Sin

It’s been zero days since my last sin. No, this isn’t me confessing my sins before the world, but rather, an undeniable fact. No one is righteous, no not one. Romans 3:10. Every day we sin, and I would guess most of us don’t realize we’ve done it. The quick thought that comes and goes and we move on without realizing it. Or the sin we keep locked away so tight, we have normalized. Or the ones we just don’t realize is actually a sin. In recent weeks I have found myself around people who use Jesus’s name so flippantly, and out of context, I have started to have a visceral response. The sin that I once could ignore, now affects me in ways I never expected it would. 

Recently I was in class, and the teacher started talking about Genesis 3. Most of us who have done even a cursory study of scripture know, that Genesis 3 is called ‘the fall’ because that’s when the Serpent goes to Eve, tempting her to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Then giving it to her husband Adam to eat, in which he did. While it could be argued that the act of eating the fruit was sin, I argue sin happened before that. Let us take a look, 

Genesis 3:6 

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.

How is this the sin, but not the eating of it? Genesis 5 says this, 

5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

“You will be like God.” The serpent says. And her response was desiring to be made wise, to be like God. This is the sin. Pride, ‘I want to be like God.” How does Eve respond? She gives the fruit to her absent and complicit husband Adam. Who instead of standing up for what’s right, took it, and ate. Sin does not happen in a vacuum. Upon eating they found they were naked, and shamed. Then God comes around walking in the Garden looking for them. He called to them and out they came, clothed with fig leaves to hide their shame. Did they plead for forgiveness, say they were sorry, or take responsibility for what they have done? No. not at all in fact. Adam, head of the household passed the blame back to God for it being the Woman that God gave to him. Eve passed the blame on the Serpent. Neither of them humbled themselves and asked for forgiveness. Why wouldn’t they just say they were sorry and seek forgiveness? Pride. 

Pride is something we confuse today. 

Pride in one’s self

Pride in the pride flag

Proud of some sin we are harbinger of. 

There’s a difference between accomplishing something and feeling a sense of pride in that, and being prideful. IF a human walks around all day, arrogant, thinks highly of himself, chances are he or she is living in pride. Or, as mentioned above, if we are actively living in pride, or our sin, that is of course, sin. 

When we argue with people there’s a good chance most arguments come from a sense of pride. NO one wants to be wrong, and we all think our opinions are the right ones, but do we check our pride at the door, and turn to scripture for answers? Someone made a comment to me recently about, in the past they have told people to follow their heart. They now question if that was bad advice because of how much they have grown in their understanding of scripture, and faith. Yes, following your heart is often bad advice, because we know from scripture, the heart is deceitfully wicked. Jeremiah 17:9 It is better to make sure our choices are prayed over, and we look to scripture for answers. We often make decisions based on what ‘we’ want, but that’s our pride. What does God want for us? What path does God want us to go down? If we don’t follow our hearts what about love? Isn’t love, love? We will look at these things. 

How can we know God? This is the first question to the question what does God want for me? We cannot know His plan for us, if we do not know scripture. We cannot know God if we do not talk to him. We cannot know God if there is not a real relationship between the father and us. So, the first thing we must do is dive into our biblical studies, pray every day, and hear God’s word from good biblical teachers. When we are confronted with a path, it is far more likely a decision can be made once we have scripture in our hearts, and we see Christ around us, or lack there of. When we look at a person whom we must choose if they are a good fit for us, do they live a quiet Godly life? Are they following the path of ‘the way’ (Christianity)? We often choose people to ‘be’ with, based on how they make us feel in the moment. People today will walk away from a relationship the moment they do not feel their needs are being taken care of. If we are looking for what we get out of a relationship, they will always fail. Relationships are about you doing your best for the other person, not what we get out of them. Love, is sacrificing for others, among other things. The moment it becomes about you, and your needs, your wants, that’s the sin of pride. 

The phrase love is love, is a lie straight from the pit of hell. We as a culture, as a society have excused behaviors because if it’s love, how can it be wrong? I believe this is because we as a society no longer have a grasp on what the word love truly means. Our English language has watered down, diluted, the word love, so now it is tossed around and used interchangeably with strongly like, or even lust. Love, true love, is the absence of pride. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

If this is love, which it is, where do we fall within it? Every day, people are in relationships with sin within their relationships. Every day someone gets annoyed with their significant other, or thinks they are being treated with apathy, or someone is treated with disrespect. Love as scripture says, covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8. If this is true, then the sins it covers, are the things seen in 1 Corinthians, and that can be broken down into how we treat others, which can be taken all the way back to the 10 commandments in Exodus. Amazing how scripture fits together. How we love is a reflection of our understanding of scripture. How we treat others, and treat God is a reflection of how we understand scripture. And not just understand it, but live by it. The Pharisees where whitewashed tombs, they looked good on the outside, but spiritually dead on the inside. They were proud of their position, but didn’t know the first thing about being humble. We cannot expect our relationships to go well if we don’t know how to love. We cannot expect relationships to go well if the person we are with is not equally yoked with you, in your walk with Christ. Or vice versa, if you are the one not walking with Christ, you are not equally yoked with your ‘other’, who is. We cannot love if we are walking in our own sins every day, prideful and arrogant.

