S.I.N.

I’ve recently processed a couple of things about sin—that I believe are helpful.

Now by ‘sin’ I am referring to the stuff we do that ‘misses the mark.’

I.  Sin by definition:

1.  God—as Creator, Judge, and in essence—the ‘One in charge’—demands 

a- complete obedience

b- perfection

 2 Thess 1: 7-8 And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus.

De 11:22 “Be careful to obey all the commands I give you; show love to the LORD your God by walking in his ways and clinging to him.

De 32:4 He is the Rock; his work is perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!

Mt 5:48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

2.  This perfection therefore requires a go-between—a negotiator, someone to speak to God on our behalf (unless of course you are completely obedient and perfect). 

a- This is Christ’s mission and purpose.  Christ speaks to the Father in our defence.

Heb 9: 24-28 For Christ has entered into heaven itself to appear now before God as our Advocate. He did not go into the earthly place of worship, for that was merely a copy of the real Temple in heaven.  Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the earthly high priest who enters the Most Holy Place year after year to offer the blood of an animal.  If that had been necessary, he would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But no! He came once for all time, at the end of the age, to remove the power of sin forever by his sacrificial death for us.  And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died only once as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again but not to deal with our sins again. This time he will bring salvation to all those who are eagerly waiting for him.

II.  Sin in the life of a believer  

This now brings me to the resident sin-tendency in the life of a believer. There are, I believe, two things that are important and often missed.

1.  We must be scared of sin.

We need to fear sin more. Sin is a powerful thing that destroys people, bodies, relationships, etc. Sin needs to make us nervous. I think it’s even okay to be petrified of sin. Ask yourself a couple of questions:

-If Judas had the opportunity to live life again, would he have sold Jesus?

-If Moses had the opportunity again, would he have hit the rock rather than speak to it?

Sin can: 

• Ruin your health. 
• Destroy your marriage.
• Empty your bank account.
• Cause you to lose all your friends.
• Make your children hate you. 
• Cause you to lose your job. 
• Ruin everything and everyone. 

Learn to be afraid of sin. Be nervous about sin. Stay as far away from it as you can!

2.  We must hate our sin:

I hate—not really, but really don’t like—baseball. I have actually never watched a baseball game on TV. What I hate, I stay away from. I don’t watch it, play with it, learn about it, spend time with it—I hate it.

We must learn to hate our sin. Sin is horrific. Sin hurts us. Plus the only remedy for sin in God’s economy is God’s own life—surrendered as a perfect substitute for us. 

Be afraid—be very very afraid.

Hate it—with all your being

Billy Sunday:

“Listen, I'm against sin. I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot, I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist, I’ll butt it as long as I've got a head, and I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. And when I'm old, fistless, footless, and toothless, I'll gum it till I go home to glory and it goes home to perdition.”