Righteousness consciousness versus sin consciousness
If you follow me on twitter for a
while now, you will see that I always talk about how powerful your
righteousness consciousness is compared to sin consciousness. I often roll my
eyes when I see people discussing if something is sin or not sin. Do you know
someone that is always talking about what is sin or isn’t sin? Or have you
found yourself saying “I must be careful not to sin today, God help me not to
sin” every day? This is being sin-conscious! You have not sinned yet but you
are over-focused on the power of sin rather than the righteousness of God that
you are as a believer.
Hebrews
10:2-3 (TPT) For if animal sacrifices could once and for all eliminate
sin, they would have ceased to be offered and the worshipers would have clean
consciences. Instead, once was not enough so by the repetitive sacrifices year
after year, the worshipers were continually reminded of their sins, with their
hearts still impure.
"Sin-consciousness" is being
constantly reminded of sin, asking questions like “Is this sin” or “Is that
sin” as a guide to righteousness. As a believer in Christ, you know that
sin has no power over you. But having a sin conscious mindset shows that you may
still think you are a slave to sin. Whereas we have received liberty from sin.
We have been made right by God, this enables us to live right.
Galatians
5:1 (TPT) Let me be clear, the Anointed One has set us free—not
partially, but completely and wonderfully free! We must always cherish this
truth and stubbornly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past.
To be sin conscious is not the plan of
God. God does not want Christians to be in bondage worried about sin at every
point in time. Being sin conscious will always put you in a place of defeat, a
place of feeling like you will never get out from it. You may even start
believing that you may never change. It is a plan of the devil! Unfortunately,
some of us may have heard teachings that talk about “believers will always
continue in sin”. This rubbish statement is painted as a “fact of life” to
believers. I am here to tell you to reject this notion and remember the
sacrifice of Jesus that saved you from the debilitating power of sin and death.
We have received the power from God Himself to stop sinning! It is completely
possible by the grace
of God.
A righteousness conscious person lives in
freedom and liberty. He or she lives the way God wants everyone to live. He or
she enjoys freedom from negative thoughts of not being good enough for God
because they know that the grace of God has been made sufficient for them.
Through Jesus, you are free from sin. His blood is the most expensive currency;
it is far more expensive than sin. His blood didn’t cover your sins like the
blood of goats and bulls did in the old testament, His blood removed every
trace of sin in you like it never existed.
1
John 3:20 (AMP) whenever our heart convicts us [in guilt]; for God is
greater than our heart and He knows all things [nothing is hidden from Him
because we are in His hands]
Anything that makes you feel guilty
after sin is not the Holy Spirit, that thing wants you to crawl up in a ball
feeling condemned is influenced by the contents of your heart. The devil capitalises
on the way you see yourself, and he uses it to make you feel like you are a
disappointment. The devils aim is make you hide from God like Adam and Eve did.
The more you hide, the more it becomes difficult to go back to God.
So anytime you feel guilty, know its
your heart and not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not minister guilt to
you, he reminds you of your righteousness. He ministers to your spirit that you
have done something wrong, something that does not align with your identity in
Christ! He ministers that God is not angry with you, that you can go boldly to
the throne of Grace and receive mercy. He won’t let you stay away from God too
long, He will help you confess your sins and accept God’s forgiveness.
1 John 3:21
(AMP)
Beloved, if our heart does not convict us [of guilt], we have confidence [complete
assurance and boldness] before God;
The good news is that you can train
your heart to not condemn you! You can choose to bask in your identity in
Christ and strip away the feelings of guilt and unworthiness that wants to
destroy your faith in God. You have to train your heart to see you the way God
sees you. God sees you as Christ!
The trick of the devil through sin consciousness
As a believer in the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ, you have experienced true cleansing and freedom from the consciousness of sin. No matter what, there is still, therefore, no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)
A believer that is more conscious of
sin than his/her righteous nature tends to dwell in condemnation when they make
a mistake. Condemnation magnifies sin and tries to make it look like it greater
than the sacrifice of Jesus! God is not condemning any believer, the devil does
not have the power to condemn you, why do you condemn yourself?
