What If I Have Sinned?
(A Document for a young child)
A popular belief is that everyone will sin at least once in a while, and this cannot be helped. Those same people get angry if the sin of someone else hurts them, and they don’t take the view that it was ‘just one sin’!
Think about how Messiah Yeshua views sin. Every sin a person does is bad enough that He died for it. Suppose you had to die if some else sinned. Would you think that that sin was ‘no big deal’ or that the other person sinned just because “everyone will sin once in a while”? Suppose your mother, father, or your guardian had to die if you sinned. Would you think that it was no big deal, or would you instead do your best to not sin?
A Lamb or Goat Died
2,000 years ago in Israel, every time any person sinned (even if the person was just 13 years old), a perfect, beautiful, spotless lamb or goat had to have its throat cut so that it would die. The one who cut its throat was the one who had sinned! Could you cut the throat of a lamb so that it died? Would you cry? That lamb stood for Messiah Yeshua Who shed His blood for sin. It was as if His throat had been cut (though it wasn’t). Rather, His hands and His feet were nailed to wood, and He died slowly and painfully. He did this for you and for me.
Sin is a very big deal. Yehovah the God of Israel does not see sin as somethi ng that everyone will do once in a while. He instead sees sin as violent act, one so bad that the effects of it can last generations. The consequence of sin is death!
Haters and Lovers of God
Most folks are not sons or daughters of the King, Messiah Yeshua. Most ignore Him. Some hate Him. Those who hate Him love sin. Those who ignore Him live as if His dying for their sins was a waste of time. Some deny that they are sinning when they are, because they desire to continue to sin. They are enemies to God. A very few love God and love doing right. You can recognize them because they hate sin and they fear the God of Israel.
Sinners Sin
If one who ignores God sins, that is to be expected. A sinner will sin! A sinner is one who naturally sins! God will someday judge this sinner and will take vengeance on him for ignoring Him. After all, he was made in God’s image. He blasphemed his Creator by sinning in that body that is the very likeness of God. He will everlastingly suffer in the Lake of Fire and Sulfur because he refused to turn to the Truth.
If someone who hates God sins, this is also expected. A sinner will sin! One who hates God clings to sin. God will someday judge him and cast him into the burning Lake of Fire and Sulfur where he will everlastingly suffer because of his refusal to turn to God and the Truth. God hates all workers of iniquity (sinful guilt)!
What is a Saint?
What happens if a Saint sins? First, what is a Saint? Some think that a Saint is a person who is a hero of a church (like ‘our lady of Guadalupe’ in the Catholic Church). That is not what a Saint is in the Bible. A Saint is one who has become the property of God. God owns that person as a son or daughter. A Saint has been saved from sin and from sinning. The Saint can now consistently do righteousness. Anyone who has turned to the God of Israel and has turned from sin and sinning in order to do righteousness is a Saint. One can be very young, and truly be a Saint.
If a Saint Sins
What happens if a Saint sins? Again, it is expected for a person who ignores God or hates God to sin. The Bible does not expect a Saint to sin. The King is far more offended if a Saint sins than when an evil person sins. Saints are commanded to not sin. If they do, their Owner is furious.
If your parent or guardian tells you to do something, you are supposed to do it (if it is not wrong to do). If your parent or guardian tells someone else’s child to do something, however, the child might do it, and the child might not do it. It depends on whether the child has been taught to obey your parent or guardian. Yeshua knows that those who are not His children will not necessarily obey His voice. The obedience of His children is necessary, however. A Saint’s sinning is very serious. It insults the Owner.
The King is furious over a Saint’s sin. Sin put Yeshua on the cross! If the Saint goes to the King and admits that he or she has sinned, and turns from that sin, there is usually forgiveness. The sin sometimes still has some very bad consequences.
