Pondering Sin

The Bible Dictionary defines sin as: Lawlessness, or transgression of God’s will, either by omitting doing what God’s law requires, or by doing what it forbids. Transgression can occur in thought (1 John 3:15), word (Matthew 5:22), or deed (Romans 1:32).

1 John 3:4 states, “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact sin is lawlessness.” (NIV)

There is a difference between committing a sin and continuing to sin. Even the most faithful believers sometimes commit sin, but they do not cherish a particular sin and choose to commit it. A believer who sins repents, confesses his sin or error, and finds forgiveness.

 A person who continues to sin and shows little or no remorse, however, is not sorry for what he or she is doing. Thus a person never confesses his sin and receives no forgiveness. Such a person is in opposition to God and God’s enemy, no matter what he or she professes.

Through the Commandments that were written by God’s own finger on tablets atop Mount Sinai, we as the human race were able to finally understand the nature of our wrongs. In Deuteronomy 10:4, God tells Moses to chisel out two more stone tablets like the ones in Chapter Nine, verse 17, which Moses broke in anger when he discovered upon his return that the Israelites were worshipping a golden calf.

Moses was not the only one angry. God was ready to destroy the Israelites due to their provocation. Today is no different. In verse 13 of Chapter 9, the Lord said to Moses, “…I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! 14) Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they”.

The only One standing between annihilation and wrath of God in our Country is Jesus Christ.

Showing God’s mercy, Moses gave the Israelites another chance, after they had repented from their idolization and lawlessness. Having come from Egypt, some of them, many, as a matter of fact, had lived their whole lives without knowledge of the God who chose them and who delivered them from hard bondage. In Egypt there were, doubtless, hundreds of gods surrounding them to worship and to corrupt their purity. I’m sure that this was one reason that God decided to deliver them from Egypt to begin with; for God is not mocked and will not share His glory with another.

And so, after Moses broke the initial tablets with fury and lay prostrate before God for 40 days and nights in mourning, pleading with Him, the Lord gave the Israelites a second chance.

Aren’t you glad God is a God of second chances? I am!

Moses then returned to the top of Mount Sinai and received the law, which, if obeyed, would guarantee life and not death.

Deut. 10, Verse 4: “The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments he had proclaimed to you on the mountain, out of the fire on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me.”

The curse of the law is not being able to obey it completely, and so Jesus came to “fulfill” the law by being the only one able to obey it to the letter. The law was written to show us a need for a Savior and the importance of Holiness and the Sacrifice that Christ made so that we could be liberated and freed from sin and death. (Galatians 3:13) Christ took the punishment when it should have been all of us, each individual striving but failing to live a sinless life! With man it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible!  (Matthew 19:26) That statement is pretty much the whole truth of the matter: Christ paid it all!

 “The tablets of the law were still in the ark about 500 years later when Solomon put it in his newly built temple (1 Kings 8:9) The ark last appears in the Israelite’s history during the reign of Josiah, about 300 years after Solomon (2 Chronicles 35:3).” (Life Application Study Bible, NIV)

Time passed. Man, although informed, failed the simple commands given him, or would live a life of dedication to each and every law, only to fall short in areas that the coming Savior and King would require. Later, Christ had his three short years of Ministry, speaking of the love one must have for God and the love one must possess for their fellow man or woman, children of God, the kingdom of Heaven being within us, not in the form of a Synagogue or Tabernacle. This man was a heretic, they said, but still…none of them could dispute that God would want all of these commands to be met in the simple admonishments to “Love God” and to “love your neighbor”. (Matthew 22:37-40)

The Law and our Lord had shown us the need for Salvation. But in (Romans 3:10-12, 20, and 23), the Bible states, “As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.  12) All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

What was this impetus towards self-destruction? What made us all abandon the good fight-- now or at one time--what made us leave the narrow way and seek earthly pleasures? Why is this cycle taking place? The Bible is correct in that there are none Righteous. Therefore, it is the sin nature of man.  

Verses 20 and 23 of Romans 3 state, respectively: “20) Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”

23) …“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”   

When Paul uses the word Righteous, he means “No one is innocent”. We are all valuable in God’s eyes, because He loves us and created us in His image. No one can earn right standing with God. God offers to forgive us if we return to Him in faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, to free and forgive us from sin.

