Sold Out Christ Follower: I Did the Sin. I Can't Repent. I Would Do the Exact Same Next Time

Rebellious - http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/35v9hw/

We All Face the Dilemma.  Saved Doesn't Mean Sin Free.  But What About Rebellious?

I told a big fat whopper the other day.  That is all you need to know.  Due to the circumstances, I would tell that same whopper again.  So, my conscience is bothering me.  I want to do what is pleasing to God, but in this particular case I want to do what is going to help a friend.

The whole thing takes me back to the '60's and the introduction of situation ethics to the debate within the liberal arm of the church.  I wasn't a fan of it then and am not a fan of situation ethics now.  But, I'm smack dab in the middle of practicing it.  The issue seems simple on the one hand.  No one will be harmed.  Someone will be helped.  But is it that simple.  My witness to those who know about the sin will be harmed.

I discussed this with a group the other day.  We all agreed that whether the sin might be lying, gossip, envy, anger, failure to forgive, theft, or some form of sexual sin, each of us is still going to sin.  Our sin could even be failure to trust God or pride.  Or how about this one.  We don't want to forgive someone, because they don't deserve it, or because we actually like the feeling of resentment we are carrying around.

So, as the group discussed it, we all came to the same conclusion at about the same time.  Not only was the issue one that pointed out how impossible it is for us to conform to what we know we should do, but it also was a very solid lesson in being very careful how we view the sins of others.

We all know the parable of the fellow who needed to take the plank out of his own eye so that he could see well enough to remove the speck from his friends eye.  We get that concept at a surface level when we here it.  However, the extra element in this situation, not being willing to repent, and being clear that I would repeat the same behavior in the same circumstance, seemed to drive the point home to those of us in the group.  Am I, or you, any different than some others around us who seem very rebellious, but maybe in a more obvious sin.

So we might look at the person who is drinking too much.  Maybe not an alcoholic, but drinking to the point of being drunk, even though they claim to be a Christian.  The have no inclination to stop.  W could have the same argument about someone who is grossly overweight, or someone that has serious anger management problems.

My sense until this new understanding would be:  they need to be repenting and working on changing their behavior, or they might need to question their salvation.  Now I wonder aloud, don't we all have some part of our sin nature that we are too rebellious to even try to change?

Love to hear your input on that first question.

Then we can add this.  Even though I said I would do the sin again in the same circumstance, I was still burdoned by my choice and my failure to repent or even be willing to repent.  If I had not been burdoned by my position, would that create a question of my being saved or not.

Let's use a tougher issue.  What if the Christian emotionally abuses their spouse, parent, or child, for instance.  What if they say that they understand their action is sinful, and for whatever reason, have no interest in repenting or changing?  Maybe they feel justified by something the other person is doing, or rationalize based on struggles in their life.  But they are upset about their actions.  They just are not upset enough to work on changing. 

Now take that same person and they say that they don't repent, believe there is some rational for their sin, would act the same in the future, BUT have no remorse, sadness, or concern about the effect on their relationship with God.  Is there a meaningful difference between the two?  

UPDATE

I have been able to repent of the sin.  I realized that I had believed I was smarter than God.  Instead of waiting for him to provide an alternative solution that wouldn't have required me to lie, I was too anxious to see the issue solved.  So, the sin was not only lying, but lack of faith and unbelief.

New book, God Called - He Needs Your Decision, delves deeper into these very kinds of issues.
 
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