Presumptuous Sins

Today our Pastor preached a really good sermon about living a Holy life and being devoted to GOD. One of the passages he used was Titus 2:11-12...

Titus 2:11-12 (Amplified Bible)

For the grace of God (His unmerited favor and blessing) has come forward (appeared) for the deliverance from sin and the eternal salvation for all mankind.

It has trained us to reject and renounce all ungodliness (irreligion) and worldly (passionate) desires, to live discreet (temperate, self-controlled), upright, devout (spiritually whole) lives in this present world,

One of the points he brought out was about presumptuous sin. That is when you think...well I can go ahead and do this "thing" because GOD will forgive me for it when I ask HIM to later. This "thing", that is a presumptuous sin...meaning willful and deliberate, is talked about in Psalm 19:13...It is deliberate sins.

Psalm 19:13 (New Living Translation)

Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
and innocent of great sin.

For two weeks a lot of what I have been reading about is living a Holy life. And...all week...a lot of what has been going through my head is...doing that "presumptuous sin". Isn't that ironic!! It's like I have blogged about before. When things are going really good, and GOD is working in your life, satan is right there putting his two cents worth in. The last couple of weeks have been crazy with "good GOD things". One of the most recent is, HE gave me an opportunity to talk to a friend about HIM. Now...you would think that with all of the good stuff going on in my life, that for me to even consider doing that "thing"...that presumptuous, willful and deliberate sin...well, you would think that wouldn't even cross my mind! I consider my "thing" to be like one of the sins mentioned in Titus... a worldly (passionate) desire. For me it's a temptation that satan thinks he can lure me away with. But, there is also a verse that was mentioned in the sermon this morning...

1 Corinthians 10:13 (The Message) No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.

Some versions say; He will provide a way out. That's true, HE always does. For me, just giving the name...presumptuous sin...to my thoughts, is enough to make me not want to give in to it. As a Christian I want to live a Holy life before GOD and only do what pleases HIM. Being human, I know that  I will sin daily because I am not completely transformed yet. My life is still a work in progress, as is yours. But, I also know that when satan starts filling our minds with things from our past that we need to stop it immediately. Don't think about those things. You can read this passage...

Philippians 4:8-9 (The Message)

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. 

One presumptuous sin can lead to another. Look at David in 2 Samuel...David committed adultery, got her pregnant, and then had her husband killed. It was premeditated...another meaning for presumptuous. David deliberately and willfully sinned. Yes, God did forgive him. But if you read about his life David suffered many consequences for his sins.


So...in my way of thinking it's best to always look for that way out that GOD provides for us. Don't fall into satans trap willfully. Talk to the LORD and read HIS Word. Talking to GOD and asking HIM to keep you from deliberate sin, as David did in Psalm 19,  is a good thing to do. Whatever you ask for, and believe when you ask, HE will do.