Are You Backslidden? This Post is For You!

This post is going out to ALL of those who became prodigals at one point in their walk when they were ALREADY saved (like I had).  This specifically is going out to those ex-prodigals, who have already made their journey back home to the Father, and have accepted that the Father has forgiven them, but have had difficulty walking in forgiveness for themselves.  You know who you are!  I struggled a lot with forgiving myself, the accuser would taunt me by whispering the following troubling words into my ear, causing me great angst.

“Yes, you sinned, and what’s worst is YOU had already known the Word of God and had been a Christian for 22 years before you fell away.  YOU had NO excuse, because YOU were ALREADY a believer.  YOU KNEW BETTER.”  

Does that taunt sound familiar to some of you???  It wasn’t that I didn’t think God had forgiven me – He had, the very moment I repented, and as the prodigal son did (Read Luke 15:11-32) come home to the Father.  In fact, the prodigal son’s father came running out to meet his son halfway. He was on the lookout for him!  

JUST LIKE THE FATHER IS LOOKING FOR YOU! YOUR FATHER IS WAITING FOR YOU TO COME HOME! TO COME BACK TO HIM!

Jesus said in Luke 15:4-5:

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

The devil knew I would not doubt God’s forgiveness, but he knew (as he taunted me) that I struggled with forgiving myself for my stupidity.  The devil had duped me… I had walked through a door that I did not realize was a trap.  When Holy Spirit helped me to come to my right sense, I had already made a mess of my life.  Sin doesn’t always come in the manner you expect, at least not the “usual” manner that you expect to fall, such was the case with me.  That is why we need to make sure we ask Holy Spirit to give us the gift of discernment.  To give us wisdom.  To go before us, behind us and beside us.  We need to be dressed in our spiritual armor as described in Ephesians 6.  We need to be prayed up mighty much and not neglect to read our Word (our Bible).  I fell into a trap, and it took me a LONG time to realize that on my own accord, I had ventured where I shouldn’t go.  I had walked right into a very dark place, but God loved me through it, loved me enough to rescue me, and what the devil meant to be my downfall God mercifully allowed to make me grow stronger in Him.

  Listen, we are saved BY GRACE ALONE.  Christians who become prodigal sons and daughters at some point after their confession of faith, struggle with extra guilt because they feel “they should have known better.”  And yes, we SHOULD have known better!  But here is the thing:

SIN IS SIN

Whether you are a new Christian who has JUST made a confession of faith, or a prodigal who has repented and been redeemed, 2 Corinthians 5:17 says:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

The Bible also tells us in Romans 8:39:

“Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Once you repent and confess, you have become washed in the precious Blood of the Lamb (Jesus).  The old IS gone and the new has come!  NOTHING surprises God!  When Jesus hung on that cross, He took upon Himself the sins of the world!  He saw through the course of time (the future) ALL the sins you and I would commit, and He STILL chose to die for us!  He took ALL our sins upon Himself!!!  So, while your prodigal time *may* have come as a surprise to you! (You found yourself in the middle of a mess) it didn’t come as a surprise to God.  Now, I’m not saying it’s okay to take Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins for granted and go sin – ABSOLUTELY NOT!  Romans 6:1-4 says:

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

We need to realize that we sin every day of our lives in some form and fashion, the most important thing we can do is to ask God to help us change what needs changing about ourselves!  If there be ANY evil within me, to remove it!  God knows that we are but dust, and that as long as we are open to it and have breath in our bodies Holy Spirit is renewing and transforming our minds to give us the mind of Christ.  So, whether or not your sins were washed away with becoming a new convert in Christ (when you chose to acknowledge Jesus as your Savior, made a decision to make Him Lord OVER your life) or if you backslid as a seasoned Christian, and found that you needed to repent and recommit your life to the Lord, GOD FORGIVES YOU.  It only takes repentance and a change of heart.

Romans 6:11-14 says:

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”

Holy Spirit directed me to David, who the Bible describes as “a man after God’s own heart.” (See 1 Samuel 13:14).  David had ALREADY had a deep relationship with God, knew Him well before he became a prodigal, by sinning (committing adultery with Bathsheba) and by murdering her husband, Uriah.

DAVID ALREADY HAD KNOWN GOD. HE HAD KNOWN HIM ON A PERSONAL LEVEL WHEN HE SINNED WITH BATHSHEBA AND COMMITTED MURDER. BUT HE REPENTED AND GOD FORGAVE HIM!

 Don’t let the devil continue to accuse you of something that God has ALREADY forgiven you for IF you have repented!  The key word is:

REPENT!

There are consequences to sinning, it’s one of the reasons why God tells us NOT to walk in the flesh but in the spirit. Galatians 5:16-17 says:

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”

A good parent tells a child not to touch a hot stove because they know the child will get hurt (burned).  It is the same with God, He KNOWS what is best for us, we only have to follow His Word, which instructs us.  David and Bathsheba lost their baby, I damaged relationships with some of the people I love, even after having asked for forgiveness to those who were affected by my backslidden state.  satan had a field day!  Why? Because THAT is what he does! John 10:10 tells us:

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”

It is his good pleasure to cause division in friendships, in families and angst and unforgiveness of yourself, even when you have repented, and God has forgiven you.  God showed me that David’s relationship was restored with Him.  Since God’s forgiveness removes the guilt, it removes the source of estrangement with God and fellowship is restored.  Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 show the restoration of fellowship with David’s relationship with God:

Psalm 32:

and Psalm 51:1-17: