57. EIGHT (8) LESSONS ABOUT SIN

Sin is anything we do or don’t do, that is in disobedience to God, his instructions, his will and his way and therefore, anything that displeases him.

I have written on the topic of sin extensively before (which you can read in the Articles listed at the end of this page). However, I felt the need to address in a nutshell, eight (8) very important points that you should note and that we should all remember, about the devastating ugliness of sin.

THESE POINTS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. Never underestimate the ugliness of sin. There is nothing beautiful or cute about it.

2. Never think that you can sin without consequences or that you can control what consequences will flow or put a time cap on when they will end. You can’t.

3. Never think that sin is merciful. It is completely ruthless, has not an ounce of mercy and will spare no one, no matter who it is or the circumstance.

4. Don’t allow other people’s sin to make you sin. For, like Moses in the Bible learned, when the children of Israel provoked him and he reacted out of anger and disobeyed God, you will still be called upon to suffer the consequences for your own sin.

5. Banish the thought of there being small sin versus big sin. Yes some kinds of sins are more serious than others but sin is sin. All are hated of God, all yield disastrous consequences and result in curses in your life.

6. Sin often disguises itself and is capable of subtly creeping up on you, so as to take you unawares. Stay alert therefore, remain guarded and recognize it, based on what God’s Word says about it, not how harmless the situation looks.

7. Never court sin. It is not a plaything. No matter how sweet, fun or “innocent” it may seem in the moment, it hates you and desires to assassinate your character, testimony, sense of worth, dreams, future, purpose and even your life. It will strip you bare of God’s blessings and then laugh in your face. It is therefore dangerous, no matter its disguise. Avoid it like the plague therefore because it is a plague. In fact, it is the most deadly one there is. Turn away from it at all costs.

8. Sin is like fire. If you don’t quickly put it out, it will grow to the point of being out of control and will overtake you, the end result being one of ruin, devastation and utter destruction.

In conclusion, you may think that the above points seem like an exaggeration but trust me, they are not. The ugliness of sin, in any form, cannot be overemphasized and the description above does not even begin to do justice, in fully explaining its danger. We therefore need to stay clear of it.

The bad news though is that as human beings, we are born in sin. It is in our DNA, given that our parents and theirs in turn had this spiritual disease within them. From Adam and Eve’s time to now, each generation passes it down to the other and so, we al enter this world with sin in us.

Adam and Eve were the first human beings created by God and placed on the earth and they were created without sin in them. However, they were given freewill to choose and when faced with the choice of believing and obeying God, they chose to disobey him. On an aside, it is important to note that Eve’s disobedience came about because of unbelief. She did not believe what God had said, choosing to believe what the devil told her instead.

When Eve sinned and enticed her husband Adam to sin as well, they changed. In disobeying God, they caused sin to enter the world and into them. They were created with no sin in them but in choosing to disobey God, they then became sinners. The effects of their disobedience was far-reaching, as from that time up to today and continuing, every human being born into the world, has entered with sin inside of them because they are our ancestors.

In speaking of Adam and how, due to his sin, every body born into the world after him, entered with this horrible sin condition, Romans 5:12 and 19 states: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners…”

Fully aware of his sin condition which he inherited from birth, David stated, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5). The same is true of you and of me. No human being is exempt. We are all born with sin within us and are therefore born as sinners, in need of deliverance from this plague. Because it is in us, nobody needs to teach us how to sin. We just do it.

Imagine a toddler pelting a toy in anger because he can’t get his way or stealing a cookie when he thinks no one is looking, although he knows he is not supposed to or just plain wanting to have his way and do what he wants, in rebellion to what his parents want. We have all witnessed toddlers and even babies act up and do things which are wrong, without anyone having to teach them to do it. They do it because sin is within them. They are born as sinners and this is why they sin. It comes to them naturally.

Romans 3:23 states of us all, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”.

As a result, all human beings are in need of saving from sin, its deadly, disastrous effects in this life and its eternal consequence to the soul, when this life is over, which is spiritual death. This means eternal separation from God and punishment for sin, forever, in hell.

