Tag Archives: Sin

Sin: Pitfall vs. Practice

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If our sin does not in fact separate us from God, why would the Bible encourage believers to strive for sinlessness? And why would it bother to give dire warnings to those who practice sin in their life? “But immorality or impurity or greed must not even be named among you…for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”(Ephesians 5:3-6). Make no mistake about it; Paul is addressing the Church here, not non-believers. And he makes it abundantly clear that no such person “has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” Such warnings are repeated many times throughout the New Testament.

When the Bible speaks about sin as it concerns the Christian, it is actually talking about two broad categories of sin: that of walking in sin (the practice of sin as a lifestyle) and that of periodically falling into sinful behavior (what I’ll call a pitfall). So we need to understand that even though such biblical passages serve to caution us against stepping into the pitfall of sin, their primary purpose is to warn those who may be moving toward making sin the practice of their lives—those who time and again choose to live in sin.

We’d all be in big trouble if separation from God resulted merely from periodically falling into sin through the weakness of our flesh. Still, we must not discount sin, no matter how minor, as somehow being insignificant in God’s eyes, because the very nature of sin is that it has potential to grow and spread just as a cancer does in the body. All sin runs along a path that leads somewhere. And this, of course, brings up a very important question: when does sin as a pitfall develop into sin as a practice? Where is the dividing line between sin that merely displeases God and sin that drives His Spirit from us?

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

Separated from God?

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I’m sure we all realize that the true definition of the term Christian is “one who has been born again into living relationship with God.” Because this union is the result of God’s Spirit taking up residence within us, a rock-solid bond has been established with God—a relationship that cannot easily be broken.

But here a question arises: “As a Christian, does sin separate me from God?” It’s not unusual to hear this answered “yes.” We are often taught that sin causes a separation between us and God, creating a rift which can only be restored when we confess our sin to Him.(1 John 1:9) Therefore, moving forward with our life in God is possible only when our tie with Him can be reestablished through forgiveness.

Though this view certainly seems to have merit, it’s not actually the case. Frankly, sin does not separate a believer from God in any manner. Unquestionably, any sin displeases God and therefore can’t help but affect our relationship with Him, but it does not separate us from Him. If it did, it would mean that God would have to vacate our spirit each time we sin, and then come back once again when we repent.

This hardly seems practical, since it means that God would have to sever the very tie so utterly necessary to overcoming sin in the first place. It would mean cutting off the very resource essential to spiritual growth.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

The Pestilence of Sin

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Being born again to become that “new creature” in Christ, in no way shields us from being confronted with the power of sin. There it is, even though we are now joined to God in this powerful new relationship. This is a rude awakening for us all once we’ve gotten past the initial exhilaration of being saved.

As we attempt to move forward in our Christian walk, the resurgence of sin is a bewildering source of sorrow. But we shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that sin crops up once again. Rather, we should expect it. 

We yearn mightily to be free once and for all from the power of sin. The Church has wrestled with this issue down through the centuries, most times implementing a regimen of works and sacraments in an attempt to conquer it. But it’s impractical to think that such a strategy might actually work because this merely employs a Band-Aid approach; it treats the symptoms rather than attacking the root of the problem.

Nevertheless, we try and try. Yet just when we begin to believe that it might be possible to gain an upper hand over sin through works or willpower, corruption involving sex or greed is uncovered in another of our prominent leaders, highlighting our own inadequacies and serving to dash our hopes that we can ever truly change. Obviously not all Church leaders are given to the practice of secret sin, but those whose sin has been aired publicly serve as a wake-up call for the rest of us. Somehow we instinctively know that, “but by the grace of God, there go I.”

Dead to Law?

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In the 7th chapter of Romans, Paul lays out in detail the remarkable truth regarding the basis for our freedom from the bondage of sin. Here we find that our liberty hinges on freedom from law—that is, being dead to law. And here the nagging question as to how we can be free from the power of sin, even as we continue to encounter shameful problems with it, is finally answered.

He begins his argument in Romans 7:1-3, where he says that law has jurisdiction over a person’s life only as long as he lives. This reinforces what he had just taught—that we have in fact died to sin. Without question we have, but not in the way we tend to think about it, since our death to sin is not really a personal death at all.

Let’s look a little closer. Paul says that freedom from law is actually the basis for our freedom from sin. He uses the example of a woman being held accountable to the Law by virtue of the fact that she is married. Consequently, she can’t pursue a relationship with another man without being labeled an adulteress. But when her husband dies, she is free from any responsibility the Law placed on her regarding her former husband.

Why is this important? Because although in this instance the wife is the one who has been freed from (dead to) law, she didn’t die at all; her husband did! And so it is with us. By comparison, we’re like the living wife rather than the dead husband when talking about our own death to sin. Just as the commandment concerning adultery now no longer applies to her, in Christ we have also been removed from the realm of jurisdiction of law.

We are in fact just as dead to law in regard to our sin as she is to the commandment which once governed her marriage. But law has lost its jurisdiction over us not because sinful behavior can now be considered legal, permissible or acceptable, but because our sin is no longer punishable. God has acquitted us of wrongdoing because the punishment for sin—that is, separation from Him—is no longer enforced. And this is the key to understanding the true nature of our death to sin.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

Dead to Sin

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The fact of the matter is that God has provided the remedy for all our sin—past, present and future.(Psalm 103:10&14) But even so, it’s obvious in Scripture that He intends for us to be holy, and thus commands us not to sin. How is it, then, that He could willingly overlook the sin which so easily flows from our nature? The answer, of course, is that by grace He forgives our sins, which is indeed absolutely true.

