Are we really to Hate Sin?

As we look into the cost of following Christ we have to talk about how following Christ means we are to become Holy.  But what does that mean to become Holy, we love to say it but do we really look into what it means.  Are we ready to really put aside our wants and desires for the desires of God?  If we are honest with ourselves, are we really ready to say to others I now follow  God and no longer do that?  Sin is what separates us from God, it is our sin that keeps us from a relationship with A loving God.  Why did God send His son to Earth?  John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  God loved us so He sends His Son, to die on a cross so we can everlasting life!  Many take this and say this is great it means that we are saved, saved from what though?  We are saved from our sins, which means if we are saved from something then that something should no longer be a part of our lives. 

Many say it doesn’t matter how you live your life God loves us so much that He is not sending anyone to Hell.  But if that was the case then the cross would be all that was needed, Christ could have come to earth never started a ministry go and tell those around that they needed to turn to God.  There would be no need for the great commission.  But that is not the case, Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:1-7, “Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins.  You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.  All of us used to live that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God’s anger just like everyone else.   But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!)  For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms—all because we are one with Christ Jesus.  And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus.”  Notice Paul says we were dead because of our sins.  It is our sins that keep us from God, we must come to Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to come into us and cleanse us of our sins.  We no longer are to live for this world but Live for God.

          Many forget that we serve a God that hates sin, Psalm 5:4-6; “O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness; you cannot tolerate the slightest sin. Therefore, the proud will not be allowed to stand in your presence, for you hate all who do evil. You will destroy those who tell lies. The Lord detests murderers and deceivers.” we are to become more like God as we grow in our relationship with God.  In 1^st John 1:5-2:6 we read, “ This is the message he has given us to announce to you: God is light and there is no darkness in him at all.  So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth.  But if we are living in the light of God’s presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin.  If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth.  But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.  If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if you do sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who pleases God completely.  He is the sacrifice for our sins. He takes away not only our sins but the sins of all the world.  And how can we be sure that we belong to him? By obeying his commandments.  If someone says, “I belong to God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and does not live in the truth.  But those who obey God’s word really do love him. That is the way to know whether or not we live in him.  Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did.”  We are to let go of our sinful nature and put on the nature of God, we can come to Christ and ask for forgiveness but we must also realize we are to live a new kind of life.  We no longer live for us but we live for God.