Sin Response

READ: MARK 14:66-72; LUKE 19:1-10; ACTS 3:18-22; ROMANS 2:4

What do you do after you sin? That probably wasn’t the question you were expecting. We all know that we sin, but do we like to think about that? I certainly don’t.

After we sin, sometimes we think we can just forget about it, pretend it never happened. “Deny and it shall disappear.” For example, after King David had Bathsheba taken to his palace so he could have sex with her, she became pregnant, and David tried to hide his sin by having her husband Uriah killed while he was away at war (2 Samuel 11-12). But God sees and knows everything we do.

Sometimes we feel ashamed when we sin. Peter denied Jesus, not once but three times, all after insisting he would stay true to Jesus even to death. When Peter realized what he’d done, he broke down and wept. He was ashamed and likely wished he could take back what he just did.

Sometimes we may not think we are doing anything wrong when we sin. Saul was a hater of Christians. He unabashedly hurt and killed many who followed Jesus. In fact, Saul believed this was what God wanted him to do. He was known to search for Christians with the sole purpose of harming them. Saul didn’t even see his sin as doing anything wrong.

There is one more response to sin, and my favorite example of that is Zacchaeus’s. See, Zacchaeus was a tax collector, and he frequently cheated people out of money. He was short (like me), so he climbed up a tree to be able to see Jesus as He passed by. Then Jesus looked right up at him. He told Zacchaeus that He would be staying at his home. Zacchaeus’s response? He welcomed Jesus joyfully. Then he admitted that his sin was wrong and repented, not only paying back the people he stole from, but giving them four times as much as he had taken.

David, Peter, and Saul (also known as Paul) eventually had encounters with God and repented of their sins too (2 Samuel 12; John 21:15-24; Acts 9). Similarly, Jesus invites us to repent of our sins often. Because, even as Christians, we’ll still struggle with sin until Jesus returns. There are many responses to the sins we commit, but the only real way forward is confessing our sins to God and receiving His forgiveness (1 John 1:8-9). • Kimberly Brokish

• Sin is a big deal to God because it causes harm to His good creation and to our relationship with Him, but He wants so much to forgive and restore us that Jesus became human and died on the cross for us, then rose from the grave (more on our "Know Jesus" page). Consider taking some time to confess any sins that come to mind to God and thank Him for His sure forgiveness through Jesus.

“Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out.” Acts 3:19 (CSB)