Are some sins obvious, while still others remain hidden within? Let us ponder Galatians 5:19-21, first of all. “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious”, God’s Word tells us. “Sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20) idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21) and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (NIV)

In Mark 7:20-23 Jesus states, “…What comes out of a man is what makes him “unclean”. 21) For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22) greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man “unclean”.”

Unfortunately, we all have evil desires; we cannot ignore them. In order to walk in the Spirit, we must deal with our sinful inclinations decisively (crucify them daily) and commit ourselves to follow after the right standing of the Spirit and not the folly of the flesh. If the Spirit is dealing with you today about a certain weakness or flaw, pay heed and do all you can to cooperate with Him in cleansing you from all unrighteousness. He’s all you need. Come to God and repent and ask His forgiveness and His power to overcome that sin in your life. He is willing and able to help you.

Even allowing our minds to dwell on a single damaging thought or a less obvious sin, such as hatred, selfish ambition, envy—even revenge—will lead to outright sin and wrongdoing as well.

Instead, we must follow Paul’s example and let our minds dwell on whatever is noble, true, pure, lovely, and admirable. This will chase the darkness away from your mind. And praise and prayer will enable God’s hands to lift that detrimental burden from you that only He can alleviate. Don’t be dragged into a cesspool of dread and Spiritual poverty; it blinds you!

1 Timothy 5:24 differentiates between the kind of man that sin trails behind them, while others—their sins are obvious. Paul is instructing Timothy in this passage to choose men for positions of authority and responsibility who are above reproach. In the same way, he says, “good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.”

I can tell good things are going to happen to you, today, dear one! To you, by you, and for you! Amen?

What within us leads us to sin? The mind of sinful man.  Romans 8:6-8 states, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7) the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8) Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”

You are divided into one of two categories according to Paul: those who let the sinful nature control them, and those who are led by the Holy Spirit to do that which is right. Jesus is the only way we can become one of those in right standing with God. His way brings life and peace. We must consciously choose to follow Christ daily. Center your life on Him. Use the Bible to discover God’s guidelines. And when the Holy Spirit points out what you should do in any given situation, do it gladly. This is the way to joy and peace.

Jeremiah 17:9 states, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” In God’s Word it is made clear why we sin: to put it another way, it is a heart matter. The heart is inclined towards sin the day we were born.  Forgetting and forsaking God is an easy routine; however, we can still submit to God when temptations come and ask His help to overcome them, seeking help in our time of need. God is gracious to answer prayer and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It’s your choice: yield to temptation, or submit to God and resist the devil, so that he flees from you!

Proverbs 14:12 pinpoints the blindness of the natural man, in that it says, “12) There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”

Are you in a situation where you may have options, but very few sacrifices? In the Christian life, you may be selling out. Easy choices should warn us to take a moment to reflect on the repercussions of our decisions, as well as discern between what appears attractive and what it truly involves.  The right choice often involves sacrifice and hard work--getting out of our ‘comfort zone’.

“Don’t be enticed by apparent shortcuts that seem right but end in death.” –NIV Commentary

1 John 1:8-10 shows us the truth about ourselves. If we intend to overcome our tendency towards folly, sin, and death, we have to accept that: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10) If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”

This scripture exposed false teachers in the Gentile Faith who refused to acknowledge that sin separates us from God--that they sinned at all—who also stated that they were incapable of sinning. Was it self-deception, or a simple lie? These teachers refused to take sin seriously, and this is dangerous ground upon which to tread. Thinking that Christ’s sacrifice was unimportant, therefore, they did not repent from any sin and were not purified by the precious Blood of Christ, teaching others to adopt the same attitude. This is a deadly practice.

In this life, we should never let down our guard over areas of the sin with which we are flirting, dramatizing, playing the fool over, romancing, or pre-meditating. Sin’s dread sway can take over your mind, will and emotions like poison or cancer, taking root and putting a cesspool in your heart and life in which you find yourself sinking. It’s really that bad…don’t let it take hold in your life, Sister or Brother in Christ.

Outside influences that can lead us to sin: The aforementioned “cesspool in your heart” is what led Ananias and Sapphira to allow Satan to fill their hearts with lies, through their own greed, in order to deceive the Holy Spirit. (Acts 5:3) Sometimes the seed we receive to keep us on the right track gets stolen by the enemy, as well. These are distractions that make us forget the right way; so busy and nonstop are our lives today in this impersonal world that we forget to do what the Word tells us. We get so wrapped up in our personal affairs that we do not let the Spirit have its way. (Mark 4:15) A life filled with materialistic pursuits deafens us to God’s Word. Stay free, so that you can hear God when He speaks. (Mark 4 Verse 19)

(Ephesians 2:1-3) Following the ways of the world and the Prince of the Power of the Air will influence your daily life in a negative way. He is at work in the Sons of disobedience today. Following our cravings, desires and thoughts, our sinful nature, defined us all at one time. But God! –He has delivered us from the miry clay and set our feet upon a rock, amen? No More evil life for you, fellow Christian! Ain’t God good?

