Here is the cycle of the normal Christian life:
1. Baptism
2. Newness of Life
3. Sin
4. Confession
5. Forgiveness (Preaching of the Word / Absolution / Lord’s Supper / Mutual consolation of the Brothers)
Repeat steps 2-5 throughout life.
5. Physical Death
6. Resurrection
7. Life in new heaven and earth.
Here is the the life of the baptized unrepentant sinner.
1. Baptism
2. Newness of Life
3. Sin
4. Pride in Sin (Identity in Sin)
5. Spiritual Death
6. Physical Death
7. Resurrection
8. Eternal Death
I know this might seem simple to some, but there is a great confusion in the church today among the laity in regards to the difference between Christians who continuing sinning and repenting, and those who leave the faith by just continue sinning.
One is the cycle we see in a “normal†Christian. They are baptized. They do not live in the newness of life given them in baptism. They sin. Through the word, they come to a recognition of sin. They repent. They are absolved. They rise again to newness of life. Repeat. This can and will go on in the Christian all the way until his death. His sins are not counted against him for Christ’s sake. They are gone. They cannot kill.
However, when the work of the word in convicting one of sin is missing, ignored, or warred against, the sinner is not restored to their identity as forgiven and baptized child. Soon they take pride in their sin and wear it as an identity. Such impenitence leads to spiritual death and life outside the kingdom. This sin kills since it is never removed.
Too many people act as if the two are the same. They act as if the person struggling with addiction is the same as the one who decides that they will simply embrace the addiction as a lifestyle. They act as if the one who falls into sexual sin and then repents is they same as the one who simply claims some sexual deviation as their identity (be it premarital sex, extramarital sex or homosexuality). They act as if the person who does not show devotion to God’s word and his gifts and then returns to both in repentance is the same as the one who simply leaves the church behind thinking God’s word and gifts unnecessary for life and faith.
The two are not the same. Yes, all Christians sin. But no Christian lets sin rule in their lives by not confessing that sin that it might be removed. Sin is appears in the Christians’ life but then is removed by absolution. Sin that remains is sin that kills faith and removes one from God eternally.
We must get this right. Because in treating unrepentant sinners as if they are just like those living in the cycle of the normal Christ life, we do them no service. We only usher them kindly to eternal death. We must tell them the truth if we are to claim we truly love them. Only then can they be le to repentance and be restored to the life given them in Baptism by Christ Jesus.
