There have been many moments in my lifetime where I have failed. In fact, there have been too many failures for me to remember or count. In several conversations with other believers, I have noticed a tendency in my heart as well as the hearts of others to try and prove ourselves to God when we sin, and even when we don’t sin. The realization that we have sinned can cause us to fall into despair, shame, anger, etc. We begin to close ourselves off to the world as we begin to focus on our mistake, seeking to almost punish ourselves or rectify the situation on our own.
None of us are good on our own. Romans 3: 11-12 says that “there is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one" (New International Version). It is only by the grace of God and the salvation of Jesus that our bondage to sin has been broken and we have become “slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:18). Nevertheless, though we are now slaves to righteousness, there are still moments where our flesh fails us. Paul himself admits in Romans 7 that though he wants “to do good, evil is right there with” him (vv. 21). He states,
“In my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (vv. 22-25).
Oftentimes, instead of running in repentance from sin, we end up running in shame and guilt from God. Our salvation was never something we were able to accomplish, but by running away, we are displaying a belief that we can fix ourselves and make ourselves presentable before God. This is not the truth! He is the only one who can remove the stain of sin. We should run to Him with our sin, asking Him to renew our hearts and minds, giving us a desire for righteousness and the strength to obey his decrees.
Paul immediately goes on to say in Romans 8 that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (vv.1-2). We were once lost with no hope of a future, but now because of Jesus who God sent “in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering” to condemn “sin in the flesh” now “the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8: 3-4). He has given us the greatest gift of all-eternal life with Him! By the blood of Jesus, there is no condemnation that leads to eternal separation or death. Even more, He has put His spirit inside of us. He is eternally dwelling with us forevermore, and those “led by the Spirit of God are the children of God” who have been adopted as sons and daughters (Romans 8: 14). We have no need to fear the Lord for He is our Father. We can come to Him with anything, especially our sin, for He alone has the power to redeem and restore our hearts, minds, and souls.
In fact, I have learned that conviction is actually a gracious gift from the Lord. Though some might not agree with me, think about this. If we were never convicted, it would be a sign that we were still blind to our sin, living in darkness and the foolish ways of the world. If we were never convicted of sin, we would never grow to become more like Christ. It is a sign that we have the Holy Spirit inside of us when we are convicted of our sins. Jesus tells his disciples in John 15,
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me” (vv. 1-4).
Here Jesus is reminding us again that we can do no good thing on our own! We cannot bear fruit unless we remain in the vine, Jesus. But, he tells us that if we are branches that are bearing fruit in him, his Father the gardener will prune every branch to make it more fruitful. This pruning is conviction! It is being gracious enough to reveal to your children where the moldy pieces of the branch are threatening to spoil their fruit, or in other words, where their blindness to sin is threatening to lead them away from righteousness and from unity with the Spirit.
As Paul says in Romans 2, how can we show “contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” (vv. 4-5). Or in 2 Corinthians 7 where he states to the believers in Corinth, “yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death” (vv. 9-10). It is right to be sorrowful over our sin, but not in a way that causes us to have contempt towards God, others, or ourselves. Instead, by convicting us of sin, or rather revealing to us our sin, Paul says here that God is being kind hoping that by revealing our sin, our sorrow will lead us to repent and be freed from the weight that sin carries.
Jesus tells the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3, “those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.” He rebukes the ones he loves. Let us not believe that by revealing our sin, God is somehow angry with us or that we are no longer his children. By convicting us of sin, it is actually one of the strongest indicators that he loves us. He has already paid the ultimate price for our redemption. There is no need to carry around guilt, shame, or sorrow any longer than we need to when we have the ability to release our sin to the Lord and joyfully walk in the freedom that He provides-the freedom to love Him, obey His commands, and daily walk through life in His presence. As David declares in Psalm 16,
“Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (English Standard Version vv. 9-11)
He will not allow us to fall to corruption, and therefore, he must reveal to us when we sin. By convicting us of sin, he has revealed the path of life found only in him. We can walk in fullness of joy by living in his presence forevermore. Let us grow by displaying Godly sorrow when we sin that leads to repentance and joyful thanksgiving because of our loving father who prunes and convicts us that we might have fullness of joy in Him.
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