Articles
Ownership of Sins
Ownership of Sin
By Paul R. Blake
Do you own this wallet? Do all of its contents, for good or ill, belong to you? Is your name or identification on it or in it? For all intents and purposes, do you claim ownership of this wallet?
What about your sins? Do you own them? Most assuredly they belong to you. You worked to get them; your name is on them. Until you are redeemed from your sins, you are bound to them in ownership for eternity. It does no good to deny ownership.
We often hear people deny or try to share ownership of their sins, even while they are confessing them. Adam and Eve tried to do it in the Garden of Eden. Adam blamed God by complaining that “the woman YOU gave me” led me into sin; and, Eve blamed the serpent for deceiving her. They were responsible for their sins; their sins belonged to them.
“I am sorry if I offended you” is not an expression of sorrow for sin; it is stating regret for harm to the relationship. The speaker is not sorry he sinned; he is sorry others are upset with him for sinning. From his perspective, ownership of the sin is their problem, not his; they are responsible for being offended. Without their offence, he would not be concerned about his sin.
“I am sorry for doing that, but this is the reason why I did it...” Repentance for sin immediately followed by an attempt to justify the sin is not repentance; it is a defense of the action. It does not own the sin; in fact, it altogether denies that it is a sin. In other words, the speaker is saying: “If you only understood my circumstances, you would agree that I had no choice but to sin.”
What does true ownership and repentance of sin sound like? “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter” (2Cor. 7:10-11).
Denying ownership of our sins by excusing them or dismissing them will ensure that they will hang like a millstone around our necks until the Day of Judgment, at which point they will drag us down into perdition forever. Owning our sins and honestly, humbly asking God for forgiveness of our sins by the means He has provided in His word will mean that He will redeem us from our sins. We have to admit to owning our sins before we can have our sins removed.
Exhortation
By Mike Palm
"...Making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints..." (Eph. 1:17-18)
Former president John Quincy Adams once said, "have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once a year. My custom is to read four or five chapters every morning immediately after rising from my bed. It employs about an hour of my time, and seems to me the most suitable manner of beginning the day. In what light we regard the Bible, whether with reference to revelation, to history, or to morality, it is an invaluable and inexhaustible mine of knowledge and virtue."
Rom. 12:2 says, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
A Moments Wisdom
—The words united and untied use the same letters, yet they denote opposite ideas. The only difference is the position of the “I.” Similarly, the local church can be either “united” or “untied.” And again, it all depends on the position of “I”—whether I am in my proper place, filling my God-given role (see Ephesians 4:15-16).
--No one trips over mountains; it is the small pebble that causes us to stumble. Pass all of the pebbles on our way, and we will find that we have passed over the mountain.
--Life is a one way street; no matter how many detours we take, none of them lead back.
--Most people can accept good advice gracefully, as long as it doesn’t interfere with their plans.
--It is surprising how often people will agree with you if you keep your mouth closed.
--Most people can withstand adversity, but if you really want to test their character, give them power.
--If I do today what I could have put off until tomorrow, am I an “anti-crastinator”?
--A happy person is not someone with a special set of circumstances, but rather a special set of attitudes.
--Conversation is an exercise of the mind; gossip is an exercise of the tongue.