Suppose, for example, that you were told to never go into a medicine cabinet that was high up in the bathroom. Suppose that you did what you were told not to do: you got up on a chair, opened the medicine cabinet, and put some of the tablets into your mouth. Then your parent or your guardian found out what you did, and knew that the medicine would make you very sick. You might say, “I am sorry, I won’t do it again.” The parent might say, “I forgive you,” while the parent takes you to the hospital to have your stomach pumped—and that’s not fun. It really hurts. The parent forgave, but the result of the sin was still painful. Sin often does bad things even if one is forgiven for the sin.
If a Saint sins and doesn’t turn from that sin, King Yehovah may judge that Saint with a judgment far worse than He would for non-saints who sin in the same way. Saints have no business sinning.
Some sins will not be forgiven in this life. Two Saints who sinned were named Ananias and Sapphira. They held back some money. Yehovah killed them because they lied to the Spirit of Yehovah.
Saints will also be judged:
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that every one may receive the things in the Body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.
The Meaning of Forgive
What does forgive mean? Suppose you had a friend who was playing with you, and your friend tore your doll’s dress. Suppose that this friend seemed to do it on purpose. You became angry, and you and your friend were not friends for a while. Suppose your friend later came and said, “I am sorry. Will you forgive me?” Your friend would be saying, “I admit that I did wrong and I know that I can’t fix it the way it was before. Will you be willing to accept the doll’s dress the way it is so that you and I can be friends again?” To forgive is to be willing to carry the consequences of what a person did to you, and to be willing to take the hurt that was caused. In some cases, you might not be able to trust the other person again. You can still forgive. You cannot forgive someone who did wrong to another person, however. The one who was damaged must forgive.
There Must Be a Turning from Sin
If a Saint sins, the Saint sometimes may be forgiven. The King certainly only forgives a Saint’s sin if he or she turns from doing that sin. One who says, “Forgive me!” is saying, “I am turning from doing this; please carry the damage of what I did, and please be willing to take the hurt that I caused you.” This is a request for justice, but of a different kind. The wrongdoer is asking the other person to remove the burden of guilt so that justice is now satisfied regarding that person. If the other person or if the King says, “I forgive you,” he is saying, “I will carry the harm, hurt and burden of justice for what you did.” If the wrongdoer does the wrong again, he or she did not turn from doing it, and therefore lied! This will only anger the offended person more, and it will anger the King Who was hurt by the sin!
Sin and Death
Messiah Yeshua provides forgiveness. It is far better to not sin in the first place. Sin causes death! The Bible teaches the Saint that the wages (that is, the payment) of sin is death! That is a terrible thing! So, the Saint is being warned, DON’T SIN. Take sin very seriously! Do right!
What is Sin?
What if the Saint seems to sin the same sin over and over again? Many do not know what sin is. If one doesn’t know what sin is, he or she might think that something is sin when it actually isn’t, or might think something isn’t sin when it is. Suppose, for example, that you have a dirty word come up in your mind. You might try to get the word out of your mind, but it comes back again and again. You don’t say the word, but the word is just there. Have you sinned? No. Most thoughts are not sin (unless they are thoughts where you begin to plan to do something that is sin).
There seem to be six Biblical definitions of sin. We will consider each so you can know what is and isn’t sin.
(1) All unrighteousness is sin. This means that anything that is not right before God is sin. In order to find out what is not right, one must read or hear the Bible, or obtain some direct communication from the Biblical God. It is wrong to steal, so this is a form of unrighteousness (a form of not doing right). It is a sin to not treat your parent or guardian with respect (like to talk back to them as if they are your enemies or your girlfriend). It would be an act of unrighteousness for your parent or guardian to tell you to do something that is wrong according to the Bible; that would be a sin of the parent or guardian! (In such a case, treat the parent or guardian with respect, and have enough respect to report it to a trustworthy authority.)
(2) To know to do something that is right to do, and to refuse to do it is to sin. Suppose that your parent told you to make your bed, but you play instead. This is sin against your parent. You have been disobedient! You would be able to play later, but you choose to play instead of being obedient. This is wrong! The same is true of the commandments that Yehovah the God of the Bible gave to all. (He gave most commandments to one group, the Israelis, and most to the priests of Israel, but He gave a few to every person.) Violating His commands is sin. (There are different levels of sin; some have very serious consequences while others only required an animal sacrifice with the confession.)