Rather than focusing on sin, focus on
the blood of Jesus that speaks better things that the blood of Abel. It speaks
of God’s forgiveness and mercy. Rather than choosing to be focused on that
mistake, you made last week, turn your attention to the cross. Focus on how the power of
sin and death was destroyed because of God’s grace? Focusing on sin will
continue to amplify your weakness but focusing on the fact that you have now
become the very own righteousness of God because you are in Christ will free
you from that sin and help you walk in Christ’s ability and power.
We are not under the law; Jesus came
to fulfil the law! So we don’t have to struggle
but lay on His finished works of redemption. We should no longer be “sin
conscious” but be conscious of the grace of God.
Here is a way to think about sin and forgiveness:
You offended your father by doing
something he doesn’t like then one small insignificant person comes to meet you
and tell you that you are in trouble. This person goes on to tell you never to
return home because your father will kill you. He says the best thing for you
is to move to the village and live there forever as a pauper. And you know that
this person has been trying to undermine your father since before you were
born. Come to think of it: what is the
person’s business? Who called this person into the issue? Who told this person
that his opinion is needed or required? After all, the issue is strictly
between you and your dad. Why should an insignificant stranger try to get
involved in the issue? This example above is an illustration of God, us and the
devil when it comes to sin. At the end of the day, we have to see the devil for
who he is. He is constantly trying to stop us from loving God.
Sin is not an issue for
any believer. It is not a stumbling block either. The blood of Jesus has taken
away the sins of the world. Every single sin was wiped off! His sacrifice was
perfect, once and for all. Sin can only seem or appear to be an issue to an unbeliever that does not know his or her identity in Christ.
Check this out:
Ephesians
1:7-10 (MSG) Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured
out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and
punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either.
Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could
possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He
set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would
be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven,
everything on planet earth.
As believers, it is time for that
mental shift. It is time to grow up! No more hot debates about what is sin or
nor sin. I have seen people use scriptures to explain how drinking alcohol is
not a sin. What a waste of time! Now the focus should be on “Does this action
edify me?”, “Does this make my walk with God easier?”, “Is this action a
stumbling block to young believers around me?”. It does not have to be listed
in the 10 commandments for you to choose to abstain from it. Your sole focus
should be on bearing righteous fruits as a result of your righteous nature.
When
you make a mistake, God wants you to be Christ-conscious. He wants you to be conscious
of the fact that you have an abundance in the forgiveness of sins through the blood
of Jesus. He wants you to know that He is not angry with you because of the
cross. God wants you to understand that Jesus was the perfect sacrifice that
has taken away the sins of the world forever.
I
challenge you to be righteousness-conscious
today! You will see the peace of God that will flow into your heart
effortlessly. Christ took all your sins and now you became His righteousness. When
God looks at a believer, he sees you like you’ve never sinned and you always
obey because of the cross.
So
when you make a mistake, don’t be conscious of your failure and feel bad or
condemned. Don’t let the devil magnify your error. Instead, be conscious of your
identity in Christ, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and continue your
walk with God!
Confession: Thank You, Jesus, for shedding your blood for me and removing my
sin. Because of Your sacrifice, I am redeemed and free from all condemnation
and sin consciousness. I am the righteousness of God in Christ, therefore, I command my mind to never give power to sin over my life! I command my mind to continually bask in the righteous nature because I believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
With love,
Bibi
This is amazing. God bless you Bibi
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. I needed to read this.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to be righteous/God conscious. As we behold this truth and continually renew our mind with his word, our actions inevitably falls in place. Our identity in Christ is solely dependent on Christ finished work. Thanks for this beautiful piece. God Bless!
ReplyDeleteBless you, Bibi! I just googled about sin-consciousness vs. righteousness-consciousness because I knew I needed to be reminded of this truth. I chose your article "at random" and was so grateful! You said everything I needed to hear, and you said beautifully. THANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteGod bless you really good. This is amazing. Thank
ReplyDeleteVery nicce post
ReplyDeleteThis is great piece. God bless you abundantly
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful piece, God bless you really good
ReplyDeleteThis is a masterpiece
ReplyDelete