SIN—The Problem We All Face
by Shawn Smith
What is wrong with our society and
the world? In a word—sin. Friends, it is so painfully true that we don’t lose our sinful flesh
when we become a Christian. Our nature is still within us like a personal terrorist waiting to make us what
the Bible calls "an instrument of wickedness." As a matter of fact,
we must be ever diligent because, once we become a Christian, we
become so much more in tune with that side of ourselves.
The Bible tells us that there is a time to speak and a time to be silent. In
his wonderful book, Knowing the Unknowable God, James R. Lucas says, "We
have seen in the Scriptures that God will change his course of action based upon
our decisions and course of action. But God can’t and won’t change His
principles. Any change in decision or course of action doesn’t alter His
changeless character. We see even more that the changes we find God making are
in fact guided by His changeless character."
I read a great quote, "Let the order of the day be, run to God and stand
firm." I take this to mean that we should keep God as our general, but get our
butts in the war. It is time to hate the sin, rebuke the sinner, and if the
sinners won’t repent, let them go by not dealing with them. God has everything
in hand anyway, and we need to stop being proud and arrogant by thinking we can
change everyone. Let me be clear here, I am not talking about the repentant
sinner because we are all repentant sinners. I am talking about the sinner who
marches in the street preaching humanistic tolerance for sin. Take the vile
sinner Saul in the Bible; Christian after Christian tried to plead their case
with him. He had them beaten, stoned, and killed—no human was going to change
his mind. But the saving grace of God changed his heart and, as the apostle
Paul, he became the greatest warrior the faith has known. God was the only being
that could get down in the trenches with that kind of evil and not be scathed or
tempted—the parasite did not affect him.
People, the Bible should be our sword, something we carry and pull from its
sheath every day, but Romans should be the chapter quick in our mind:
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a
slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do
not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I
agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do
it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me,
that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good,
but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do;
no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what
I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living
in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good,
evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's
law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war
against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at
work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me
from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the
sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Romans 7:14-25
God in the form of a man was the only being who could be tolerant with sin.
He was not limited to our human curse. We must remember He was God and unable to
fall to the temptations that plague our fallen human state. Evil is like a mold;
if you don’t shine light on it, it spreads and covers its host. We can’t kid
ourselves, evil is like an unseen parasite. It invades our world in the fashion
of tolerance by desensitizing our senses to it by degrading our shock factor. If
we don’t fight the tide of evil with intolerance, it will invade every aspect of
our lives and we will get to the point where we don’t even see the parasite.
John MacArthur, one of my favorite authors, made many great points in his
book, Twelve Ordinary Men, but one that plays well here is this one: "Peter
was exactly like most Christians—both carnal and spiritual. He succumbed to the
habits of the flesh sometimes; he functioned in the Spirit other times."
We must
take heed—we are not built for the kinds of synthetic pleasures Satan has to
offer, and if we constantly surround ourselves with them and keep our mouths
shut, before long we will abide in them. I don’t know about you, but one day
when I stand before God I want to be able to say, "Lord I was honest with you in
my prayers about my fallen state and the times I fell. But I got up every
morning and fought. There were days when I tripped, stumbled, and crashed, but
I fought nonetheless."
David Jeremiah made me pause when in his book, Searching for Heaven on
Earth, he said, "Super bowl rings, Oscars, and chart-topping songs are the
flavor of the month at your local ice cream parlor, they’re smooth, delicious,
and they go down easy. But they’ll be replaced shortly enough. The apostle Paul
would refer to a much better crown than any the world could offer. This was a
crown worth striving for, one that can only be applied by nail-scarred hands."
My prayer this day is, "Oh Lord, help us for we know not what we do! How
ironic this phrase spilled from the mouth of the Messiah to His Father for those
nailing Him to the cross! Now we beg the same from the very man we nailed to
that cross—Amen!"
See related article,
"Tolerance, The Stench in the Nose of the Almighty"
_________
Shawn is the author of FIND HAPPINESS! How to
Fill the VOID in Your Life by LOOKING, FEELING, and LIVING BETTER!
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