If a believer examines himself/herself, and repent with all their heart, God will forgive him, and return to fellowship with God. And God will restore what s/he has lost because of His redeeming grace. But this restoration will also depend on how much this believer seeks God, their submission and dedication. That restoration might not put them in the position they were in before. But if they really dedicate all and persist in prayer and seeking God’s face, God can restore them to their position or even exalt them above where they were before they fell. It will depend on the decision that God takes and the dedication of the believer.

HOW IS A BELIEVER SUPPOSED TO LIVE?

A believer has to live for God in submission and respect, love and fear. Regularly examine yourself so that you do not end up displeasing God. Give yourself time with God on a regular basis where you ask God to show you what does not please Him in your life. Leave them behind by relying on Gods grace (In other words, leave them behind by depending on the Holy Spirit, not your will power). When you have wronged God in any way, ask for forgiveness from God and confess that sin to God (1John 1:9). Don’t ignore your mistakes or the sins you have committed, but confess them to God and ask for forgiveness. But a believer must not be sin conscious at all times, but he must see his righteousness in Jesus Christ, and when they are aware of their righteousness, they will fall into sin easily. But if it happens that they fall into sin, they should confess it to God. A believer must walk pure before the Lord. They must live in truth in the eyes of God, and open themselves up for Him and tell Him their weakness.

GOD’S JUDGMENT TO THE WORLD: God’s judgment to the world is condemnation. It is eternal separation from Him and His eternal punishment to people who refused to receive His Son Jesus Christ in their lives. It is true that God tries by all means possible to influence a person to change and to be saved and He does not want even one person to perish (1Timothy 2:3-6). He wants all man to receive salvation by believing in Jesus Christ His Son. But all those who refuse Him will get His punishment in its fullness, which is eternal separation from God and eternal fire.

SIN (Mark 9:42- 46)

(In these verses, Jesus tries to show his audience that they cannot overcome sin on their own power because the sin problem is a nature problem, he wants them to be aware that it is impossible for them to overcome sin unless they are given a new righteous nature by God. This new righteous nature is given when a person receives Jesus Christ as Lord and savior. But still, this verses show us how much God hates sin and we know that God has done all He has to do for us to walk in victory over sin through Christ Jesus our Lord).

The word “sin” means “doing that which is not God’s will” (The term sin means missing the mark). There are two kinds of sins: sins of commission: This is where one does something that he shouldn’t do. e.g. when one commits adultery or theft. We also have sins of omission; this is where one does not do what they have to do e.g. lack of a prayer life and unforgiveness etc. Under these categories of sins, there are different aspects e.g. sins that you do through your actions, vocal sins and thought sins. Those that are committed by actions are those we do when we act wrongly in God’s sight, vocal sins are unrighteous words that we speak and thought sins is when we allow bad thoughts to go through our minds. Having a bad thought is not a sin, but toying with it and allowing it to stay in your mind and taking actions on it is wrong. Satan can give us bad thoughts too, but it is not a sin when a bad thought comes to your mind, but when you toy with it and then allow it to stay, then that is wrong. Meditating on the word of God will help you gain victory over these thoughts; fill your mind with it and confess it with your mouth. You don’t fight a bad thought by focusing on it and rebuking it every time it comes, doing that will only lead you to bondage. Sin is like a python; this snake wraps itself around you, breaks your bones, swallows you and then vomits you. Sin destroys a person’s life, and then the person ends up losing what God had given to him/her and depressed. It deceives you because it looks enjoyable at the time, but its consequences are bitter. All sins have three roots: Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and pride. All sins come from these roots (1John 2:15-17).

Sins are not equal in God’s sight. All sins are bad, but they are not equal in weight in God’s sight (1John 5:16-18). There are sins that lead to separation with God and those that don’t (In this verse when the scripture says sins that lead to death, it means separation with God which is spiritual death. Spiritual death can bring the fruits of death in the physical realm e.g. sickness, pre-mature death physically and every bad thing). In other words when a person lives in these sins, he loses fellowship with God, and then drifts away from Him. If they do not fix their life with God, they will end up losing their salvation, in other words, die spiritually. Sins that separate people from God are those that reveal the hardness of one’s heart. Example: Unforgiveness, pride, adultery (cheating in marriage), fornication (sex before marriage), rebellion (not submitting under authority), theft (different ways of theft), homosexuality, murder, drunkenness and those that appear in Galatians 5:16-22, 1Corinthians 6:9-12 and other verses (Read these verses now). These sins lead to separation with God because a person who is truly born again cannot continue to sin because their nature is like that of God’s and it does not allow them to sin (1John 3:9). In other words, if a born again person persists with these kinds of sins; it means that their heart has hardened because they act contrary to their nature. They are also ignoring the Holy Spirit who helps us not to sin. The Holy Spirit tries to speak to us countless times, and tries to prevent us in different ways before we commit a certain sin. This means that the person who continues to sin willfully will end up hardening in heart and then he will start drifting away from God at his own will.

THE GREATEST SINS OF ALL: There are two great sins that separate a person from God and lead to hell when one dies regardless of who one is or where they are from. These are the greatest sins of all. The first is that of rejecting Jesus Christ or backsliding when you have known Him, the second one is that of not forgiving (Matthew 18:21-35, Mark 11:25).

The other sin that opens a door for other sins is the sin of pride (James 4:6-7) (Proverbs 18:12): God resists the proud but He gives grace to the humble and pride comes before a fall. Pride is the root of all sins. Pride makes one to trust in self rather than in God. It makes one not to admit his mistakes but blame shifts them to somebody else, he can even lie just to protect his reputation. It makes one to like to be glorified in front of others, to compete with others, to be jealous of others and the like. Pride comes before a fall while humility comes before honor.

SINS THAT DO NOT LEAD TO SEPARATION FROM GOD: Sins that do not lead to death are those that a believer commits unaware or because of immaturity. These are not related to the hardness of their heart, but are related to their growth. However, a believer must deal with those sins because if they do not, their heart will harden.

A HARDENED HEART: If a believer persists with a life of sin, their heart hardens in this way; if a believer sins the first time, they feels inside that they did not act right. If they repent, they will return to fellowship with God. And if they repeat it again, they won’t feel right in their spirit and when they repent again, they will be forgiven. And if they repeat it over and over they won’t feel anything anymore, this is a sign that their heart is becoming hard. If they get to the point of sinning and not feeling anything, it is a sign that their heart has hardened and they can’t hear God clearly anymore. This is a dangerous position to be in. The believer must return to God quickly and get right with Him. If the believer does not fix things with God and return to fellowship with Him, he will commit some sins easily and the fear of God will leave him. If this happens, God will have to judge them heavily as He tries to bring them back to living right. He may reveal and expose their sins to a lot of people or harden their circumstances. He may give them over to their enemies or take them to heaven before their time, so that they do not end up losing their salvation and their name removed from the book of life resulting in being condemned together with the world, which is going to the lake that burns with fire and sulphur. While some, He may allow to drift away from Him depending on their choice, maturity and the hardness of their hearts 2Corinthians 2:11 and 12. So, a believer must guard their heart by all means and keep it sensitive to the Lord’s voice.