(3) Anything that is against what the Bible teaches is sin. Any reader can know what is right or wrong by reading what the Bible says is right or wrong. One who fears God and believes the Bible will do what is right. For example, the Bible states that no sentence can be passed against one on the testimony of what just one person says about the other. At least two or more witnesses must say the same thing in order for a sentence to be passed. (A witness does not have to be a person. It can be a camera or anything that tells a true story. Nowadays, DNA evidence is one of the best witnesses.)
Suppose your friend comes to you and says, “John hit Sue!” Then you say to another friend, “John hit Sue!” You have sinned against John by doing this because you claimed that this story was true when you are not a witness. You didn’t see John hit Sue.
You are to listen to your parent or guardian because a good parent or guardian protects. When it comes to others, however, you should never believe what just one person says about another person. That can be gossip. Always wait to see if others who witnessed it say it the same way. Do it the Bible’s way! (If you are being warned about another person by just one person, however, use wise caution. That one person may be speaking the truth. You are not a witness, but your life can be saved by one person’s testimony or warning to you!)
(4) Sin is the transgression of the Law! What is transgression? The word means to “go outside the rules!” What is the Law? This is the Teaching of God, the Teaching of Moses. This is found in the first six books of the Bible. Yehovah gave this Teaching to the People of Israel. It told the Israelis that they are not to bow down before any other God except Yehovah the God of Israel! If anyone of Israel secretly bows down to another God, this is sin. Get to know this Teaching of God! You will never understand the way God thinks of things as right or wrong until you get to know this part of the Bible. The word right is righteousness in the Bible.
(5) The Lamp of the wicked is sin. If a person tries to tell you what the Bible says, and that person does things that are not right, do not listen to him. His ‘lamp’ is like a flashlight. He tries to show you and others what is right and true as if he is shining a flashlight on something so that you can see it. His flashlight is not a good flashlight, though. It will show you things that will help you do wrong. Do not follow his flashlight. Do not listen to him telling you how you should see things in life. All religions of error do this very thing. They claim to be true and Godly sources of light, but they teach sin rather than light.
A Saint Keeps from Sinning
What if a Saint sins the same sin over and over again? If the Saint is one who has been saved from sin and from sinning, he has been saved by Yeshua (Salvation)! Yeshua has all power! So, if He has saved a person, that person already has the power to not sin! If a person truly cannot stop sinning, he hasn’t been saved. Remember that a sinner is one who sins! A Saint is one who has been saved from sin and from sinning in order to do right and good, justice and acts of obedience. If a person cannot quit, that person has not been saved. If anyone thinks that sin is not serious, that is a great insult to the Yeshua! That person has not been saved and is not a son or a daughter of this God. The Saint will refrain from sinning! The sin will make the Saint so upset and fearful of the anger of the King that the Saint will turn from doing such mean things against Yeshua!
How Long Does God Stay Angry?
You might ask, “If I sin, will God be angry with me about that all the time?” If you turn from doing that sin and admit that you did it, He will not come after you. If you are a Saint and you sin, He will angrily come after you because you are a child of His! He will not overlook your giving Him a bad reputation before others and angels! Two Saints in the Bible lost their physical lives by one sin (look up Ananias and Sapphira). If you are not a Saint and you are fearful of this, you might consider this before becoming one. However, don’t forget that the consequences of not becoming one are everlasting.
Can I Live without Sinning?
Well, you certainly can’t live by sinning! Many will tell you that you can’t live without sinning once in a while. Don’t believe them! They do not know the King Yeshua, and they don’t know the power of the new life that He gives in Salvation. They think that God is weak—that He can’t help a person to not sin—while claiming that God can do anything! They are wrong; you can prove them wrong! How? Don’t sin!