The Pride flag: every year there’s an entire month dedicated to this flag, to this way of life. As a Christian, there are few things you need to understand about this flag. First, the rainbow is a Jewish symbol set forth by God as a promise never to destroy the earth by way of flood again. And upon study, you will find it’s much deeper than that. The pride flag uses the symbol of a rainbow as a weapon against religion that holds firm that the nature of the LGBT+ community is in fact, living in their sins. I am a veteran and most people don’t know this, but the same month that is pride month, is also PTSD awareness month. LGBT has become so prominent in the US, that even the VA will hoist the flag, but nowhere show the PTSD color or poster to raise awareness. We have lost our way and have allowed those in their sexually immoral ways, to dictate terms. The pride flag, is named for its pride, it’s pride in sin itself. Not only is what those are doing is a sin, but they are proud of that sin. I will say this about being sexually immoral; while some ‘churches’, and I use this term loosely, have now allowed this sin to enter into their house, that in no way makes it right. God determined that, that kind of sexual acts, behavior, and ideals, are a sin, it is not for me to question what is, or is not a sin, but to trust in God. God’s opinion is the ultimate authority, not my prideful self. It is this very pride we see creep into the church. Pride that we know better than God, and we will pick and choose what sins are okay, and which ones are not. We have chosen to allow sexual sins into the church, corrupting the body of Christ, and sending people straight to hell, because instead of confronting the sin, and allowing people the opportunity to repent, therefore being saved in their faith and repentance, they are living in the sin because they now think it’s okay. When did we decide we knew better than God and we could pick and choose what rules to follow, and which to ignore? 

Genesis 3:6, she saw it and took it. She wanted to be wise like God. She wanted the power of God. We are tempted every day by Satan and his legion of fallen angels, but let me remind you, in no way is the argument ‘the devil made me do it’ valid. The devil didn’t make you do anything. He may have tempted you, or given you the idea, but you did those things. I did those things. And to be honest, sin needs not accomplice. We often say the Devil is here trying to do, fill in the blank. In reality why would the devil need to tempt you, sin does that all by itself. A nation that is now reveling in its own prideful self, not the ‘proud to be an American’ type of pride, but the pride in which we know better. We know better than God, and we will do what we want, with whom we want, when we want, how we want. We hoist our pride on poles and wave them around. We post them on social media for all the world to see. We show our pride at work when we don’t like the way someone wants us to do something, and when our spouse wrongs us in our eyes, we show it then too. Our pride is everywhere, and we celebrate our sins. No wonder God’s blessings seem less prevalent than they used too. Why does God allow bad leaders to be elected? He allows us our free will, our choices, and a nation now succumb to its pride and sin, will vote for pride and sin. Israel was condemned because of its pride, that God removed his hedge of protection over the country and it fell to invaders. God’s judgment isn’t always fire and brimstone, sometimes, it’s just stepping away. We cannot expect change unless we take a good hard look at our sin, our pride, and turn from our wicked ways, and repent. God WILL NOT BLESS SIN. If you want to save the United States, we must have an awakening of repentance. If you’re not an American, but you’re reading from someplace else, look around you, what do you see? Are people putting others first, or themselves? What is it politicians say and do, and prioritize? What do the people in your country say is important? Look around you, and decide if your surrounded by this level of sin and pride. But more importantly, if you want change, be the change. We need not sin like this. Yes, we are sinners, but once we are justified, we begin being sanctified. Every day, we must choose to walk the path, to die to our sins daily, and live a Godlier life than the day before. We need perfection to enter into heaven, but since we will never obtain that on our own, and in this life, we must look to progress over perfection. The wage of sin is Death, and we are all guilty in our sins. The judge will render a verdict to every single person on this planet before it’s through. We will either be covered by the blood of Jesus and death is commuted, or, we will be sentenced to eternal fire for our rebellion. Everyone is guilty of sin, and therefore everyone deserves eternal fire, but Jesus is our hope. Jesus covers the sins with his sacrifice, his blood, and we need only to repent and believe. We leave our sinful life behind being washed by the blood, made into a new creation. We now should have a response to our sins. We should feel the sin inside ourselves as repugnant. We should want to flee from our sin, and sinful behaviors, and not look back. When Sodom was being destroyed and Lot was told not to look back, don’t look back at the sinful nature, the destruction of the city, Lot’s wife looked back and was destroyed in it. We cannot keep a toe in the sinful world thinking it won’t spread to the rest of the body. We cannot keep sin tied up in a closet for us, and when it’s playtime we let sin out to play or run loose. Sin infects everything and everyone around us. WE cannot live our lives thinking we know better than God. Thinking the Bible is out of date or antiquated is exactly what was told in scripture. A day would come when people would ignore sound doctrine, and instead seek those who simply tickle the hears of the hearer. We must stand firm on scripture, and not capitulate to the assault from the world.

