If
you have followed my blog for any length of time, you know I sometimes post
articles by other authors instead of writing my own. This week while researching the subject of
sin, I came across this article by Jack Kelley of gracethrufaith.com which, in my opinion, said everything I wanted
to say but in a much better way than I ever could. So enjoy this post and I pray you will learn
from it as I did.
What
Is Sin?
A
Bible Study by Jack Kelley
Judging
from the feedback I’ve received lately, some of us don’t know what sin is. The
word comes from an old English archery term meaning “to miss the mark.” Jesus
gave us the mark in Matt. 5:48 “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father
is perfect.” Anything short of that is missing the mark, and whether by
thought, word, or deed, is sin. The main purpose of His three chapter Sermon on
the Mount (Matt. 5-7) was to change our perception of sin. The Pharisees
thought that if they obeyed the commandments they weren’t sinning and therefore
didn’t need a Savior. To achieve their position of authority, they had to have
lived such an exemplary life as to appear nearly perfect. This focus on
perfection in their behavior made them arrogant, unsympathetic toward their
weaker brethren. It had made them worse than useless in advancing the Kingdom.
They were actually driving people away.
He
began by saying that in judging our behavior, God would not overlook even the
smallest detail of the Law. He said that even our thoughts would be held
against us. Anger is as bad as murder, He said, lust is as bad as adultery, and
so on. He said that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees we
will certainly not enter the Kingdom. (Matt. 5:20) Later on He said that they
were like whitewashed tombs which are beautiful on the outside but full of dead
men’s bones. He said in the same way they appeared to people as righteous but
were full of hypocrisy. (Matt. 23:27-28) The Pharisees were compulsive about
their behavior, applying the Law to the most minute things in their lives, even
giving a tithe of the herbs and spices that grew in their gardens. (Matt.
23:23) And our righteousness needs to exceed theirs? In all of their behavior
they had achieved perfection.
Where
Did That Come From?
Then
where does sin originate if not in our behavior? In Mark 7:20-23 Jesus said:
“What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of
men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed,
malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils
come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’ “
Jeremiah
said, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can
understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) This is what he meant. Satan brings evil
thoughts to the threshold of our minds. If we immediately take these thoughts
captive and make them obedient to Christ, there’s no harm done. We’ve fended
off an attack. (2 Cor. 10:3-5) But the moment we give them any consideration at
all, we’ve sinned. Anger, jealousy, envy, lust, resentment, frustration,
self-pity are some of the more obvious ones, but then there’s admiration,
pride, self-satisfaction, self-righteousness and a long list of others that
give glory to someone or something other than God. Our hearts being incurably
wicked we do two things that make us sinners. First, we harbor these thoughts,
and second we think that because we don’t act on them we haven’t sinned. But
whether acted upon or not, these and many more are all sins punishable by
death. No one sees them, and they’re so natural to us that often we ourselves
are barely aware of them. To all outward appearances we appear to be fine,
upstanding examples of Christian goodness, but inside we’re rotten to the core.
Pastor
Chuck Smith, the founder of Calvary Chapel, once said, “We aren’t sinners
because we sin, we sin because we’re sinners.” It’s our nature. Those who claim
to have stopped sinning simply don’t understand this. The best we can say about
ourselves is that because of our conversion we’re perhaps a little more aware
of our sins, but the research has shown that by and large most of us live lives
that aren’t any freer of sin than our unbelieving neighbors. Like them, we’re
after bigger and better stuff for ourselves while ignoring the needs of people
around us. Like them we’re jealous of the success of others while crediting
ourselves with our own success. Like them we get angry about little things.
Like them, we wish our lives were different. Like them, we have a secular world
view.
But
what has been most instructive to me lately is the way so many people actually
think they’re no longer sinners, just because they’re saved. I guess the old
saying is true. We all want grace for ourselves while demanding justice for
everyone else. We want to be judged by our intentions but we want others judged
by their actions.
As
the Bible clearly shows, there is no hierarchy of sin. All sin brings death. We
don’t think there’s anything wrong with being angry or envying the possessions
of our neighbors or entertaining a lustful thought now and then, but we demand
others stop their sinning or else be condemned. Please don’t misunderstand me.
There’s nothing wrong with being uncomfortable around sinful behavior. There’s nothing
wrong with deciding to withdraw from it. And there’s nothing wrong with
demanding that the leaders of our churches adhere to Biblical principles about
sin. But when we start saying that certain forms of sin disqualify a person for
salvation, then we’ve put ourselves in God’s place and risk having the same
measure we use in judging others, be used with us.