As for those who are wondering what God is all about: It is not an accident that you are reading this. God is drawing you. Salvation is not of ourselves: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me” (Jesus) “draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” Jesus has been given power in heaven and earth and is faithful. The Word is true. God is drawing you to come to Him. Be saved J (John 6:44).

Jesus is our High Priest before God the Father, sitting beside Him daily, interceding for us in prayer. It states so in Hebrews 4:15-16 (I quote from the NIV): “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we many receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

God’s grace and mercy are what lead sinners to repentance! This following verse questions whether or not we are taking for granted the gift of salvation: Romans 2:4: “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?”

Must everyone repent? According to the His Word, God is waiting for us all to repent and to come to Him. 2 Peter 3:9 states simply, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” This answers many who have questioned God’s return and reasoned in their hearts that He will continue to delay so that their lives are their own affair, beginning to end. This is not the case; God’s thoughts toward us are many, and one of them, I am sure, is to reconcile us to Him and save us from His Wrath. The Lord is gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and rich in love. And the Lord is good to all, and He has compassion on all that He has made…As far as the east is from the west, that’s how far, He has removed our transgressions from us!

Psalm 145:8 was written long before that song, but it describes God so very well that a song was added to it. It is one of my most favorite songs. (We used to sing along with it at the VFO Church in Pasadena, Tx, and we at  Victory Fellowship also play it, FYI)

There are also Christians who long for Christ’s return, due to persecution and this corruptible society, so we must always be ready for Him, while planning our course of service to last a long, long time. We should always be prepared to share Jesus with those who are lost; in that instance, time is indeed short. The life of the Christian only is in the beginning phase when we accept Christ. How many have said that they wished they had accepted Him long ago? But never knew what a joy it is to serve the Living God! I’m one of them.

In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  Acts 17:30

In Luke 13:1-3 Pilate had killed and mingled the blood of Galileans with their sacrifices. When Jesus answered this, He admonished, “…Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3) I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” This passage states the simple facts:  The wages of sin is death. If it weren’t for Jesus Christ and His sacrifice, we too would be facing certain death. To accept His sacrifice and call upon His name and repent from all our sin is the first step.

“Pilate may have killed the Galileans because he thought they were rebelling against Rome; those killed by the tower of Siloam may have been working for the Romans on an aqueduct there. The Pharisees, who were opposed to using force to deal with Rome, would have said that the Galileans deserved to die for rebelling. The Zealots, a group of anti-Roman terrorists, would have said that the aqueduct workers deserved to die for cooperating. Jesus said that neither the Galileans nor the workers should be blamed for their calamity. And instead of blaming others, everyone should look to his or her own day of judgment.”—NIV Commentary

One of the signs of repentance is, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.” Psalm 51:3 Know that your actions have hurt many people, and that God is grieved, but also know that God is merciful and that there is no sin too great for a God as great as our Mighty God!

Knowing what God desires is also part of the repentance process: “truth in the inner parts, wisdom in the inmost place.” A desire of our own to be cleansed, to be “whiter than snow”; a request for joy and gladness to hear, and rejoicing in the bones that God has crushed; the hope of seeing God’s face, hidden from our sin--for darkness, the place in which we hide our sins--is as noonday to God. And finally, David in Psalm 51: 6-10 asks God to “create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Like David, we must ask God to cleanse us from within, clearing our hearts for new thoughts and desires. Right conduct can only come from a clean heart and spirit.

Although God will forgive us our sin, sometimes the natural consequences of those sins will continue to progress as a result of what we have done. In this Psalm, David had repented, but his household would never be the same as a result of his sin.

True repentance is humbling. The truly humble man knows the error of his ways and knows that the sinful nature abides within. He calls upon the Lord for mercy and doesn’t allow his heart to become “puffed up”. Self-righteousness can lead to even greater sin; humility can cause God to walk with you hand in hand.

