“What is sin?” she
asked in all sincerity. As our conversation developed it was clear that the
subject puzzles many. Does uttering a
string of profane words after slamming your toe against a doorframe count as a
sin? Are all sins the same or are some more serious than others? Can we ever
get to a place in our lives where we live without sinning?
The most basic
definition of sin in the New Testament is to
err, to wander from the right path, to offend God. Genesis tells us that sin entered God’s
creation through the willful choice of Adam and Eve. Despite God’s command,
they listened to the seduction of Satan.
When they chose to disobey, they suffered the consequence of being
separated from intimate communion with the Lord and seeing the world fall apart
around them! That willful choice
introduced death to God’s creation and separated all of us from Him. Sacrifice enabled sinful people to find His
forgiveness. The Last Sacrifice was Christ Jesus about whom the Bible says, "he has appeared once for all at the end of
the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself." (Hebrews
9:26, NIV) The answer to our sinfulness
is found in Him! The Bible promises that
"If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9, NIV)
Everyone sins
every day. If we think we have beaten the
Curse and found perfection in ourselves, we are in denial. But, God’s amazing grace, shown to us in
Jesus, removes the guilt of our sin. "So
since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does this mean we can go on
sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that whatever you choose to obey
becomes your master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can
choose to obey God and receive his approval. Thank God! Once you were slaves of
sin, but now you have obeyed with all your heart the new teaching God has given
you. Now you are free from sin, your old master, and you have become slaves to
your new master, righteousness." (Romans 6:15-18, NLT) The best
promise is that the Holy Spirit, living in us, will make us aware of our sin and,
as we turn to our Father, will give us the power to overcome it.
Spiritually we
cannot stand still. We are either moving towards our Father or away from
Him. If we willfully resist Him, even in
what we might think is in things that are insignificant, we have chosen to
serve sin. All sin has a consequence. All sin offends God Who calls us to live to
honor and please Him in holiness. But,
not all sin has equal consequence in our present lives. Murder obviously is a
much more serious violation of God’s will than a fit of anger. Yet, both grow from the same root; love of Self! We are wise if we deal with sins in their
infancy for the Word tells us that “sin,
when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:15)
Victory over sin
does not come from being obsessed with it!
We cannot perfect ourselves, not matter how hard we try. “Don’t
handle, don’t eat, don’t touch.” Such rules are mere human teaching about
things that are gone as soon as we use them. These rules may seem wise because
they require strong devotion, humility, and severe bodily discipline. But they
have no effect when it comes to conquering a person’s evil thoughts and
desires." (Colossians 2:21-23, NLT) Perfectionism produces only more slavery and
often leads to denial of the reality of our sin. It is in Christ alone that we find the
forgiveness we desire and the freedom required. We look at our sins, big and small, own them
without excuse, and carry them to the blinding brilliance of our God. In that
light, their ugliness becomes so clear and we are desperate to be free of
them. And, when we look to Jesus, the
Spirit comes to set us free.
Sin is not really
the issue for us. Christ is. So here’s a
word from the Word. May the Truth set us free to live for God’s glory. It’s a long passage, but take time to read it
entirely, with wonder; for it is wonderful! "With
the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who
enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a
continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of
life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing
you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. …
The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep
healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is
accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what
the Spirit is doing in us. Those who think they can do it on their own end up
obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to
exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that
God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God
leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is
the opposite of focusing on God.
Anyone completely absorbed in self
ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That
person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being
ignored. But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly
be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not
welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t
know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he
dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself
experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the
alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life,
he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to
himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did
in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life.
With his Spirit living in you, your body will be
as alive as Christ’s! So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old
do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all.
The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life.
God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you received from
God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting
God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” (Romans 8:1-15, The Message)
_____________
He Set Me Free
Once like a bird in prison I dwelt,
No freedom from my sorrow I felt!
But Jesus came and listened to me,
And, glory to God, He set me free.
Good-bye to sin and things that confound.
Naught of the world shall turn me around.
Daily, I'm working, I'm praying, too.
And glory to God, I'm going thru!
He set me free!
Yes, He set me free!
And He broke the bonds of prison for me.
I'm glory bound, my Jesus to see,
For glory to God He set me free!
Albert E. Brumley
© 1939. Renewed
1967 Stamps - Baxter Music (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.,
741 Cool Springs Blvd., Franklin TN 37067)
CCLI License #
810055
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