Can God use sin in our lives to draw us closer to Him?

[The Fire Rises]

Whoa, what? Did he just ask that? Yes, this question may startle some people at first glance. Couldn't think of a way to say it "lightly", so I decided to just flat out say it.

I want to be as clear as humanly possible. I am in NO way saying that sin is ever acceptable, "good" or in accordance with God's will. Cause it's not. It is always runs counter to God's desire for us, and is to be avoided at all times. We are to fight sin with every ounce our being.

But when we ARE tempted, and if/when we DO fall victim to sin, can God not use our failure to draw us closer to Him?

The reason I ask this is mainly because I was pondering my journey with Christ so far. As far as I'm conserned, our relationship really only started to truly develop about six months ago.

Thinking back, what forced me to look up at God, to re-access my life and where I was heading, who I was? Was it my pastor's sermon? No. Was it reading the bible? (because I did read it semi-regularly) Nope. What about prayer? Negatory. It was my sin.

While God did not WANT me to sin, that sin is what ultimately brought me so low that I was forced to look up from the darkness. Seeing how bad I had become is what ultimately convinced me to accept Christ's mercy and Lordship over me. It's what made me want to be better, and follow Christ. Has anyone else had a similar testimony/experience?

Anyways, I may not have worded that very well so I'm sorry if you misinterpret what I'm trying to say.

 

[BFine]

Like the situation with the prodigal son in the Bible?

He fell so far due to sin, it finally "clicked" within him just how bad off he was and he said--
I will return to my father and be a hireling (because he felt
unworthy to be his son.)

 

[Sketcher]

God is smart enough and powerful enough to use bad situations to good ends. But as a good friend of mine who has been very deep in sin likes to say:

If you don't break something in your life, God doesn't have to fix it.

And this is not an encouragement to sin to break something so God can upgrade it later. It does not work like that (Galatians 6:7-9).

 

[amandatea]

I would have to agree with Sketcher here; God can make a bad situation good. I also believe that we can learn from our mistakes and from the consequences thereof. So it's not good to sin on purpose (of course) but it's not the end of the world when we make mistakes.

 

[The Fire Rises]

To be honest Sketcher, I don't entirely understand what your friend was saying...maybe I'm just having a dull moment lol.

But, that aside, I totally agree with you both.

I'm NOT saying we should "sin on purpose" so God can swoop down and make things better. But my sin motivated me (sounds weird saying that) to seek a way out of the darkness. And God is THE way.

Once when I committed a certain sin that I hadn't for a long time, it made me SO angry. Not at God, not necessarily at myself. But at Satan and the desires of the world. It was like a fire was lit under me, and it made me fight against sin that much harder. I realize that having a "good track record" of avoiding temptation isn't what pleases God per se. "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice..." (Hosea 6:6 I think)

I'm just saying, sometimes maybe Satan's schemes ultimately backfire on him in the long run.

 

[iambren]

Yes, God may let us fall on our face in sin to reveal to us what was hidden in our heart. God is sovereign and can use anything He wants to achieve His ends.

 

[The Fire Rises]

Yes, God may let us fall on our face in sin to reveal to us what was hidden in our heart. God is sovereign and can use anything He wants to achieve His ends.

Thanks for the reply Bren, and yes I agree with you.

While God never LEADS us to temptation, that doesn't mean He cant use our failures to ultimately benefit us.

 

[Sketcher]

To be honest Sketcher, I don't entirely understand what your friend was saying...maybe I'm just having a dull moment lol.

Maybe I didn't articulate it well. After all, I have the benefit of knowing him and his context, so it makes perfect sense to me. Will try again:

When we sin, especially on purpose, we break our lives. If you are selfish in your relationships, you break those relationships. If you sin sexually, you break yourself and another person in that way. If you commit a crime and are convicted, it will destroy your reputation and limit your options even after you have done your time and probation.

God is the God of second, third, and however many other chances. He has enough grace to rescue you from those pits that you dig yourself into, though it usually takes a while. But if you never got into that in the first place, he doesn't have to bring you back up to level ground, you're already there. You can experience blessing rather than the continual harm that comes back to you and those you love as a consequence of your past actions. God can deliver you from that stuff, but there's so much more he can do with you and for you rather than just deliver you all the time.

 

[Eyesee]

Interesting question, one I have asked God about myself. What comes to mind is a saying that I heard some years ago:

"The same sun that softens wax, hardens clay".

Just like Pharaoh, if the heart is "clay" so-to-speak, God's forbearance and grace will harden such a heart; to the point where it can be said: "And the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart...". If the heart is like wax, then God's forbearance and grace will soften the heart; as scripture says,

"Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?"

Sin is extremely deceptive and all sin is grevious against God. To the heart of clay, God's patience and kindness will lead a person into a life of presumptuous sin and sin being decietful, will harden that person's heart AGAINST God to the point where that person can no longer respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. That is a terrifying thought.

To the heart of wax, God's patience and kindness will actually break the person struggling with sin to the point that they repent TOWARDS God, resulting in life.

Anyways, this is how I think of it. Hope it helps.

 

[disciple1938]

what BFine said. Good words.