WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT SIN?

Date: Tue Apr 1 15:15:23 2008

IT SEPARATES US FROM GOD

Our sin has separated us from God (Isaiah 59:2). As sinners, sin kept us from God. As saints, sin sets up a barrier to our unhindered relationship with God. Many Christians are lukewarm because of unconfessed and undealt with sin in their lives.

IT KILLS US SPIRITUALLY

The Wages of Sin are truly death (Romans 6:23). God cannot abide the presence of sin. Sin kills. Many people are spiritually dead because of compromise. You see, our faith diminishes when we sin. Whatever is not of faith is sin. When we sin, we believe less and less that the word of God is true. When we choose our evil behavior over Godís holiness, we express disbelief in who God is and in the value of a relationship with a Holy God. It does not take long for a person to become stone cold and apostate. We must not allow spiritual death to begin at all. We must resist sin by valuing the life of Jesus in us. God has put the Holy Spirit in us. As we celebrate him and are baptized in him, we exalt the life of Jesus and judge the life of sin. We experience true life and not death spiritually and in the end physically. There is a way that leads to death, and there is a way that leads to life. Choose life, not death.

IT KEEPS US OUT OF FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

When we sin, we shy away from God. God also shies away from us. He cannot abide in the presence of sin. God wants full fellowship with us. When we sin, we cannot have the same fellowship with God that we can have when we are clean. To be out of fellowship with God is a tragedy. To think we are in fellowship with God while we are sinning is a deception. I John 1:5 says ìIf we claim to have fellowship with him yer walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.î To rectify this, we must follow I John 1:9, ìIf we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to purify us from all unrighteousness.î

ITS CONSEQUENCES ARE NEVER GOOD

Some people repent of sin and are forgiven, but the consequences remain. People redeemed from alcohol may never be able to drink any alcoholic drink ever again. Women may bear children out of wedlock who were conceived in a fornicating or adulterous relationship. Homosexual men who change their orientation may still suffer from aids. Robbers may need to make restitution. Murderers may have to serve the rest of their life in jail. While God may either prevent these consequences or bring healing and restoration, it is not always the case. Never commit any forbidden act ñ nasty consequences are part and parcel of that decision.

WE MUST HATE SIN

God says in Hebrews 12:4 that we have not yet resisted sin to the point of shedding blood. Jesus resisted sinful men all his life. He also had to resist in Gethsemane. He was being tempted not to go through with our salvation. He pled with the Father to take away the cup, but submitted himself to the Father. Christ hated sin. God hates even the garment stained by sin (Jude 23). Jesus is not soft on sin. He doesnít ìunderstandî sin. He makes no exceptions for ANYBODY. He hates all sin at all times. We must put on this same mind of Christ so we hate sin the same way.

WITH SIN OUT OF THE WAY, THERE ARE NO LIMITS TO WHERE WE CAN GO

When we overcome sin, we walk with God the way God did with Adam before the fall. Enoch walked with God. He never saw death. Elijah walked with God. He never saw death. David, Joseph, Daniel, John, Paul, and many others walked with God as well, and look at the accomplishments in their lives. Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, Dwight L. Moody, Billy Sunday, and many others walked with God and have left us a wonderful heritage. There are people alive right now who are walking with God. What is the common denominator? They all had no tolerance for sin. If you have no tolerance for sin, you can go just as far or further. Are the fleeting pleasures of sin worth defeat in your life? Are being deceived by the devil and paying the consequences of sin all that valuable to you? They arenít to me and they arenít to anyone else who has the slightest idea of the glorious life that has been reserved for us by God our Father and His only Son, Jesus Christ. Choose life, and reject sin. You will NEVER regret it!