What Is Sin?

Posted on by under Culture, Doctrine

 

     If you ever want to bring a conversation to a screeching halt, just talk to someone about the issue of sin! In our politically correct, nothing is ever wrong, who are you to judge me world, the topic of sin or of pointing out that something is morally wrong has been equated with hate speech. Thus we are left with an “if it feels good, do it” society that does not understand the difference between right and wrong.

arrows missing target

     Just what is sin? The first mention of sin in the Bible has to do with Cain’s undesirable sacrifice. God says, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Genesis 4:7, NKJV). The word ‘sin’ in this passage carries with it the idea of a crouching beast, waiting to pounce on its prey. In archery, the term ‘sin’ is used when the archer misses the mark and fails to hit the target. With regards to us, we sin when we miss the mark and do not live up to God’s desire for us. Sin is breaking the law of God. “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). These are sins of commission (something that we did). There are also sins of omission (failing to do what is right). “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

     How then do we judge between what is right and what is wrong/sinful? It is not according to our own wishes and desires, for we are mere men. Who are we to determine what is right or wrong and to be the judge of it? We need a higher standard than what man deems right or wrong. Solomon has said, “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). Jeremiah prophesied that it is not in man to direct his own steps (Jeremiah 10:23). Thus we need to turn to God’s word, and His Holy Standard in order to see what is right and what is wrong. Paul wrote that he would not have known what was sin had God’s law not revealed that to him (Romans 7:7).

   We have an obligation to check these things out in the Bible. Let us allow God’s word to give us our direction regarding what is right and wrong. Let us not lean upon man’s understanding and end up in sin. Sin leads to death (James 1:12-15; Romans 6:23). Obedience to God will lead us to life (Romans 6:16). Let us reject sin and live!

I Am Resolved

Posted on by under Christian Living

new-years-day-1054594_960_720     There is a song that we sing in our assemblies that speaks of being resolved no longer to linger, charmed by the world’s delight. Instead, the song says that I will hasten to Him. It is a song about being resolute in leaving the world’s charms behind and pressing on to be with the Lord. As we look out upon another year ending and a new one just beginning, what resolutions are we making for the New Year? What are we leaving behind in 2015, and what are we pressing on towards?

     In the Philippian letter, Paul writes, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). We might look back at last year’s resolutions and see how we did. Perhaps our resolution only lasted a couple of weeks or a month. Maybe we were resolved to lose ten pounds last year, and now we are only fifteen pounds away from our goal. But, forgetting those things that are behind us, let us look forward to the opportunities in the New Year to be resolved to do better.

     In 2016 let us then be resolved to:

  • Lose the weight of sin in our lives (Heb. 12:1)
  • Exercise greater discernment between good and evil (Psalm 34:14)
  • Improve our spiritual health (1 Peter 1:13-16)
  • Keep our souls safe and help save the souls of those around us (Mat. 28:19-20)
  • Stop making excuses and abound in the work of the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58)

I am reminded of an old commercial that showed a man at his desk and each year the pile of papers grew higher. Each year he stated that this was the year he was going to hunker down and get something accomplished. Is 2016 the year that we will grow closer to the Lord? Or will 2016 be like every other year? The choice is ours. The next year is ready and waiting. Are we resolved no longer to linger?

What is Man’s Greatest Problem?

Posted on by under Christian Living

IRAQI FREEDOM

     If we were to take a survey and ask folks their answer to the question above, we would likely get many different responses. Some would claim that the terrorism that we see in our world today is mankind’s greatest problem. Others might say something related to the economy, the jobless rate, global warming, a want of political leadership, or the lack of unity among us as Americans that threatens to destroy us from within. Above and beyond all of these particular problems, though, is one problem that plagues all of mankind no matter where we live on the globe. That is the problem of sin.

     While all of those worldly problems may threaten us while we are here, the problem of sin transcends this world and has implications in the life that is to come. The Bible says that all the things of this life are going to be destroyed someday. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10, NKJV).   Sin has eternal results. Sin separates us from God. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2).

