by Dennis Stackhouse<\/p>\n
How important is it for a Christian individuals to recognize sin in their lives?\u00a0 It is of extreme importance because without that recognition a person will never take the necessary steps to remove the sin and get their life moving in a righteous direction once more.\u00a0 With that in mind, let’s notice a few Biblical examples of this dynamic at work.<\/p>\n
When King Saul was confronted by the prophet Samuel regarding his disobedience, he said, “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words<\/em>” (I Samuel 15:24).\u00a0 Although changes were not forthcoming in Saul’s life, he did recognize his sinfulness.<\/p>\n One we are very familiar with involves King David and his adulterous sin with Bathsheba, and the subsequent murder of her husband.\u00a0 The prophet Nathan was sent by God to point out his sinful behavior.\u00a0 David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord<\/em>” (II Samuel 12:13).\u00a0 Those six simple words uncover his recognition and the agony David was feeling in his soul.\u00a0 In Psalms 51:1-3 we read this: “Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.\u00a0 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.\u00a0 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.<\/em>”\u00a0 Here again is a very acute awareness of sin; no denials, no excuses, just a contrite heart looking for God’s mercy.<\/p>\n We have similar statements made in the New Testament.\u00a0 Think about the tax collector in our Lord’s parable recorded in Luke 18:9-14.\u00a0 This man’s inner soul is bared to us “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner’<\/em>” (Luke 18:13).\u00a0 This man was in such deep despair over his sin that he couldn’t even lift his eyes toward God.\u00a0 He felt absolutely unworthy to stand in the presence of holiness.\u00a0 All he sought was mercy from the One who is anxious to give it.\u00a0 Add to this the statement of the apostle Paul recorded for us, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all<\/em>” (I Timothy 1:15).<\/em>\u00a0When Paul reflected on his pre-Christian life, especially as it involved his persecution of the church, he felt as though he was the worst sinner that had ever lived.\u00a0 This is nothing less than a soul-wrenching recognition of sinfulness.<\/p>\n Thinking specifically about those who are Christians, this recognition of sin should lead to contrition and repentance, seeking God’s forgiveness.\u00a0 John, writing to a Christian audience, puts it very well, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness<\/em>” (I John 1:9).\u00a0 The recognition of sin in our lives is critical, but it doesn’t stop there.\u00a0 We must take the necessary steps to return to God by forsaking the sin and seeking His mercy to cleanse those sins.\u00a0 May God bless us as we seek to live for Him and be a light to this crooked and perverse generation.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Dennis Stackhouse How important is it for a Christian individuals to recognize sin in their lives?\u00a0 It is of extreme importance because without that recognition a person will never take the necessary steps to remove the sin and get their life moving in a righteous direction once more.\u00a0 With that in mind, let’s notice…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[51,463,179],"class_list":["post-47052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-confession","tag-humility","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55622,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-consequence-of-sin-can-outlive-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":47052,"position":0},"title":"The Consequence of Sin Can Outlive Us","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton The apostle Paul declared in Galatians 6:7, \"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.\" There has always been consequences to sin from the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the garden (Genesis 2,3). A man\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33980,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/david-a-man-after-gods-own-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":47052,"position":1},"title":"David – A Man After God’s Own Heart","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ross Ward Text: I Samuel 13:14 The Story II Samuel 11:2-5 - sin with Bathsheba A time when Kings go to war Bathsheba was very beautiful David inquires about her David summons her Has a relationship with her A child is conceived Progression of sin Saw Dwelt on her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30844,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-david-have-two-sons-named-solomon\/","url_meta":{"origin":47052,"position":2},"title":"Did David have two sons named Solomon?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm now reading II Samuel and I am confused about David's children. In II Samuel 5:14, the passage reads that one of the names of the eleven children born in Jerusalem was Solomon. In II Samuel 12:24, the passage reads that Bathsheba gave birth to another Solomon. My question\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43828,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/both-david-and-saul-sinned-and-admitted-they-sinned-so-why-was-the-kingdom-taken-from-saul-but-not-david\/","url_meta":{"origin":47052,"position":3},"title":"Both David and Saul sinned and admitted they sinned, so why was the kingdom taken from Saul but not David?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Good day to you. I hope you are well. My question is about two men from the holy Scriptures: King Saul and King David. When Saul sinned against God, God took the kingdom away from him, but when David sinned, God did not take away the kingdom from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51791,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-all-sin-premeditated\/","url_meta":{"origin":47052,"position":4},"title":"Is all sin premeditated?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is all sin premeditated? Answer: I was intrigued by your question. I am not sure what you exactly mean by premeditated and what boundaries to go by, but in the Bible, there are sins mentioned that people don't realize what they are doing. There are also other sins where\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54753,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-davids-trick-on-ahimelech-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":47052,"position":5},"title":"Was David’s “trick” on Ahimelech a sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeff, Is a trick a sin? When reading I Samuel 21:1-9, can we say that David lied to Ahimelech or tricked him? In many cases in the book of First Samuel David used a trick to get himself out of trouble. Answer: \"David said to Ahimelech the priest,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47052\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}