“Do
not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you
will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
(Matt. 7:1-2)
“Do
not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be
condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37)
According
to Biblical standards we all willingly, consciously and deliberately sin. The
fact that some sins are more obvious to us than others is irrelevant. It’s
what’s in our hearts that counts, and God sees them all. We forget that Jesus
said every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven except blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit. (Matt. 12:31) Every sin. And not just once. Enough to last a lifetime.
Repent And Be Saved
Having
talked about sin, we should also take a look at repentance. The Greek word
translated repent is metanoeo. Meta means after and noeo means to understand.
To repent literally means to understand afterward. As it’s used in the New
Testament it means to change one’s mind. The phrase “Repent and be saved” means
change your mind about your behavior and realize that you’re a sinner in need
of a savior. It was first used with Jews who thought that keeping the Law would
save them. When John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2), Jesus (Matt. 4:17), and Peter
(Acts 2:38) told the people to repent, they were telling them to change their
minds about believing that their own works could save them. Only people who
know their behavior is sinful will realize their need for a Savior. Once it
becomes clear to us that we’re sinners and can’t save ourselves, we’re ready to
ask for salvation. We’ve repented.
But
nowhere in the Bible is anyone required to change their behavior before they
can ask for salvation. The old hymn “Just as I Am” makes that clear. To say
that the word repent implies that behavioral change is a condition of salvation
is an incorrect understanding of the word. The notion that Christians stop
sinning once we’re saved is similarly incorrect. The fact that God chooses to
see us as a new creation is a function of His ability to look ahead to what
we’ll be in the resurrection. It’s not due to our suddenly exemplary behavior.
There
was a time in ancient history when people looked forward to cloudy days,
because they thought the Lord wouldn’t be able to look down and catch them
sinning. It was like a free day. Today we understand how absurd that was. When
a person is caught in adultery, or theft, it’s obvious to everyone that he or
she has been sinning. But the person who secretly envies his neighbor’s
possessions, is jealous, harbors resentment, or is self righteous, is every bit
as much a sinner. The only difference is that nobody knows. Nobody on Earth,
that is.
And
then there’s the sin we’re not even aware of. This is what caused David to
write, “Who can discern His errors? Lord, forgive my hidden faults.” (Psalm
19:12) We can’t even figure out our own motives and yet are often quick to
judge the motives of others. We say they could stop their sinning whenever they
want to, and are only doing it by choice, while we remain in our secret sins
having convinced ourselves that we’re not sinning, and seeing no need to stop.
Do
we think that condemning others and questioning their salvation, as so many in
the Church do, is helping them? With the woman caught in adultery, Jesus saved
her life by exposing the secret sins of her accusers. Once they understood that
He knew the hidden flaws in their behavior, they no longer had the stomach for
condemning her. This was a demonstration of his admonition in Matt. 7:1-2 to
avoid judging others unless we want to be judged in like manner. He said He
would use the same measure on us that we use on others. When He said, “Let him
who is without sin cast the first stone” (John 8:7) , He was saying in effect,
“If you want to start killing people for their sins, are you willing to face
the same judgment for yours?” He can expose our hypocrisy just as easily, you
know. If we want other believers kicked out of the rapture for their sins, are
we willing to be kicked out for ours? We’ve all sinned and fall short of the
glory of God. It’s true, Jesus said. “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord
will enter the kingdom of Heaven.” But He can do that. He’s Jesus. We’re not.
After
they fled, Jesus asked “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She
said, “No one, sir.” “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now
and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:10-11) My guess is that she stopped
committing adultery. Of course she also would have stopped if her accusers had
killed her, but would she have been delivered from her sin?
The
Pharisees were upset with Jesus because they considered Him “soft” on sin.
After all, He palled around with “sinners”, had dinner in their homes, and said
He came to save them, not to condemn them. I’ve noticed that the closer people
came to Jesus, the more they became aware of their sins. They were often on
their knees, weeping, pleading for mercy. The Pharisees stood in the back,
scowling, arms folded across their chests, silently condemning. I think Paul
was writing about such people when he said they show contempt for the riches of
His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads
you toward repentance. (Romans 2:4)
Jesus
said that prostitutes and tax collectors would enter the Kingdom before the
Pharisees did. Why? Because they knew they were sinners in need of a savior.
They had repented, whereas the Pharisees had not. (Matt. 21:32)
I
think you get the point of this, which is to remind us that we’re all sinners
who deserve only judgment. There’s not a single one of us who has earned the
right to go in the Rapture. We should be so thrilled to know He’s going to take
us anyway that we search high and low trying to find a way to say thanks,
instead of looking around for people we want to have excluded. And those of you
who think that you only sin occasionally, if at all, and that others are just
weak, it’s time you repent. Admit you’re a sinner and ask the Lord to forgive
you. He will immediately agree, and perhaps for the first time you’ll
experience the full measure of God’s Grace, because he who has been forgiven
much, loves much. Selah 12-13-08
Keep
watching.
