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1. Unbelief – Jesus spoke of when the Spirit would come. John 16:7-11 ⁷Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. ⁸And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹Of sin, because they believe not on me; ¹⁰Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; ¹¹Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. The righteousness which He speaks of is His and the judgment of Satan was at the Cross, but the word I want to bring out is unbelief. “Of sin, because they believe not on me” (v. 9) —Here is something which is impossible for Man to accomplish. No one can produce conviction in the heart of another. Only the Holy Spirit can overcome the blindness and deceitfulness of the sinful, human heart and make a man realize the greatness of his own iniquity. Notice the particular sin of which the Holy Spirit will convict. It is not the sin of stealing, drunkenness or adultery. Conscience will convict a man that such things are wrong, but the Holy Spirit convicts of a sin of which conscience would never convict him—the sin of unbelief—“…of sin because they believe not on me …” (Jn. 16:9). Unbelief of Jesus Christ is the greatest of all sins, for it causes the rejection of God’s only means of forgiveness, and thus brings all the condemnation of one’s every sin upon the one who fails to appropriate Christ’s salvation through faith. As George Smeaton has so aptly worded it: The sin of unbelief is here described, with all the enormous guilt attached to it, as a rejection of the proposal of reconciliation, as the chief and the supreme sin, because a sin against the remedy,—as sinful in itself, and as preventing the remission of all other sins … all other sins, original and actual, with all their guilt, are remissible through faith in Christ. But this sin involves the rejection of the graciously provided remedy; and final unbelief has nothing to interpose between the sinner and righteous condemnation … The sin of unbelief is here described as if it were the only sin, because, according to the happy remark of Augustine, while it continues, all other sins are retained, and when it departs all other sins are remitted. George Smeaton, The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (London, the Banner of Truth Trust, 1958) 178. Back to the Top

2. Gods will - Matthew 6:10 To pray, “Thy will be done” is to seek the heart of God. The word will means “strong desire.” … [So] what is his heart? His passion? He wants you to know it. Shall God hide from us what he is going to do? Apparently not, for he has gone to great lengths to reveal his will to us. Could he have done more than send his Son to lead us? Could he have done more than give his word to teach us? Could he have done more than orchestrate events to awaken us? Could he have done more than send his Holy Spirit to counsel us? God is not the God of confusion, and wherever he sees sincere seekers with confused hearts, you can bet your sweet December that he will do whatever it takes to help them see his will. The Great House of God Max Lucado

We all have fallen short of the glory of God in the since of perfection to the nature of God accept Christ, but when I speak of the will of God I mean sins we do not even recognize. All willful sin must be confessed and repented of immediately but Gods will is something we must seek out and prove through obedience in His Word daily. So we see that Gods will is something we grow in the knowledge of as we fellowship with Him and are taught by Him. There are such things as sins of the spirit and sins of the flesh which we must determine through the Word of God and there is also His perfect will in our lives in which He will bear witness to if we are walking in His Word. Once we come to Him our sins are no longer in question but our service and seeking Him to do His will is very much in question and in judgment. Not only are we to follow His direction as He speaks to us in everyday life as our Lord and Savior but also our spirit in what attitude we do everything. Which brings me to the subject of repentance being a onetime experience or a life time attitude? Well the answer is clear if we are seeking to do His will in truth and in Spirit. For to be sure if you are honest with God and yourself you and I know we struggle with our spirits, because of the flesh. Repentance is a life time attitude as we guard our hearts that we might not sin against God.

It is convenient to focus on the sins of others; this keeps the spotlight away from oneself. And it is convenient to understand sin in terms of actions that can be physically avoided; one can thereby avoid disturbing thoughts about attitudes such as coveting, envy, and pride, which our Lord includes on his list of "evil things" right along with theft, murder, and adultery.

God everywhere shows a lot of concern about sin, and so should we. But it is the nature of sin to deceive us, even when we think we are being righteous. We must work at keeping our understandings and emphasis in line with what God has revealed.

