As a pastor, I do not wish to minister to make believers continually sin-conscious.  I would much rather them be righteousness conscious.  But it is neither integrity nor loving to teach believers to live in denial.  Denying known sin in a believer’s life can open doors to many harmful things.  Denying the possibility of a believer to sin and even to pursue sin is a dangerous prospect.

The New Covenant is not a doctrine of denial.  It is a doctrine of faith that can be so assured of being loved and accepted that it can handle the reality of the weaknesses of the flesh and recognize when it has been allowed too much of its desire in a believer’s life.  Authentic New Covenant faith does not deny the possibility of stumbling on the part of a believer. It simply knows the remedy for such things and encourages the use of such a remedy.

Romans 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

This great apostle of grace teaches believers that sin should not be allowed to reign in their mortal bodies.  He teaches it with good reason.

The unchecked and unbridled flesh can lead to all kinds of difficulties and hardships because it opens the door to our enemy.  This is why it says in the letter of James,

James 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.   16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Not all sickness is the result of sin.  But there can be some sickness, that is.

John 5:12  Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

Jesus gave His life and shed His blood to deal with the sin problem.  He died so we might die to sin, and He rose from the dead so we too could be risen in newness of life with Him.  The Scripture does not teach us to deny the reality of sin; it teaches us how Jesus dealt with it and how we are to view it and be delivered from it.  Denial will never be equal to real faith.

If you are in a struggle with some sin, humble yourself and confess it.  Bring it into the light so the power of the enemy trying to attach to it is broken, and let the power of His love and forgiveness bring release and, if needed, physical healing to you.  The purpose of confession is to keep the enemy’s tentacles from latching on to us in times of stumbling or wandering away from the righteousness we have become in Christ and the closeness of fellowship it brings us into.  Denial is like an invitation to the enemy to render all the damage he can manage.  There’s a real danger in denial.