Thankfully, God in his love, made provision for our sin condition. Although he hates sin and promises eternal punishment of sinners for it, he provided an avenue whereby we could be delivered from sin’s power and its eternal consequence, through his Son Jesus Christ.

The good news is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth, died a sacrificial death and had his blood shed, to save sinners, like you and me! He paid the penalty for sin which is death, by allowing himself to be captured and crucified, so that in the shedding of his blood, we could receive remission or a pardon for our sins.

Hebrews 9:22 makes it clear that, “…without shedding of blood is no remission.” In Matthew 26:28, Jesus stated, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”Acts 10:43 also stated of Jesus, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”

As Romans 6:23 states therefore, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Praise the Lord! There is hope for you and me, even if we are vile sinners, once we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is also God the Son!

If you are not a Christian because you don’t yet know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and have never surrendered and submitted your life to his Lordship, there is hope for you, even in your sin condition. Jesus Christ is the antidote to the sin problem and gurantees forgiveness, cleansing for sin and an eternal inheritance to the souls of all who he redeems, to all who come to him by faith. You need to go to him therefore, realizing that you can’t save yourself from your sin and its consequences and neither can anyone. Psychologists can’t help you, politicians can’t help you, psychics and no occult can help you, neither can your friends and family. You need to come to Jesus in prayer and humbly ask him to come into your life and to save you from your sins and from eternal damnation, which is the eternal consequence for sin.

You don’t need to pay anything. The price has already been paid for your sin by the blood that Jesus Christ shed for the sins of the whole world. All you need to do is come believing. You need to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that he came to earth many years ago, just as the Bible says, lived a perfectly sinless life, died a sacrificial death on your behalf so as to pay the price for sin, which was death but he rose up from the dead on the third day, just as he said would happen. Because he is Lord, once you believe in your heart that Jesus is alive although he had died, you need to also confess with your mouth the truth, that he is Lord.

Romans 10:9-13 of the Bible states:

• “That if thou shalt CONFESS with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt BELIEVE in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you are a Christian but have sinned in some way or other, the Lord has not written you off. You need to be sorry for your sin and to go to God in repentance, confessing what you have done, asking him to forgive, cleanse and heal you. Then, as Jesus told the woman who was caught in adultery, after he had forgiven her of that sin, you need to go and sin no more.

You may not have committed adultery but you may be guilty of some other sin, whether it be lying or some other form of dishonesty, jealousy, envy, covetousness, loving and running after money, idolatry, unforgiveness, gossip, slandering and badmouthing, disrespecting authority, prayerlessness, failing to give people the gospel, being malicious or acting wickedly to someone, rejoicing when other people go through adversity, wanting to have the preeminence over others in pride, being boastfull or whatever it is. All of these and many more as listed in the Bible are against God’s will and are therefore ugly sin.

Christians still sin occasionally because although God’s divine nature is within them, so that they are empowered not to sin and can make the decision not to do so, the sin nature is still there as well and sometimes, they give in to the flesh and make the wrong choice to mess up. They are therefore not sinless but should sin less, as time progresses because they are supposed to be becoming more and more like Jesus Christ, who was absolutely perfect and completely sinless.

1 John 1:8-10 and 2:1-2 states of Christians:

• “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us... My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

(Written on 15th July, 2023)

Dear Reader, if you found the above Article to be interesting, informative, beneficial or edifying or you want more details on the dreadful effect of this plague called sin, you may be interested in reading the following Articles:

Under the ‘BIBLE-BELIEVING Daughters’ page:

• Note 286 – ‘The Consequences Of Our Wrongdoing’

Under the ‘SINGLE Daughters’ page:

• Note 232 – ‘What Sin Does Once Introduced – Based On The Story Of Adam & Eve And Cain & Abel’
• Note 234 – ‘Blood – What God Requires For You To Obtain Forgiveness’
• Note 250 -‘The Blood Of Jesus Gives Spiritual Life’