TIME DOES NOT REMOVE SIN.

Toney L. Smith

It has happened time after time throughout the brotherhood.  Members of the church become unfaithful in their attendance and forsake the assembling of the saints (Hebrews 10:25). No amount of pleading and praying from the congregation is enough to bring about repentance. Missing services may have been sporadic to begin with, but eventually, attendance was a thing of the past. Visits and calls were made, yet seemingly there was not a single spark of interest left in the unfaithful individual.

Years come and go without any remorse shown by the guilty persons. And then as slowly as they left, they begin to venture back into the worship assembly. They ease back into regular attendance, and before long, they are as steady and faithful in their attendance as anyone else in the congregation. Before long, most will forget the unfaithfulness and begin using the men again in leading roles for worship. And the women are put back into Bible classes as teachers for the young people. Time seems to have erased the guilt caused by the sin of unfaithfulness. The slate seems to have been completely cleaned, and things are back just as they were before unfaithfulness carried them away. Are things now as they were before sin carried them away from the Lord and His church? No! The sin and guilt will remain until repentance is added to the above story!

We must wonder just how many souls will be lost at the judgment because they assumed that time was equal to repentance. How many people in the past have no hope because they were allowed to “ease back in?” How many today are going through the very same circumstance? Congregations allow unfaithful members to “take up where they left off” as if sin had never occurred. God’s word clearly says, “… except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5).

Repentance has become a word that is not found in the vocabulary of so many congregations today. We have heard some even say, “They are back – so let’s put them to work.” Overlooking the necessity of repentance does no good for the guilty party or the congregation who will not seek proper restoration. Forgiveness comes through genuine repentance. Luke 17:3 states that repentance is necessary for one to be forgiven, “… rebuke him; and IF he repent, forgive him.”          

Why has this situation been allowed in the New Testament church today? Could it possibly be that we have become more interested in numbers and popularity than obeying the Lord? Many years ago, an elder told me that a couple who were living in a sinful condition should not be approached because they were “good givers!” How sad! Maybe some do not confront sin and plead for repentance because they are carefully trying not to “hurt anyone’s feelings?” A sinner’s heart must be pricked before a change can occur. And what about God’s feelings? Do we ever consider how He feels about sinful conditions?  Genesis 6:6 shows that man’s continued sin affected God and “grieved him at his heart.” The Psalmist also spoke of God’s feeling toward sin, “How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness and grieve him in the desert!” (Psalm 78:40). Every sin, whether in the past or in the present which is not confessed and turned away from separates man from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). Every person who has not repented of sin is walking in darkness and cannot be in fellowship with God (1 John 1:5-10). The faithful children of God (individuals or congregations) cannot and must not fellowship that which is not in fellowship with God! Paul told the saints at Ephesus, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11).           

The question is not, do we ever sin (Romans 3:23), but what do we do when we have sinned? Scripture tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Time does not erase the guilt of sin. There is not one instance where God forgave a sinner who did not repent! On the contrary, God desires that all come to repentance, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).  Repentance is the only way to maintain fellowship with God. Time cannot erase the guilt and consequence of sin. God has done His part. What about us?