Renunciations and Affirmations

Heart Guide for Lesson 5:
Separation from Sin

Renounce any agreements with untruth; believe Jesus" truth as your new way of life. (John 14:6)

Discernment enables us to escape the snare of agreeing with hidden sin (Isaiah 5:13; Hosea 4:6). That wrong thing in you—fearfulness, jealousy, bitterness, shyness, impatience, etc.— is not you. Notice what it sounds like (its message) and what it feels like (its pressure) when it goes off inside you. It may have been "a part" of you for so long, it seems like it is just the way you are, but it isn't. Somewhere along the way, it came inside from the outside. Rightly recognizing sin as sin (not you) is half the battle. The Word of God illuminates those dark places and shows us who we are and what we are not. Separate sinners from their sins—self included. Your heart will love the freedom it brings!

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 ESV

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:14 ESV

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, 'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32 ESV

Father, forgive me for binding people to their sins and holding their sins against them. I repent of and renounce any deeply held belief that this is what You do. I confess that the truth is that You see us all as separate from our sins and can separate anyone from their sins who repents, including myself. Jesus, help me to join You as an intercessor for—not a judge of—myself and my fellow sinners.

Return to Separation from Sin: Head to Heart Guide for more ways to go deeper into these truths or stay "on course" by going to the...