AN OPEN WALK WITH GOD

Psa 51:1-4, Ecc 7:20

THE SCENARIO: Diaphanous, a sinner, is a believer in Jesus Christ. The beautiful thing about Diaphanous is that they are so transparent before God; they ever talk to Him about their sin, hiding nothing before Him. Diaphanous knows that as a believer they have been forgiven of their sin by the grace and mercy of God. Even so, they continue to struggle with certain sins on a regular basis. Diaphanous seems to be caught up in a cycle of recurrent sin, confession before God, more recurrent sin, more confession before God, and so on. Diaphanous' heart is sure heavy within them over this, for they love their God, and hate grieving Him like that. And O how they miss His most intimate fellowship with them when they slip outside His will.

In the outworking of this scenario please consider the following:

1. Diaphanous' recurrent sin, be it as it may, is it forgiven too, seeing they are a believer, or are there certain instances where it is not (that is, does the forgiveness found at the foot of the Cross look forward like that no matter what)? Is there a limit as far as God is concerned both as to the degree and frequency of recurrent sin insofar as forgiveness goes for a believer? Please discuss both questions with respect to 1Jo 1:9 and 1Jo 2:1, then bring your own verses to bear too please. Our goal is to make God's stance relative to recurrent sin (its frequency, its depth, its forgiveness) as Scripturally clear as possible with this point, bearing in mind that we are interested in His stance with respect to a believer in this regard. May also the outworking of this point be an encouragement to you Christian friend to persist in your open walk with our God.

2 As said in the scenario setup, Diaphanous confesses their sin; is that all there is to the repentance process? What exactly does it mean to repent of one's sin from the perspective of Scripture? Please cite three examples where either an Old Testament or a New Testament saint repented of their sin—how was their repentance borne out?

3. We suppose that God convicts us of our sin through our conscience. It is a means by which He relates to us His judgments regarding our state of submission to His will—a guilty conscience is an indictment By God of transgression against Him, as is a clear conscience His declaration of innocence before Him; one may be guilty before Him, but forgiven, and thus innocent in that sense too with an attendant clear conscience. Careful attention to one's conscience—His voice—is necessary in order to become sensitive to God's assessment of our walk before Him. Do you see it like that too? How do you understand the Christian concept of “conscience;” how would you define it? Please discuss the role of conscience in any three of the following verses: ( 2Sa 24:10, Psa 38:3-4, Mat 26:75, 2Cr 1:12, Tts 1:15, 1Jo 3:21).

4. Please discuss recurrent sin over against Pro 16:6 and Rom 7:15-20. Pro 16:6 is particularly noteworthy here—how do lovingkindness and truth atone for iniquity—are these coming from God's side or ours? Both? How about the fear of the LORD—Scripture seems to be saying that the fear of the LORD is our answer to the recurrent sin problem we have been discussing. What is the fear of the LORD in your opinion; what does Scripture mean by that, and how could it be the answer to this problem? It is not really possible to be sinless is it? Won't recurrent sin always to some degree visit a believer, as has been the case with Diaphanous? If you agree one cannot really be sinless, what then is Pro 16:6 trying to say to us (other versions may be useful in the overall discussion of this verse)? On the other hand, if you think one can indeed be sinless, please explain.

5. We love Diaphanous' transparency before God. In the privacy of your heart, would you say that you have an entirely open walk with our God when it comes to talking to Him about your recurrent sin? Again, in the privacy of your heart, how does God respond to your transparency before Him (affirmation of your filial relationship to Him, refreshing, renewing, etc.)? Can you identify with David in the latter question: Psa 32:3-5?

6. The antithesis of this discussion concerning openness before God shows up in Pro 30:20. Please take a moment and consider hidden sin. Since our conversations with God are usually very private—no one being privy to them but Him—why would someone want to hide their sin before God, what are the motivations here (we are interested particularly in a Christian, but contrast the unbeliever); what do folk think they are keeping from Him? What are some of the “clever” ways by which folk think they are hiding their sin from God?

7. Dear Christian friend, is it not a comfort to know that God so completely loves us that He treats us like His children? What child does not stumble along the way, and usually more often than not, like Diaphanous? And what loving parent would not guide by discipline such a child to protect them; to help them not to stumble so that the child can grow and be well? When you and I stumble in our walk before God, indeed again and again maybe, He will discipline us—there is always a price to be paid—but He always continues to love us, looking ahead to our protection and to our ultimate growth and well being in and through Him. His discipline is an unmistakable expression of His love for us, and it signalizes His concerned involvement in our affairs. On our part, a deliberate open walk with God, by its very nature, stems from a contrite heart that is willing to suffer discipline by His loving hand so that intimate fellowship with Him is not disturbed; it stems from a heart that places great value on His fellowship, and therefore by default on Him. It is true that this discipline may come to us without our openness anyway, but how much better if it comes in concert with deliberate transparency. Transparency before God is motivated by a contrite heart that truly loves God. Yes we are Christians, but we are as yet imperfect in our mortality, and thus prone to stumble, maybe like Diaphanous. It is always good to say, in harmony with the Prodigal, 'I will arise and go to my Father'...and talk to Him about this with a contrite heart (Luk 15:20-24). God shall grant you victory in spite of your struggles Diaphanous.

REFERENCES

“Be Holy”

< http://jesusamen.org/beholy.html >

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE LEGEND

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