All of this said, please remember, there is a difference in standing firm in one’s faith, standing firm on the unshakable word of God and speaking to people with arrogance and cruelty. Sin is abounding all around us, and even though it may seem the world is falling apart, and we must stand firm, we will never succeed in the great commission, if we are not delivering the word of God, in a loving way. Do I hate those who live in their sin? No, of course not, because I am the chief sinner. While sin in the world may come with a different level of impact, sin at the foot of the cross is equal. My sin is no less egregious than those sins of a mass murderer. My sin is not less egregious that those of a corrupt politician. I am not saved of my good works, for my best works, on my best day are garbage, filthy menstrual rags before a Holy and Mighty God. Because of this, we cannot boast, we have nothing to boast, except Jesus Christ is Lord. (Paul washer). We cannot expect to change the world if all we do is ridicule and bash, talk badly, and speak hatefully to those who live in their prideful sins. WE cannot support sin, but we also cannot speak anything but truth, but deliver truth in love. Deliver the Gospel, and why we need a savior, and what it is to turn from sin, repent, and have hope in Jesus. We cannot make disciples for Jesus if we speak hatefully. We do not get to judge, but inform. There will be those who rebuke the Lord, who turn from Him, and like Paul before us, all we can do is share the Gospel, and if we need to shake off our sandals and move on then that’s what we do. Scripture tells us, this: 

Romans 12:18

If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 

Yes, stand against sin, rebuke sin, and call sin what it is, sin, rebellion against a Holy God. Do so in love, and kindness. Do not make light of sin, so not to open yourself to God’s judgment. Do not rewrite scripture for your own purposes. Do not look to scripture through the lens of sin, trying to make scripture fit your sinful lifestyle. By our nature we humans love our sin, and since our nature is sin, that is what we love. Like a pig eating garbage, if that pig were turned into a human, that pig would throw up everything. (Paul Washer) We are born a new creature in the blood of Christ, and we must flee from our sin, and share Christ with the world. Make no mistake one day a Righteous God, the Savior of all will return. He will judge the sinners and condemn those that reject Him. The path of a Christian is progress over perfection. Do not wallow in your pride like a pig in slop and mud. Do not stay in the unlocked cage of your own making. Do not keep yourself in a style of life of sin. Jesus died for the sinner, not a particular level of sin. Sin should be a fight, not a mutual symbiotic relationship. We should be fighting our sin daily. We should be loving and living a life where people see a difference in us. We should be a living example. We should be confessing our sins, not a blanket statement of sin, of ‘forgive me of my sins’ is not asking for forgiveness. ‘Forgive me because I was impatient. Forgive me because I was selfish. Forgive me because I lost my temper.’ These things are specifics. ‘Lord forgives me for I have lusted, I have had impure thoughts.’ These things are sins we face. When we acknowledge our own sin, and continue to do this, we should look different to those we are trying to minster too, not because of our own pride, our own boast, but because we are called to do so, to do this by God. Be an ambassador for Christ, live in love. Pray for those sinners still happy in their sins. Those still happily, and in ignorance, ‘plugged into the matrix.’ Those who love their sins. We cannot convince a non-believer of their sin by calling out their sin. We must first give the message of Christ, and hope and pray the Holy Spirit grabs hold of them, and in the spirit, God will shed light on their sins. Do we support the sin, no, do we beat them over the head with the Bible? No, we share the love of Christ, and why we need Christ. Let the love of God shine through us, and in that love, let the Holy Spirit move. We cannot talk anyone into Christ, for if anyone can be talked into Christ, they can be talked out of it. Loving others, is not supporting the sin in others. We also cannot condone, or accept the sin, most importantly we must not take part in sinful lifestyles. Do not live in your pride, but make sure people see you, and say ‘you want to be like Jesus.’

Do not expect not-believers to have the same moral compass of those who know God. Do not expect non-believers to have the same respect for the human unborn life like those of a Christian heart. Do not expect the un-believer to not steal your lawn mower, or your wife. Do not expect the un-believer not to embezzle, or bribe, or cheat. In fact, all of these things should be expected of the world, because sin is as said before, pride, and pride is about self. If you want it, go take it, because pride is all about you. We Christians are not good; we are not better than those non-believers. We are hypocrites, we say one thing and do another, as Paul states in 

Romans 7:19-20

19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

I do not expect ‘goodness’ out of people. I expect sin out of people. I especially expect sin to come out of those who are not on ‘the way.’ We Christians should hurt when we sin. It should feel like a knife stabbing into the heart, and we should want to do nothing else, but make it right. Confront the sin, apologize for those we sin against, and go to them and ask for forgiveness, and then go to God, and seek mercy and forgiveness. Let us work harder to show those that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Let us change the world, change our communities, by sharing the love and life of Jesus. Be the change you want to see. Forsake your pride, forsake your sin, walk in light, and walk in Christ. Only when people accept Christ as their Lord and Savior, will we truly see change in our communities, our states, our countries, and the world. You want to see change, first, look in the mirror.