Discussion question

[ricky]

Does God overlook/ turn a blind eye to sin in the life of the believer?

[The_Patriot21]

Look up James 2:18. Food for thought.

[ricky]

Great point. I have a view, i posted this in response to a movment in Christianity today that some call "hypergrace" that God turn's a blind eye on the sin of a Christian.

Edited August 23, 2014 by saved_ricky

[Hobbes]

1 John 1:³ That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. ⁵ This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 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. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

 

It does matter how we walk since Jesus is with us always.  We are to lean on the Son of God to help us to follow Him by faith to continue to abide in Him as His disciples;  otherwise, we run the risk of being left behind at the pre trib rapture when God comes to judge His House first.  Unrepentant saints will not lose their salvation, but they will lose crowns and their seat at the Marriage Supper and then there will be weeping & gnashing of teeth at the coming fire on the earth and the coming great tribulation as a result.

 

1 Corinthians 9:²⁴ Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. ²⁵ And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. ²⁶ I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: ²⁷ But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

 

Hebrews 12th chapter can show necessity for running that race by faith in the author & finisher of our faith to help us lay aside every weight & sin to avoid the chastening from the Father in being left behind.

 

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+12&version=KJV

 

Edited August 23, 2014 by Hobbes

[OneLight]

The Holy Spirit still convicts us of sin, so my answer is no, He does not turn a blinds eye to sin of a believer.  I would say He has more patience than we can understand.

[Wildstar]

Does God overlook/ turn a blind eye to sin in the life of the believer?

 

1) Does god overlook / turn a blind eye to sin in the life of a believer?  Yes and No.

 

Yes: He has blotted out all sin through his grace.  Belief in him is evidenced by the holy spirit residing in that heart.  These people are completely clean as the holy spirit cannot reside in a filthy vessel.

No:  We are commanded to love.  If we dont love we will be punished and even James stated faith without works is dead.  Works meaning love.  

[Persuaded]

Does God overlook/ turn a blind eye to sin in the life of the believer?

If you're getting away with sin, then you have a bigger problem:

Hebrews 12:5-8

5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

[FreeinChrist]

I will apply a answer of overall NO!

 

But I think that God will on occasion, cover sins of His people.  Especially when we allow the Holy Spirit to do His job of helping us to love others:

Hatred stirreth up strife; but love covereth all sins.

Proverbs 10:12

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity will cover a multitude of sins.

I Peter 4:8

For by doing this we will walk in our liberty in Christ, and will not devour one another, Galatians 5:13-16.

 

And also when we correct those who have erred from the truth, God will hide a multitude of sins:

19)  Brethren, if any one of you should err from the truth, and one should convert him;

20)  Let him know, that he who converteh a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death, and will hide a multitude of sins.

James 5:19-20

[Tristen]

I will apply a answer of overall NO!

 

But I think that God will on occasion, cover sins of His people.  Especially when we allow the Holy Spirit to do His job of helping us to love others:

Hatred stirreth up strife; but love covereth all sins.

Proverbs 10:12

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity will cover a multitude of sins.

I Peter 4:8

For by doing this we will walk in our liberty in Christ, and will not devour one another, Galatians 5:13-16.

 

And also when we correct those who have erred from the truth, God will hide a multitude of sins:

19)  Brethren, if any one of you should err from the truth, and one should convert him;

20)  Let him know, that he who converteh a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death, and will hide a multitude of sins.

James 5:19-20

 

 

It’s a good question. I think the answer can be “yes” or “no” – depending upon the perspective.

 

 

The primary issue IMO is the sincerity of the faith confession (which only God and the individual can determine). If an individual sincerely surrenders ownership of their life to Christ, then they are immediately purified by the blood of Christ; their sins are dealt with forever – the blood of Christ is sufficient to account for all sin. God has accepted the cost of Christ’s sacrifice (the perfectly sinless Son of God) as sufficient to redeem us from the just eternal consequences of our sin – for those who accept God’s offer of salvation through Christ.

 

Yet as we are all aware, that doesn’t make us perfect with regards to our behaviour. So there is a paradox that Christ has “perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).

 

We should consider that the reason we are provided with a Saviour is that God is aware that we are incapable of being righteous by our own efforts. So He is not surprised by our weaknesses. Christ has made us legally clean in the eyes of God's perfect justice (the only perspective that matters); regardless of our personal failures. Therefore we can “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16) – not because we are clean in ourselves, but because we are clean in Christ [Note that we are encouraged to come to God’s throne when we need grace and mercy – not just when we are feeling righteous].

 

 

If one is sincere in their faith confession, they are provided with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the Spirit will influence our life towards righteous behaviour and away from sin (Galatians 5:19-23). Therefore a life that is epitomised by a continued justification of sin indicates possible insincerity in the original faith confession. That is, it is legitimate to question whether or not that life has really been surrendered to Christ – if one is making no effort to do His will (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8). Remembering that the point of our accepting the gospel was the recognition that sin is bad (including bad for us), and that we need to be saved from sin and its consequences. So a continued pursuit of sin indicates that this has not been understood.

 

Galatians 6:7-8

⁷ Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. ⁸ For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life

 

So even though we all stumble at times; this general pattern of change towards righteousness will be evident in a sincere believer (Galatians 5:22-23). And a pattern of justifying unrighteousness is evidence of insincerity (Galatians 5:19-21, 2 Peter 1:5-9, 1John 3:8, Jude 1:4).

 

Ephesians 4:17-24

¹⁷ This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, ¹⁸ having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; ¹⁹ who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

²⁰ But you have not so learned Christ, ²¹ if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: ²² that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

 

If one’s faith confession is insincere, that individual has not accessed the grace of Christ and remains accountable for their own sins.

 

 

So you asked; “Does God overlook/ turn a blind eye to sin in the life of the believer?”

 

The real answer is no – God has paid a massive price to secure a path of salvation and redemption for all sinners. Nothing has been overlooked. God’s perfect justice has held every sin to account. Only in the case of a sincere believer – Jesus has voluntarily suffered the consequences of our sin in our stead.

[Willa]

I don't think any of us is perfect in God's eyes. We all hold the treasure of the life of Christ in earthen vessels. His life in us is what makes us worthy of heaven and nothing else. Only Jesus Christ is perfect, and His perfction has been imputed on us. His blood continually cleanses us from unknown sin as we walk in fellowship with God and with other believers. This is just one reason why it is so important that we have the fellowship of a group of believers. We rub against each other and remove the sharp edges till we fit together in a building of living stones. Finally we are polished and transparent so that the life of Christ can be clearly seen in us. But I don't believe that perfection is obtained while on this earth.

God isn't blind to our sin but the blood of Jesus covers it. We are the ones who are usually blind to our sin. A spouse can find a few imperfections since we see them daily. But our love for that person makes up for it all. We ignore them. God continues to gently remove them.