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HOW
TO BE FORGIVEN
FROM SIN
What
does the Bible say about SIN -
an ugly 3 letter word
by:
Pastor Max Solbrekken
Thousands
of years ago, King David
stated: "He
that confesseth and forsaketh
his sin shall have mercy, but
he that covereth his sin shall
not prosper."
(Proverbs 28:13)
The
Bible states emphatically: "If
we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us
from all
unrighteousness."
(1 John 1:9)
"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 1:7)
SIN
IS REAL - WE ARE ALL SINNERS
Sin
is real, says famed
psychiatrist Dr. Karl
Menninger. The highly
acclaimed psychiatrist is
distressed by modern society's
failure to understand that
many of man's problems are
caused by sin.
It
annoys him to hear people
discuss morality without so
much as mentioning the word
"SIN".
WHEN
WE DISCOVER THE ROOT OF OUR
PROBLEMS - WE CAN DEAL
WITH THEM
Menninger
believes that in order to
raise civilization's moral
tone and deal with depression,
anxiety and worry, people must
learn the root cause of their
problems.
And
the root cause in many
instances is a person's
unwillingness to take
responsibility for his own
actions, but rather lay the
blame on someone - or
something - else!
Several
decades ago, George W. Cornell
of the Associated Press (AP)
wrote a column titled 'Word
Sin Disappears But Remains A
Fact', in which he quoted at
great length Dr. Karl
Menninger's beliefs on this
subject.
ARE
IMMORALITY & UNETHICAL
BEHAVIOR SIN?
"He
says the realities of personal
guilt and sin have been
glossed over as symptoms of
emotional illness or
environmental conditioning for
which the individual is not
considered responsible",
but he adds:
"There
is sin...which cannot be
subsumed under verbal
artifacts such as 'disease',
'delinquency', 'deviancy'.
There is immorality. There is
unethical behavior. There is
wrong doing."
WHATEVER
BECAME OF SIN?
Cornell
states: "He calls for a
reaffirmation of the concept
of sin and of personal
responsibility for it."
In a new book published by
Hawthorne called 'Whatever
Became of Sin?' he declares:
"In
the concept of personal
responsibility and
answerability for ourselves
and for others were to return
to common acceptance, hope
would return to the world with
it."
We
have the father of
psycho-analysis, Sigmund Freud
- who was battling his own
weird and kinky imaginations
and habits - to thank for much
of that! The
founder of the Menninger
Centre in Topeka, Kansas, is
seeking to correct the
situation by addressing the
problem.
SIN
HAS A DEFIANT, DISLOYAL
QUALITY
His
latest book, Whatever Became
of Sin?, describes the subject
as "a transgression of
the law of God; disobedience
of the divine will; moral
failure...Sin has a defiant,
or disloyal quality; someone
is defiled or offended or
hurt."
Modern
psychiatry often lets people
off the hook. And failure to
bring offenders face to face
with their error could produce
a sense of vindication,
without coming to grips with
the problem; the need to
change lifestyles.
ACCEPTING
RESPONSIBILITY & REPENTING
BRINGS FREEDOM FROM GUILT
& ANXIETY
Menninger
has successfully treated
thousands of clients for more
than a half century and has
proven that acceptance of
responsibility coupled with
repentance, often brings
freedom from guilt and
anxiety. The refusal to
confront the problem only
compounds it by giving at the
very best, temporary relief.
Thousands
of years ago, King David
stated: "He that
confesseth and forsaketh his
sin shall have mercy, but he
that covereth his sin shall
not prosper." (Proverbs
28:13)
FORGIVENESS
IS THE KEY TO MENTAL HEALTH
Forgiveness
is vital to good mental
health. We must forgive others
if we expect God to forgive
us, as well as being able to
forgive ourselves.
A
leading psychiatrist noted
that 90% of the mentally ill
could be immediately well if
they were able to forgive
themselves and others and to
receive forgiveness!
It
is difficult for an individual
to forgive himself without the
assurance that God has
forgiven him. That
is why the gospel - CONFESSION,
REPENTANCE and FORGIVENESS
- is so relevant and
necessary!
IF
WE CONFESS OUR SIN GOD IS
FAITHFUL TO FORGIVE OUR SIN
The
Bible states emphatically:
"If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all
unrighteousness." (1 John
1:9) "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 1:7)
Some
health officials, in
explaining their AIDS program,
go to great lengths promoting
condoms, as well as sexual
abstinence. Then they usually
add: "THIS IS NOT A MORAL
ISSUE."
How
ridiculous. Of course it's a
moral issue!
If
our young people had higher
morals there wouldn't be such
a problem with drug abuse,
fornication or homosexual
problems which puts them at
risk for the AIDS virus.
