THE CONSEQUENCES OF FORGIVEN SIN

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” Psalms 32:1-5

One element of spiritual maturity is realizing the horror of sin. It brings great tragedy and consequences. God will forgive our sins. In His grace He forgives; in His government we face the consequences. God requires that we reap what we sow. 

Temptation is not sin, but to cultivate temptation and to yield to it is. Sin is usually a process, and David went through several stages that led to his sin:

1) David laid down his armor. (II Samuel 11, Ephesians 6)

2) David was not looking to God.

3. David did not watch and pray.

4) David was alone.

5) David ignored God's Word.

6) David did not depend upon the Spirit.

Commit these six stages to memory and read Ephesians 6. Don't make the same mistakes David made. Never cultivate a temptation with a view to yielding to sin. Meditate on the Word of God, obey it and guard your heart with its truth. Stay in fellowship with the Lord.  (Psalm 51:18-19)

There are number of Greek words which are translated sin in the New Testament. Here are four of them:

A. Hamartia: Missing the mark (Romans 5:12).

B. Hamartama: Doing an evil deed (I Corinthians 6:18).

C. Paraptoma: Differing from the path (Matthew 6:14).

D. Parabasis: Stepping across a know boundary (Romans 5:14).

Most believers think that sin is just sin and that there is no difference it is all the same. The truth is that there is a big and important difference. The Word of God uses various words to describe sin and to distinguish the different types of sin: transgression, sin, iniquity and deceit.  

These four things: transgression, sin, iniquity and deceit, are four different types of sin and they have to be dealt with in different ways.

A. Transgression (parabasis): To go beyond a known limit. Before the Law there was sin but no transgression.

B. Sin (hamartia): To miss the mark, to fall short of what God wants us to do.

C. Iniquity (hamartama): Lawlessness, a person will not obey the law of God or man. Making excuses for sin.  (Matthew 7:22-23)

D. Deceit (paraptoma): Guile, cunning, guilt. Deceit is concealment or distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading.

In Psalms 32:5 we see how David dealt with these four:

A. He acknowledged his sin

B. He did not hid his iniquity

C. He confessed his transgression

D. He acknowledged the deceitfulness of his sin (the iniquity of my sin)

These four things can also be seen in Psalms 51.

There are many believers who, because they do not know the difference between these four and how to deal with them; have been forgiven but have not had their joy restored.

The main objective of a believer that has sinned is to go past and beyond forgiveness and have his joy and his place in God restored. Forgiveness is not the issue. God will forgive, that’s His nature.

There is a joy of knowing our sins are forgiven, but there is a greater joy of having the approval of God towards us restored. Many believers have never known this joy.

In Psalms 51:11 the words “Thy Presence” means from his face. God’s face is not forgiveness, but his favor (acceptance or approval).

One of the problems that a backslider faces when he comes back to God is that he knows he has been forgiven, but he doesn’t have the joy that he once had in the Lord.

He expects God to fill him with joy the moment he confesses and repents of his sins. How can God give him joy if he has disappointed Him? He has to earn God's favor once again. I don’t know how a believer who has sinned and has not been restored to God’s favor can live in peace: “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit” Psalm 51:12.

When you are out of God’s favor you don’t have joy or liberty. You worship with your body and soul, but your spirit will not worship. The reason is because there is guilt and you are out of God’s favor.

Praise is the first thing to return to you when God gives you joy and it is the first thing to go when you sin (Psalms 51:15).

When we hide our transgression, we began to feel the weight of transgression upon us (Psalms 32:3-4). The weight of transgression is meant to drive us to confession (Proverbs 28:13).