1 John 2:1-2 – “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”  NKJV

             I have found two troubling trains of thought or mindsets in the modern world and church.  I want to walk very carefully here because I do not want to be misunderstood and not to appear self-righteous or judgmental.  What I am talking about is S I N.  That’s right, I said it, SIN, missing the mark or coming short.

There are those in the world and church that seem to think that because God is a God of Love that He cannot allow anyone to spend eternity in Hell as a result of sin or rejection of His grace.  That is more than troubling it is an eternal death sentence.  There are those who seek to justify their failures morally, spiritually and ethically by saying “Well I’m only human” or something akin to that.  Yes, we are human but when those of the 1^st Century Church addressed the subject of spiritual life they did not automatically allow that man would continue to SIN or fail.  They readily acknowledged ‘I F’ not ‘W H E N’ we do.  There is a difference.  Please do not understand me to suggest that I think I am perfect that would be so outlandish that immediate dismissal of all I have to say should follow.  It is saying that our objective and goal should not be ‘WHEN’ we fail but ‘NOT FAILING’ through the power of God’s Love, Spirit, and Grace.

In Salvation does the Bible not declare that we are NEW CREATIONS?  Consider 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  

1 Peter 2:9-10 – “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”

Therefore, ‘I F’ I have been ‘born-again’, ‘washed’ in the Blood of the Lamb, ‘forgiven’ of my sin and a NEW CREATION I am not what I was.  I am no longer bound by the clutches of my human nature.  I am no longer a slave to my passions, pride, lust, human frailty for I have a direct link to His holiness, His grace, His mercy, His power to not only overcome enemies but myself.

I understand that we do sin but let’s stop identifying ourselves in such a way as to anticipate failure.  Let’s begin to identify ourselves as Children of God, Born Again, Transformed, Redeemed, and New Creatures in Christ who have the Living Lord manifesting His life through us.  We need to resist the modern mentality and return to the mindset of the Early Church who saw themselves as the Redeemed of the Lord not the Fallen of the Race.  They did not plan for failure they embraced that IF they failed they could go to their Advocate and find pardon in the time of need.  They did not wake up daily expecting to sin and become self-fulfilling prophecies.

You are a NEW CREATION if you are in CHRIST JESUS so allow Him to manifest Himself through you and IF you fall short run to the Cross for He will receive you there!   May God be with you as you go through your day!