I am a sinner and so are most people I know! I do not want to sin, I don’t aim to sin, yet despite my best efforts I do sin! Thank God for Jesus.

I have been thinking this week about my sin!

It strikes me that Christians divide over sin! That may sound obvious, but let me try and explain. There are Christians who sin, and repent, and recognize that it is only through the gospel of Jesus that they are saved of their sin. And so the urging of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:1 ‘to live a life worthy of the calling you have received’ seems to make logical sense. It is not a huge step in logic to hear Paul then exhort Christians to ‘make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace’. If we are united in the gospel which saves us then the implication should be that we stay true to that gospel, and in that, to those who also hold to that gospel.

But then there are those who sin, but yet are selective in what they repent of. They may sit comfortably in their salvation by the gospel, but yet when it compromises their life choices, be happy to ignore or refuse to submit to its authority over their life.

I can in my weakest moments understand this view. I like being saved. I don’t like having to change or repent of my sin – in fact often if I can find a way around my sin, I do!! This is so wrong. This is also why we can be ever so thankful for the Bible, which upholds us in the areas where we live the gospel well, and rebuke us in areas where we are living in opposition to the gospel. If the Bible says, we must do. If the Bible says not to do, then we must not do it.

Christians divide at this point. The ‘christian’ who accepts the gospel, yet denies blatant truths that come from it – is not united with those who accept the gospel and repent where it calls them to account.

As a church, a body of believers, a group of sinners – we cannot be God’s masterpiece if we reject his word or worse, promote what his word clearly says we must not do.

Be a repentant sinner – not a convenient sinner. And be united in God’s truth rather than in what you might prefer to be the truth.