When A Christian Sins

The man bowed his head. He was ashamed to look Nathan in the eyes. His shoulders slumped. Tears came to his eyes. The prophet Nathan had just confronted him about his sin with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband. Then he told David that he had “given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.” (2 Samuel 12:1-14).

David was a man “after God’s own heart.”  But now he knew he had failed and saddened the heart of the God he loved.

Here are four things (among many more) that happen when a Christian sins.

Sin brings reproach on the name of the Lord

Reproach means to be a cause of blame or discredit to a person or a cause.

When we sin, we bring reproach on the name of the Lord. Most sins are not as grave or as public and publicized as David’s sin, but every sin we commit disgraces the Lord because we are His representatives on this earth.

For example, (1) a fire and brimstone preacher without compassion. Jesus preached on hell more than any other character in the Bible, but he constantly tempered his preaching with love, compassion, and caring acts for the lost.

(2) a hypocritical believer: Paul spoke about them in Romans 2:23-24. “Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you,”

(3) A Christian leader who engages in open immorality, greed, covetousness, or pride. People are watching and will immediately pounce to discredit the person, the church, and everything he stands for.

(4)  A parent who teaches or preaches righteousness but lives entirely different from what he teaches. This person brings reproach to the Lord before his children, relatives, and co-workers on the job. Children are usually the first to see this.

We bring reproach, dishonor, and discredit to the Lord every time we sin.

Sin Grieves the Spirit

“Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30). When we are saved, our body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:19). He lives in us. Just as Christ is in us (Colossians 1:27), so is the Holy Spirit. He loves us personally.   He is our guide, teacher, and Comforter (the one called beside us). He is our interceder. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27).

God, the Holy Spirit, resides in us. He is with us all the time. As we spend time together, we get to know and love each other. When we do something that displeases Him, it hurts the relationship. Unresolved differences strain relationships between a husband and wife, between a parent and child, or even between siblings. The unresolved differences have injured love.

Fellow students asked a teenage boy who loved the Lord and his parents why he wouldn’t do a specific activity that was wrong. Was it because he was afraid of how his father would punish him? “No,” he replied. “It is because I love my father and would never want to disappoint him.”

So, when we sin, we injure, hurt, and grieve the Holy Spirit who dwells within.

Sin Breaks Our Fellowship with the Lord.

“If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:6-7). You cannot walk in darkness (sin) and claim to be in fellowship with the Lord.

God created us to have fellowship with Him.  When sin came along, it ruined the fellowship. Adam and Eve sinned, and God killed a lamb, shedding its blood, to make a covering for their sin. Often, today’s Christians think very lightly of sin and claim to be walking with the Lord when they are truly walking with the devil. They talk like the world, live like the world, dress like the world, enjoy all the pleasures of the world. Then, they go to church on Sunday and claim to worship the Lord. It doesn’t work that way.

Paul wrote, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14) He also said, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” (Ephesians 5:11).

Sin Hinders His Leadership in My Life:     

Jonah said he feared the Lord and then went in the opposite direction of God’s leadership.

The nation of Israel enjoyed God’s blessing and leadership. Then something changed. “They rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.” (Isaiah 63:10).

God wants to lead and bless us. When we fail to follow him, he pleads with us. “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! Then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:” (Isaiah 48:18).

We miss out on answered prayer because we fail to walk in His way. “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1,2)

We often, glibly, quote Proverbs 3:5,6. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” But we fail  to assimilate  the  requirements:

“With all thine heart.” Undivided commitment and trust.

“Lean not unto thine own understanding.” Don’t do it your way. Do it His way.

“In all thy ways acknowledge him.”  In your job, in your home, in your entertainment, in your spending, IN EVERYTHING, acknowledge Him.

Then, He will direct our paths.

God earnestly wants to have fellowship with us, to guide us, and to give us the very best. That is why He says in John 15:7, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”  Abide in Him.  Saturate yourself with His Word and obey it. Then, you can win over sin and enjoy His very best for you.