Fortunately, Jesus revealed the full extent of the gospel to Paul, not only that his curiosity might be satisfied but that both his generation and those to follow might also reach a deeper understanding of Christ’s provision. This is vitally important, because a complete awareness both of our human condition and how we now relate to our Creator is the key to walking in the total freedom God always meant for us to experience.

We know from Scripture that God forgives our sin through Christ Jesus as a free gift. Yet even more important to understand is that this free gift of forgiveness and righteousness is rooted in the fact that He has caused us to die to sin altogether.(1 Peter 2:24) But just exactly what does dying to sin mean? I don’t feel very dead to sin!

Law Exposes Sin

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While it is obvious that God’s intention for law was both to curb sinful behavior and provide direction, its main purpose was to expose sin. Paul puts it this way in Romans 7:7: “I would not have come to know sin except through [law].” Law identifies and exposes sin because it sets the standard of God’s righteousness (His holiness) against that of our own self-centered, sinful motivations and behavior. So law can be thought of as a gauge of sorts, because it contrasts God’s righteousness with our own lack thereof.

But this begs a very pertinent question: did sin exist before the first law was ever given? Yes it did; at least man’s predisposition to sin did. But in the absence of law, sin laid dormant in Adam. Adam was created perfect, but being created perfect also meant being created human. And being human, he was subject to the chronic weakness of self-will. But Adam’s inherent self-will—and the sin which is the natural outcome of that weakness—was not recognized for what it was until law came on the scene to expose it.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

 

Pride? Me?

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All sin is ultimately rooted in what C.S. Lewis calls the great sin: pride: “Pride leads to every other vice; it is the completely anti-God state of mind.” (Mere Christianity) He says pride is essentially competitive in nature. And being so, the natural course of ego and conceit (pride, self-importance) is to demand our own way—no matter what God has to say about it. So it’s not hard to see why the Bible defines sin as “lawlessness.”

Lewis goes on to say that pride, “is one vice of which no man in the world is free; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine they are guilty of themselves… and the more we have it in ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.” It’s not at all uncommon for Christians themselves to be oblivious to pride in their life, or at least not appreciate the extent to which this cancer influences them.

Pride is at the very core of the problem of sin because a demanding ego causes us to pursue the things of the world, where it’s easy to experience instant and tangible satisfaction for our misdirected needs—however deceptive and short term this fix might be.(1 John 2:16)

Being the offspring of self-will rooted in self-interest, ego constantly seeks to enhance itself in an attempt to satisfy the desires of the heart. When you think about it, it can easily be seen how all the sins described in the Bible are rooted toward serving this end. So, in our struggle against sin, it’s very helpful to understand why we continue to do what we do, even though we ultimately do not find it rewarding. Pride is the culprit, and the flesh is its instrument.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

A Fungus Amongus

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I was reminded of the problem of sin recently while watching a T.V. program about fungus in a tree (I always pick the most exciting shows!). While the fungus had originated in the crotch of the branches at the center of the tree, it quickly spread throughout its branches and leaves. How to eradicate the fungus was the question.

An arborist went to work on the tree, cutting away its dead branches and pruning back those still alive. But he also did something I would never have thought of doing: he cut out branches from the center of the tree in order to open it up to fresh air and sunlight. Then, as wind blew through the tree and the sun shined within its branches, the fungus eventually dried up and died. To make certain the tree would not be re-infected by the fungus, he raked up all the diseased leaves which had fallen to the ground below.

As I watched, the Lord seemed to say that this is how He goes about eradicating the fungus of sin from our life. Cutting away the dead branches, pruning others, and raking away the diseased leaves spoke to me of our responsibility to say no to sin. But what was even more obvious was the analogy to God’s strategy for healing the true source of sin. Namely, that He addresses the cause of our sinful fungus by removing the diseased inner branches of our heart to allow the presence of His Spirit to flood our life within.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

Stategies Against Sin

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Sin doesn’t stem primarily from our physical body; it’s a heart problem rooted within the soul. We know that our soul cannot change until it is influenced by a healthy spirit. And nothing happens until our spirit is first empowered by the life of God. But when it is, the soul, mind and body are pushed automatically toward their purpose. Ultimately this is the answer to the dilemma of the sinful weakness of the flesh.

This, of course, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t consciously try to curb sin in our flesh by saying no to it. It would be pretty foolish to let sin run rampant in our body while waiting for change to happen within our heart. Rather, these strategies are designed to work hand in hand with each other. Only when we renounce sin in our flesh and then couple it with the pursuit of healing and change in our heart do we stand a chance of experiencing transformation in our behavior.

Put God in charge–and then cooperate with Him. He has a plan!

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

What Is Sin?

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What is sin? Scripture never really bothers to define sin, except where it says that “sin is lawlessness.”(1 John 3:4) Everyone in the Bible simply seemed to understand what it meant. The word first appears in Genesis 4:7 where Cain, angry over the unacceptability of his offering, is told by God, “sin is crouching at your door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

I have often heard sin defined as missing the mark, as if one were missing a target he is aiming at. The Greek dictionary defines sin as, “missing the true end and scope of our lives, which is God—an offence in relation to God with an emphasis on guilt.”

It’s pretty obvious what God considers to be sin. Time and again in his various letters Paul makes perfectly clear what the sins of the flesh are, listing each by name—often along with a warning that those corrupted by sin have no inheritance in God’s kingdom.(Galatians 5:18-21, Ephesians 5:3-5) And other biblical writers do the same. God’s purpose in so emphatically defining the sins of the flesh is to make it impossible for us to play dumb, saying we didn’t know.

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself