“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9). “For I will be merciful to their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12). These verses are encouraging and many have memorized them. They are true and give us reason to be joyful. They only apply to the believer however. Jesus said that “he who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already” (John 3:18). It is only the believer in Christ who receives forgiveness of sin.

If we are a believer and have confessed our sins, we are forgiven. Even though we receive forgiveness of sins, have you ever thought about what we miss out on because of our sins? Many Christians treat sin as a minor issue. We sin and then just think, “Oops, well I’ll just confess it and be on my way.” We make no attempts to prevent it in the future and it doesn’t grieve us at all. However, what does the Bible say about what we miss because of our sin?

First we miss a life free from the addictions of sin. Jesus said, “everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin” (John 8:34). The Bible also describes sin as that “which so easily entangles us” (Hebrews 12:1). Sin latches onto us and doesn’t just become one sin, but often becomes a pattern of sin.

Second, sin can harm our bodies. In referring to sexual sin, Paul said “the immoral man sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18). He also tells us, in referring to taking communion in an unworthy manner, that for “this reason many among you are weak and sick” (1 Corinthians 11:30).

Not only does sin harm us, but it harms others. In relational sin or as the Bible calls it seeking our “own appetites,” we often “deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting” (Romans 16:18). In describing these same people, Paul says that they “cause dissensions and hindrances” (Romans 16:17).

Sin also hinders our relationship with God. Through sin, we lose our ability to discern between good and evil, which prevents us from serving God correctly. In describing the person who has worked away from sin and into maturity, God says through the writer of Hebrews, “because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). It is those who do not pursue that direction that experience the opposite effect.

By sinning, we also lose our ability to understand the Scripture. Paul points out that the women of Ephesus were deceived by the false teachers, not understanding the scripture, because of their sin when he describes their situation as “among them are those who enter into households and captivate the weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:6-7). Again, in general, sin hinders our relationship with God. Paul points this out in saying that “the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God…and those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8).

Also, although we may experience the forgiveness of our sins, we still may face earthly consequences to our sins. Paul tells us to “not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7-8). For example, a drunkard may receive forgiveness of his sins, but he may also go to jail and suffer much guilt for killing a family by drunk driving. An adulterer may receive forgiveness, but may also lose his/her spouse. Again, we can be forgiven, but we may not escape every consequence.

Sin also makes us very insecure in our salvation. “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26-27). Sin makes us wonder if we really are saved.

Lastly it hinders us from impacting others positively for the kingdom. In speaking of living a godly life, Peter said “if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful” (2 Peter 1:8). The opposite is that an ungodly or sinful life causes us to be useless and unfruitful for the kingdom.
Yes we are forgiven, but we must seek desperately to keep sin out of our lives. We must take sin seriously, because it robs us of so much.