This seems to be a very unpopular topic in this current post-modern era of the church. It’s very obvious that the message of “hyper grace” or “sloppy agape” has become prevalent in many American churches. Pastors don’t touch it “with a 10 foot pole,” for fear that it’ll drive away congregants, and if their congregants leave, the money goes with them as well – sad but true…
I know…I know… I’m sounding very “old school,” traditional and religious, but am I sounding Biblical? Before we all begin to “Bible thump,” allow me to make certain clear points regarding sin. And since this is a blog and not a research paper, I’ll be very precise. I’m certain many will have rebuttals, questions and comments; please feel free to post them on the comments below.
To begin, allow me to acknowledge that we live in the dispensation of GRACE. God is not mad at us! His anger and retribution regarding the sin of humanity was placed on Jesus while He hung on the cross. It was at the cross that we received our forgiveness and entrance to God’s presence. The authority of sin has been stripped and we’ve been freely given the power to overcome it by a genuine confession to the Lordship of Christ. But this doesn’t mean that we would never sin anymore and that sin doesn’t have a cost to it. It also doesn’t mean that we can’t still be bound and captured by it. And it doesn’t mean that the consequences of sin have been eliminated. The privileged of fee choice is still operative.
Since our faith in Christ and our place in His kingdom is a forward progression of growth, purpose and adventure, sin is the opposite. In the New Testament sin means to miss that mark, to fall short (hamartia, hamartema, hamartano.) This word occurs around 250 times in the New Testament to express the concept of sin. It’s used several ways. It can refer to general sin or wrongdoing (John 8:21) or specific acts of sin (Matthew 12:31; 1 John 5:16). It also refers to the inward element that produces wrongdoing (Romans 3:9; 7:13). However it’s used, it has consequences. And with it carries a costly price tag.
Here are just a few:
- Sin separates us from understanding the love of God. It breeds condemnation.
- Sin causes us to miss divine opportunities. It blinds us from knowing what the Holy Spirit is doing. It hinders us from connecting with God’s blessings
- Sin is never satisfied, thus it’ll consume all resources leaving you broke of influence and money.
- Sin might be personal but never private. Since we’re all connected, our sin always affects others; especially those closest to us.
- Sin isolates and separates. It causes us to disconnect from relationships and isolates us for satanic attacks.
- Sin causes repentance to be more difficult.
- Sin will cause you to deny your faith and God’s love for you.
There’s way more here… but I have to stop…
Anxious to read your thoughts….
