What Happens if I Sin?
Many people suffer needlessly because they do not have a complete understanding of the conversion process.
God is calling the unrighteous and the sinners to repentance. When we first begin to walk with God by living as He lives, we are not expected to be perfect. It takes time to repent and be converted. It even took Jesus time to overcome His flesh and learn obedience to the Father through suffering. Yes, Jesus was made perfect by the Father through suffering (Heb. 5:8-9).
Jesus tells us to be perfect (Matt. 5:48). It is the Father who perfects us (1 Peter 5:10). We just do the practicing by serving others, which allows God to do the perfecting (1 John 3:7).
The Father knows that when we first begin to overcome, we may slip and fall many times. But if we walk in the light, continually practicing righteousness, Jesus Christ’s sacrifice covers our sins (1 John 2:1-2; 1:7). All we need to do is confess our sins and forsake them (1 John 1:8-9). Whatever we do, we do not want to continue practicing sin - the deeds of the flesh - or we will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:5; Rom. 8:12-13).
We are to practice righteousness every day instead of practicing sin (1 John 3:7). We must overcome sin by doing good works for God’s glory, as Jesus Christ, our example, told us to do (Matt. 5:16; Rom. 12:21; 1 Peter 3:11, 13). It would be a tragedy if we sinned, became discouraged, quit practicing righteousness daily to please God, and went back to a life of ignoring God daily.
We are called for the purpose of having Christ formed in us, to become partakers of His divine nature, to become new creatures in Christ, and to become complete (Gal. 4:19; 6:15; 2 Peter 1:4; 2 Cor. 13:9, 11). All we need to do is just keep pleasing God each day in all we think, do and say. Remember that practice makes perfect. We do the practicing and God does the perfecting.