WHAT IS SIN?
Sin is our willful disobedience against God.
It causes us to be separate from God’s presence.
“Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”
1 John 3:4
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 3:23
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:23
God does all things well. God has never made an unjust or wrong decision about any person. He treats people the way all people should be treated.
He has never made a mistake. All of man’s problems have come from man’s disobedience to God and His Word.
All sin starts with selfishness. When we do something that is wrong, it always hurts us as well as those around us. When God commands us not to do something, it is because He loves us. He knows in the end it will harm us. God gave Ten Commandments to Moses for the children of Israel. The first four were about their relationship with God and the importance of loving and honoring Him. The other six were about how we are to treat other people. When we are selfish and only care about making ourselves happy we will hurt others.
The opposite of selfishness is love, which seeks to make other people happy.
“Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Romans 13:10
Sin works against relationships and against our bodies, which were made to be temples for the Holy Spirit and not for sin. There is “pleasure in sin for a season”, but that pleasure in sin robs us of joy, which is a function of our spirit when our lives are flowing in harmony with God.
God hates sin and so should we, but God loves the sinner and knows that sin always damages our joy and potential in life. God gave us a conscience- His law written on our hearts- the Bible, and the Holy Spirit to teach us right from wrong. God also shows us that the way to deal with sin is not to cover it up or make excuses for it. Instead, we are to ask His forgiveness, and ask Him to give us the freedom to do right.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9
Do not let sin keep you from a loving and forgiving God. Repent and experience His joy once again! |
