What Happens When A Christian Sins?

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A CHRISTIAN SINS?
PSALM 51

Scripture makes it abundantly clear that if we believe in Jesus and have put our trust in Him, then we are His, and nothing or no-one can change that. How wonderful it is to know that we are secure in the Lord Jesus Christ!

WELL THEN, SINCE THE CHRISTIAN IS SECURE IN CHRIST, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A CHRISTIAN DELIBERATELY SINS?

Now before we go any further I should explain why I have chosen to use that antiquated word, ‘sin’.

Firstly, I use it because the Bible uses it. In the NIV translation, the word sin, (not to mention words like sinner, sinning, sinned, sinful etc), the word sin alone is used 346 times in the OT & 127 times in the NT. And I checked ½ a dozen other translations out & came up with similar results. I think the biblical writers, under the guidance of God the Holy Spirit, saw the concept of sin as fairly important.

Secondly, I use it because it conveys more meaning than any other word in regard to wrong doing. It carries with it the following concepts:-
Rebellion & Lawlessness
Perversion & immorality
Evil
Breaking God’s laws
Falling short in our very character
Being unfair
Being unkind
Being selfish
Living in ways contrary to the will & nature of God
Not worshipping God as we should
Not loving our Lord with all our heart, mind, soul & strength
Not loving our neighbour as ourselves
Missing the mark – at times not even understanding what God wants
Doing the things we shouldn’t & not doing the things we should

Thirdly, I use it because it is a word we can’t escape, we can’t shift the blame. If we were to use words like my weakness, my inadequacy, my mistakes, my problem we can comfortably lessen the impact. After all doesn’t everyone make mistakes, doesn’t everyone have some weakness etc.

WELL THEN, WHAT DOES HAPPEN WHEN A CHRISTIAN DELIBERATELY SINS?

When a Christian sins relationship is NOT altered, position is NOT altered, BUT fellowship is broken.

I suppose we could compare this to the relationship between a child and his or her parents:-

For eg. if I hurt or angered my parents by doing something bad - my position remains the same - I am still their son, BUT I might not feel worthy of fellowship with them, or they may not feel confident to share with me, until I have shown remorse for what I have done. My relationship as son remains the same, but my fellowship has been disturbed.

SO HOW DOES THIS DISTURBED FELLOWSHIP EFFECT ME?

In 2 Samuel 11, we have the account of king David’s fall. Elsewhere in Scripture we are told that David was a ‘man after God’s own heart’. He was one of the giants of the faith - yet he fell into terrible sin with his tragic involvement with Bathsheba.

David provides us with an example of gross, extreme sin, sin which led him to the depths of deceit, adultery, murder & misuse of privilege and power. His sin was a ‘bobby-dazzler’ & probably most of us, even if we have dreamt of committing sin like his, are not in a position to be able to carry it out! You need a lot of authority to be able to do what he did.

Let’s turn to 2 Samuel 11 and briefly look at David’s sin - I have just picked out several verses rather than reading through the entire chapter ( I am reading from the NIV ) -

Verses 2–5, "2 One evening David got up from