"What Should I Do When I Sin?"

A Lesson by
Rev. E. Ray Shutt, Minister of Evangelism/Bus Director
Berean Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

“What Should I Do When I Sin??”

It is important to understand that while the devil will indeed tempt you to do wrong, you do NOT have to submit to his wicked temptations!

 The Bible says in the book of James chapter 4 . . .

 James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

 James 4:8 “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”

 James 4:9 “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.”

 James 4:10 “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”

Look at the order of events found in James chapter 4, verses 7 through 10….

 1- “Submit yourselves therefore to God…” (vs 7a)

o       How do we submit ourselves unto God??

§        (vs 8a) “Draw nigh unto God…”

§        (vs 8b) “…Cleanse your hands…”

§        (vs 8c) “…purify your hearts…”

§        (vs 9)   “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep…”

§        (vs10)  “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord…”

o       What will God do??

§        (vs 7) God will give you Victory over the devil

·        “…and he will flee from you…”

§        (vs 8) God will be able to fellowship closely with you

·        “…and he [God] will draw nigh to you…”

§        (vs10) God will give you strength to do the impossible!

·        “…and he [God] shall lift you up.”

2 - “…Resist the devil…” (vs 7b)

3 – “…and he [the devil] will flee from you.” (vs 7c)

If you change the order that God has established, you will soon find yourself in trouble with God and with the devil!! It pays to follow instructions!!

But what happens when you do not follow the instructions and you mess up??

What happens when you are tempted to sin and you get caught up in sin and do that which you never thought you would ever do??

Let’s look at what God’s Word says about this matter….

2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Note the instructions of God…they are basically the same after we sin as they are before we sin!!

1 – Submit to God (James 4:7),  Humble yourself to God (II Chronicles 7:14)

2 – Draw nigh to God (James 4:8),  Pray unto God (II Chronicles 7:14)

3 – Be afflicted, mourn and weep (James 4:9),  Seek my face (II Chronicles 7:14)

4 – Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord (James 4:7),  Turn from your sin (II Chronicles 7:14)

But notice, it is only after we have sinned and after we realize that we have sinned and we come back to God in humility that God gives us strength again to resist the devil! God wants to know if we are really sorry for our sin before He will bless us again!

Here’s another Scripture passage to look at….

Psalms 51:1 “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”

Psalms 51:2 “Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.”

Psalms 51:3 “For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.”

Psalms 51:4 “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.”

Psalms 51:5 “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

Psalms 51:6 “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.”

Psalms 51:7 “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

Psalms 51:8 “Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.”

Psalms 51:9 “Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.”

Psalms 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”

Psalms 51:11 “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.”

Psalms 51:12 “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”

Psalms 51:13 “Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.”

Psalms 51:14 “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.”

Psalms 51:15 “O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.”

Psalms 51:16 “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.”

Psalms 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

Psalms 51:18 “Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.”

Psalms 51:19 “Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.”

* * * * *

The Bible asks this question, Psalms 119:9a, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?”

Then the Bible answers that same question, Psalms 119:9b, “...by taking heed thereto according to thy word.”

* * * * *

God reminds us that we can can not lie about our sin and expect Him to bless us and forgive us of our sin!

Proverbs 28:13 “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

Isaiah 55:7 “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

* * * * *

If we expect God to forgive us of our sin, then we must come to God humbly and ask Him to forgive us of our sin. Only when we come to God with a humble heart and ask Him for forgiveness can we expect God to forgive us of our sin!

1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

1 John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

* * * * *

 God wants us to understand that if and when we fall to the devil’s temptations to sin, we still have an “advocate”, a Supporter, a Helper…what a Friend we have in Jesus!!

 1 John 2:1 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”

 1 John 2:2 “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”