A
RISE IN MORAL VALUES WOULD
DECREASE SEXUAL DISEASES
If
people were more moral and
stuck with the Bible standard
of "one woman - one
man", there wouldn't be
such a dramatic increase in
sexually transmitted diseases.
A
RISE IN MORAL VALUES WOULD
ELIMINATE SO MUCH SIN
It
goes without saying, violence
would be almost non-existent
and crime, rape and child
abuse would drop drastically.
WHAT
THE WORLD NEEDS IS A MORAL
REVOLUTION!
There
are signs that a moral
revolution is coming. During
an earlier Canadian election,
former Prime Minister Brian
Mulroney was accused of lying.
Constituents were sending
politicians the message:
"We won't tolerate
dishonesty."
MORAL
VALUES ARE NECESSARY FOR A
THRIVING ECONOMY
During
the last general election in
Canada, Prime Minister Jean
Chretien was accused of
breaking three earlier
election promises which
included the promise to scrap
the hated "GST".
In the recent US Presidential
election, nearly all
candidates were speaking about
values. Why? People understand
that a sense of moral values
is not only important, but
necessary.
America's
annual "SIN BILL"
topped more than a half a
trillion dollars in 1987.
Dr.
Charles Ewing of The National
Statesman said that Americans
spent $144 billion for liquor,
$177 billion on gambling, $110
billion on drugs, $73 billion
on tobacco and $40 billion on
pornography!
TEENAGERS,
OUR GREATEST COMMODITY - are
being threatened by violence,
murder, drugs, alcoholism
& suicide.
An
article by Dr. Robert Blum in
the Journal of American
Medical Association states:
"Over the past 30 years,
adolescents have been the only
population in the US who have
not experienced improvement in
their health status."
According
to Blum, 77% of adolescent
deaths were caused by
accidents and violence,
including self-inflicted
violence. And there was a
shocking four-fold increase in
suicides & murders!
A
US National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration report
states: "Of the 10,250
kids born today...one will die
and four will sustain serious
or crippling injuries in an
alcohol related crash before
they reach the age of
24."
A
SERIOUS WARNING TO ALL -
"THE WAGES OF SIN IS
DEATH"
This
is a very sobering, serious
warning about sin, accidents
and death! May we all take a
lesson from these tragic
statistics, realizing that
"The wages of sin is
death."
WHAT
MUST I DO TO BE FORGIVEN OF MY
SINS?
You
may say, "All you have
stated is true! But what must
I do to be forgiven and freed
from my sins?" The Bible
says, "If we confess our
sins (to God) He is faithful
and just to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness." (1
John 1:9)
George
W. Cornell writes: "Menninger
says that just as it is
inadequate for a clergyman to
give only pastoral counseling
to a schizophrenic, it is
inadequate for a psychiatrist
to treat a symptom like
sleeplessness of a man
involved in wicked
rascality."
REPENTANCE
OF SIN IS VALUABLE!
"It
does little good to repent a
symptom, but it may do great
harm not to repent a sin.
Vice-versa, it does little
good to merely psychoanalyze a
sin and sometimes a great harm
to ignore a symptom."
He
says recognizing the fact of
voluntarily willed sin is
"the only hopeful
view", since it implies
the possibility of repenting
and correcting it. He adds:
"The
logical reasonable effective
solution for tension reduction
in such circumstances is to
make atonement, as the
theologians call it, or as we
say, by restitution,
acknowledgement and revised
tactics."
As
the situation now is
"vague amorphous evil
appears all around us"
with the presumption that
"no one is responsible,
no one guilty" and that
there is 'just nothing to do. BUT,
THERE IS SOMETHING WE CAN DO!
THE
BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST CLEANSES
US FROM ALL SIN
"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 1:7)
The
Bible says: "...But the
gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our
Lord." (Romans
6:23)
WOULD
YOU LIKE
TO RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST INTO
YOUR HEART TODAY?
PRAY
THIS PRAYER NOW TO RECEIVE
JESUS CHRIST IN YOUR HEART
"Dear
Heavenly Father,
I
ask for Thy great mercy and
grace. I acknowledge my
sinfulness and confess that I
cannot save myself. I
believe the GOOD NEWS that
Jesus paid the penalty for m
sins, through His vicarious
death on the cross."
"I
believe that Jesus Christ rose
from the dead according to the
Scriptures and He has the
power and authority to forgive
my sins and save my soul.
I repent of my sins and am
willing to forsake them with
the help of the Holy
Spirit."
"I
now renounce the devil and all
his works and all his ways and
I now receive Jesus Christ as
Lord and Saviour, my Master
and my God. Come into my
heart and save me now, for
Christs' sake. Thank you
Lord, for saving my soul.
In Jesus precious' name, I
pray." Amen.
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