate that our God made such rich provisions for the removal of our guilt for sin. The blood of Jesus Christ. The Apostle John wrote: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God’s desire is that we learn not to practice sin. John continued; “I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” John reminds us that when we sin, we can ask for forgiveness. “And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
If you truly repent and ask God to forgive your sins, Scripture says He will. The challenge in the days and months ahead is not to sin again. God continues to warn us today as he did Cain long ago; “Sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