In true Christianity, not only our hearts are purified through faith but also our minds are transformed see Acts 15:8-9 and Rom 12:1-2. Back to the Top

3. The Law of God Our Duty and Desire Not Our Salvation. When I was growing up Led Zeppelin put out a song Stairway to Heaven and sang of buying your way to heaven, and that’s the way of the world. If I’m good enough or do enough surely God will allow me into heaven, after all nobody’s perfect right. Well there wrong, Jesus was and is perfect He is fully God and fully man and has tasted death for every human being. There is only one person who God would accept on the merit of His own righteousness Jesus and it’s only by the name and Blood of Jesus we are accepted in the beloved. He died and took our place suffering the wrath of God on the Cross for you and me. Nobody can bribe God or do enough to get to heaven all have fallen short of His standard accept Jesus his Son. The Pharisees thought they were good enough praying a lot tithing even the smallest of herbs in there garden but neglecting to see and understand the righteousness of God that was right before there eye’s. To tithe perfectly we would have to go all the way back to the 1st dollar we ever earned we need grace not law we need Jesus whom the Pharisees rejected. Jesus Christ there Messiah fully prophesied in their own Bible. You and I cannot do enough, tithe enough or in no wise buy our way to heaven. The world thinks there good deeds will out way their bad but James said if you miss it in just one of the 10 commandments you’re guilty of them all. The Law of God is good but we are not and are in need of grace from God that His righteous law might be fulfilled in us by the Spirit. The end of the law of God is Love and we see it fulfilled in Christ on the Cross as He Cried out to His Father to forgive us in His last breath. Righteousness is a result of God working in the truly born again person who has dedicated there life to God through faith in Christ. A new desire is birthed in us to obey the law in the Spirit. Nobody will go to hell because of cursing, steeling or lying but because they did not believe upon and receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. God has dealt with sin through Jesus and through Jesus is the only way we can deal with it. I believe in the righteousness of God in our hearts not self righteousness!

Col 3:5-11 Speaks of putting off the old man and putting on the new which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created Him. In other words we’ve been given a new life in Christ in His Image who created us and teaches us the true knowledge of God. Because of this new identity with Christ we are to put off some things, the old life and everything identified with it and put on the new which is after Him who created us. Paul identifies us with Christ and in union with Him as a new creature. Now we are to yield to the transforming healing power of Christ as putting on new clean clothing by the grace of God. Christianity is marked not in a do it yourself program of pulling yourself up by the boot straps, but God working in us and through us that by grace are we saved through faith and not of ourselves lest any man should boast. Faith in Christ to do what we cannot in ourselves is the Gospel and the power of God who believe. As Paul said it there is nothing good in the flesh and as Jesus said it we can do NOTHING without Him John 15:5.

What is the worst sin? Is it destroying the life and body by drinking? Is it prostitution? Is it adultery? Is it homosexuality? Could it be murder? Could it be drug abuse? God can forgive all these sins. However, there is one sin, the worst of all sins: rejecting God's love. Some may not be guilty of the sins listed above, but they are guilty of rejecting God's love.--Croft Pentz

I believe God is love as the scripture says and that God grieves over even the lost soul of Judas in hell today who betrayed His Son 1 John 4:8-16, Luke 22:47-48 and Acts 1:25. Don't let that be your case in eternity. If you don't know God through the forgiving, sanctifying love revealed in Christ please repent from your sins and believe in Christ John 3:16. See How to be saved.

Conclusion-Jesus came to settle the sin issue and to give us forgiveness and power over it see Luke 1:74-75, John 12:44-50, Rom 6 and Titus 3:3-8 . Jesus has fully dealt with sin and is coming back without sin unto salvation to all that love His appearing Heb 9:28. See also the Rapture.

Christianity is an ongoing relationship that must be kept up daily following, loving, believing and trusting Jesus as Savior and Lord of our life.

I believe sinners come to God by the power of God through the Spirit and the Word of God. Conviction of sin must be by the Spirit before true conversion takes place. The Spirit now convicts or convinces us of sin, righteousness and judgment to come. This convincing continues on in the Christians life even to those who come to Him out of realizing a void in there life which was my case, because God teaches His children truth. Fun is okay and good, but righteousness, peace and joy is far better! One is always dependant upon someone, something or somewhere, but not the righteousness, peace and joy that comes by the Holy Ghost. Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

1 John 3:2-3 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. ³And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. The Lord bless you as you seek Him!