Will God Forgive Me For What I Am About To Do?
Many try to make Arminianism appear as if we believe that salvation is a revolving door that we pass through many times in our lives through sin and then through confession of our sins. It is true that some Arminians do believe that we can lose our salvation through one sin, others see the warnings from Scripture but still believe that God is graceful and merciful toward his children and that he will correct us when we sin by conviction through his Spirit (John 16:8) and by his discipline (Hebrews 12:5-11). While I know of no Arminians who believe in eternal security, many Arminians would talk about the grace of God above losing our salvation although they would not identify at all with Calvinism.
The question before us is this: Will God forgive me for what I am about to do? Willful sin. We have all done it. We have all willfully walked into sin. We would be lying to say otherwise (1 John 1:10). While I don’t agree with Bob George he is correct when he writes, “No one has to give me a license to sin. I do it pretty well without one.” We all sin (Proverbs 20:9). While we might sin sins of omission (we don’t pray enough, share our faith, etc.), we never want to admit that we also sin sins of commission. We sin willfully! We may hate our sins but the fact remains that we sin.
So what should we say in regard to willful sin? Again, some Arminians such as Daniel Corner would say that we have lost our salvation. John Wesley, on the other hand, would say that we have not lost our salvation yet. Some would say that we need the second blessing of entire sanctification in order to eradicate our sinful nature. Pentecostals would say that we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Calvinist would say that we need to respond to the conviction of the Spirit and repent but we never can lose our salvation. Other Calvinist such as Charles Stanley, Charles Ryrie, Zane Hodges, or Bob George would say that we need to do nothing since sin is no longer the issue. From the ancient church fathers to the Puritans, many have debated the subject of willful sin. And yet there remains no clear consensus on what we should teach about our sinfulness.
My own answer is not an easy one. In fact, over the years I have moved from various positions on the subject. I have found the closer I am to God, the more I see my own sinfulness and yet I tend not to willfully sin as much when I am in God’s presence. When I begin to move away from the Lord through neglect of prayer, fellowship with him, or Bible study – I find that my tendency is to sin more. My Christian life is like a roller coaster.
What I do know about willful sin is this: sin always leads to death (Romans 6:23; James 1:12-15). While we can debate whether one sin will lead someone to hell (1 John 5:16-17), we must guard against any attitude that does not see sin in light of what the Bible teaches. In other words, we should have a God view of our sins and our sinfulness. Repentance is not just turning in the opposite direction of the sin but it also means that we have a cosmic shift in both our minds and in our hearts about our sin. We hate our sin because it not only destroys but it separates (Isaiah 59:2) and brings nothing but misery, despair, and decay. We also hate our sin because we know what our sin did to our Lord Jesus on the cross (Psalm 22:1; Isaiah 53; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus bore our sins so that we might be free from the power of sin and death so that we might walk in the Spirit (Romans 6:11-14; Galatians 5:16-25). He did not free us to be slaves to our sins again (2 Peter 2:1-22).
This is my earnest prayer to God: “Lord, help me to hate my sin as much as you hate my sin.” I want to have God’s heart toward sin. I know that Jesus died for my sins but I want to walk in holiness (1 Peter 1:15-16) and be a vessel of honour and not wrath (2 Timothy 2:20-26). I want to walk in the light as he is in the light (1 John 1:7). I want my life to be a fragrance that pleases the Father (2 Corinthians 2:14-16). I don’t want to turn to a life of sin and disobedience (Hebrews 10:19-39). I want to be like Jesus (Ephesians 5:1-2).
Arminian Today 
Excellent! I only have one comment to add: I never sin “by accident” anymore. There was a time when I did not truly know (even as a Christian) whether certain behaviors were sin. But not anymore… I’ve studied sin, preached on sin, and helped people who are deep in sin to get out of it. So now I know every time I sin that I am indeed sinning. I can even rationalize all the theological reasons for my sin, expound upon it’s utter sinfulness, and agree that it is not the right thing to do – and still sin. Maybe that was a bit too transparent but it is true. And this causes me to agonize all the more about this. What do I do after I sin? Run to Jesus and hope He still forgives wilful sins, because they are the only kind I do!
Dan
pastor dan
07/22/2007 at 4:33 AM
Excellent! I only have one comment to add: I never sin “by accident” anymore. There was a time when I did not truly know (even as a Christian) whether certain behaviors were sin. But not anymore… I’ve studied sin, preached on sin, and helped people who are deep in sin to get out of it. So now I know every time I sin that I am indeed sinning. I can even rationalize all the theological reasons for my sin, expound upon it’s utter sinfulness, and agree that it is not the right thing to do – and still sin. Maybe that was a bit too transparent but it is true. And this causes me to agonize all the more about this. What do I do after I sin? Run to Jesus and hope He still forgives wilful sins, because they are the only kind I do! Dan
pastor dan
07/22/2007 at 4:33 AM