September 21
“Therefore, what benefit were then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(Romans 6:21-23)
Other consequences we experience when we sin in immoral ways:
- Shame, regret, remorse, guilt, disappointment, hopelessness, despair, having to start over again.
This goes without saying. How awful we feel after we sin! How hopeless life seems, how guilty we feel, and how much do we regret our lack of control! (If you don’t feel guilty after committing immorality or viewing pornography, if the Lord is not convicting you that these are unacceptable behaviors and are evil in His sight, then I’d be concerned about whether or not you are a Christian, because this is one of the functions that the Holy Spirit within us provides, conviction of sin. See John 16:8.)
We feel dirty, icky, ashamed, and unclean when we choose to sin in immoral ways, perhaps more so than other sins. We feel contaminated and polluted, and this feeling persists until we have thoroughly confessed our sin and rebellion to God. Hiding and hoping these feelings go away will not do the job, nor will pretending we did not do anything wrong. Nor will blaming others. Only thorough and specific confession will clear our consciences, but the consequences may linger long for us.
We will feel disappointed in ourselves, and if we have been victorious for a while over these sins, we will feel like we have been set back months or even years in our Christian walk and witness; and indeed we may have been. This results in further disappointment, discouragement, and even some periods of despair. We feel like we are starting all over again, maybe even further behind than when we first met Christ. Jesus will forgive us, of course, but our losses are inestimable nonetheless.
Why put ourselves through all of this? What value do you place on avoiding these feelings, these losses, these failures? For what price would you sell a clear conscience before God? Would you sell out for a momentary thrill produced by immoral, evil lusts? Would you trade the approval of God and man for shame, regret, failure, remorse, going backwards, and having to start all over again, further behind than before?
How cheaply we sell our good standing before Christ!