There is fruit leading to repentance. The desire to be a better person, in a better world. Reformation, not ritual, is a fruit of repentance. A changed life is also part of the humbling of ourselves unto God and repenting of our sins. (Luke 3:7-9)

James 1:23-25 says of the fruit of repentance that: Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24) and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

Listening to God’s Word is not enough; doing what it says is fruit of repentance, a changed life. Do you put into action what you have studied? Do I myself benefit from these Bible Studies? Yes! In every way. Every aspect of the study of God’s Word embellishes and renews my life and mind. I can’t say enough about it!

James was Jesus’ brother, and he realized Him the King of Glory after his Ascension. The Holy Spirit is part of the process of being saved; baptism is also important.

Mark 16:16 are some of the final words of Christ before He was taken up to heaven and “He sat at the right hand of God”-- (Verse 19 of Mark 16)

He commanded his beloved ones to 15)…“Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16) Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

Baptism, therefore, is important. Now, in some cases, baptism is not possible, such as times when a man or woman lies on their deathbed. Another instance of the absence of baptism, yet the man was saved, was when the thief hung on the cross. But Jesus commanded this, and it must have significance. The symbolic meaning of Christ’s death and burial and resurrection are re-enacted in the baptism process, in which the body is submerged in water and raised to new life in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

It is not the water of baptism that saves, but God’s grace accepted through faith in Christ. And baptism alone, without faith, cannot save man or woman, boy or girl.

“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.”— (Romans 6:4) Thinking of our old life as dead gives us a powerful motive to live a sinless, new life. Treating the old life, its desires and temptations as an obsolete, dead nature, can free us up to live a life of newness and freedom with Jesus.

Dead to Sin but alive to God: (Romans 6:11)

Once slaves to sin, now set free to live as “slaves” to righteousness: (Romans 6:18)

God’s spirit makes it possible for us to live for Him. “It’s my Desire” is a wonderful song that we sing at VFC. The beauty of your salvation, beloved, is that the Holy Spirit, willing and able, can help you through whatever you face in your life. It makes us able to carry out our commitment to God. In Matthew 19:25-26, Jesus tells his disciples that with God all things are possible. God is able to give you power with men and power with Him. All you need do, as a Christian, is follow Christ. As Keith Green said in a song I love, “Just be doin’ your best, and pray that it’s blessed…Jesus takes care of the rest.”

In this case, in context, Jesus had already stated that the rich were surely unable to enter the kingdom of heaven, which astonished his disciples. “Who then can be saved?” they asked.

“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” The Holy Spirit, a separate, yet unified part of the Trinity, makes it possible for us to carry out our duties as God would require them and when, as well. When someone does you a good deed, remember that faith without works is dead; remember that the Holy Spirit has done you a beautiful service.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” –Acts 1:8

This is proof positive that God gives us power with men! God’s plan will appear, no matter what forces try to alter the plan and purpose He has for his own.  Power from the Holy Spirit is not limited to strength beyond the ordinary—that power also involves courage, boldness, confidence, insight, ability, and authority. If you believe in Jesus Christ, you can experience the power of The Holy Spirit in your life.

(Acts 2:38) Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Repentance means to turn from your sin and to change the direction of your life…from selfishness and rebellion to dependence upon Christ for forgiveness, mercy, guidance, and divine purpose! We are not able either to save or to relieve our guilt; only God can do that. Baptism identifies us with Christ and the community of believers. It is a condition of the heart, of discipleship, and a sign of faith.

I have learned a lot from this lesson. I hope you have found it informative and it has cleared up some questions as to your concerns about sin. As I stated before, it’s no accident that you have read this blog. The God of the entire universe is acting in your behalf to bring you safely into the kingdom of His Marvelous Light! Don’t put it off; be reconciled to God and have your burden lifted today.

“For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”  (Philippians 2:13) To be like Christ, we must train ourselves to think like Christ. To train ourselves to be more like Him, we need to be indwelled by the Holy Spirit, have the influence of faithful Christians around us, be consistently obedient to God’s Word, and exhibit sacrificial service.

Often it is while doing God’s will that we gain the desire to do it. If we are faithful in the small things, and do what God desires for us, He will change our desires to be worldly into a desire to be more like Him.

It is the desire of God to make of us His beloved son or daughter, called to glorify Him and to flourish in His hands. Don’t you want that, too?

….If you could see, where Jesus brought me from to where I am today, then you would know the reason why I love Him so….You can take this world’s wealth and riches, I don’t need earth’s fame…it’s my desire, to live for HIM! Halleluiah! Glory to God in the Highest!