     Before you say that you have no sin in your life, consider what the Bible says about that as well. God’s word says that all have sinned (Romans 3:23). If we claim to not have sinned, we lie and the truth is not in us, and we are calling God a liar (1 John 1:8-10). Because of the sin problem that all men have, we need to have Jesus so that we can overcome it. We have to believe in Him and His power to cleanse us from sin if we will walk in the light (1 John 1:7). Jesus said, “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24). Don’t die lost in your sins. Come to Jesus for His healing power and receive the gift of life instead!

Why Did He Do That?

Posted on by under Christian Living, Love of God

Set-Free     Have you ever wondered just why Jesus came to earth, especially at this time of the year when the world is thinking about Him? Consider for a moment what Jesus already knew before He ever left heaven. He knew that men would seek to kill Him as a toddler (Mat. 2:16). He knew that He would not be received by His own people (John 1:10-11). He knew that He would be rejected by men (Isaiah 53:3-5). He knew that He would be put to death on the cross, not for any wrong that He had done, but for the sins of mankind (Isaiah 53:9; 2 Pet. 2:22-25). And, yet, He came anyway. Why?

     Jesus left the beauties of heaven to come to earth below for one main reason. He came because He loves us all. A very popular scripture tells us that God loved us so much that He gave us His one and only unique Son, so that we might believe in Him, obey Him, and have everlasting life (John 3:16)! Because He loves us, He wants for all of mankind to be saved. The Lord is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9b, NKJV). While we were yet sinners and undesirable, He came and died for us (Romans 5:8).

     Thereto is another part of the reason that Jesus came to earth. We are sinners. As human beings no matter how hard we try, we are not able to be perfect in obedience to God’s word. In Romans 3:23 we read, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Farther along we read, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). Our sins bring us death, because they separate us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). Since we all have sinned and separated ourselves from God, and since the just payment of our sins is death, Jesus came to take that penalty away and to reconcile us to back to God. Jesus came so that we might live.

     All Jesus asks for in return is that we believe in Him and obey Him. That is all He wants in return for His great sacrifice. If we claim to love Him, this we will do. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

A Tale of Two Substitutes

Posted on by under Culture, Love of God

tale-of-two-cities     In Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities, there comes a point where one of the main characters, Charles Darnay, is arrested by the mob during the French Revolution and is sentenced to death. Because of the love that he has for Charles’ wife, Lucie, another character, Sydney Carton, takes Darnay’s place at the guillotine instead. As Carton goes to his death, he utters the most famous line of the novel, “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

     Just as Sydney Carton substituted himself for Charles Darnay for the sake of love, there is One who has sacrificed Himself for you, because of the love that He has for you. One of the most famous and well known scriptures in the Bible is found in John 3:16, which states, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (HCSB). Even though we were undesirable, ungodly, weak, and enemies of God at the time, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, NKJV). Mankind had separated themselves from God through the tragedy of sin (Isaiah 59:1-2), but because Jesus came and died in our stead, we can now have that hope of eternal life in heaven.

     Because we commit sin, we have the sentence of death in ourselves (Romans 3:23; 6:23). We can do nothing of ourselves to remedy this situation, for we are unable to pay the price. It takes the sacrifice of a sinless life in order for us to be justified before God. What we could not provide for ourselves, God has provided in His Son, Jesus Christ. A greater love than this cannot be found! “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). Jesus substituted His sinless life, to die on the cross, to save us from our own spiritual death. Let us obey what He says to do, in His Holy Bible, so that we can apply the blood He shed and wash away our sins (Acts 22:16; Revelation 1:5).

You Do Not Have a Soul

Posted on by under Christian Evidences

Gen 2-7     Modern science and evolutionary theory would have us believe that mankind is nothing more than another type of animal. The necessary conclusion of a “Big Bang” and an evolution of the species is that man is not special, we are nothing more than a happy accident, and thus man does not have an eternal soul. When those of us who have a different worldview consider this issue, we believe in the pages of scripture, which tell us that God made man in His image, that mankind is special and is above the animal kingdom, and that we have an eternal soul (Genesis 1:26-27). However, we often think of the soul as just another physical part of the body, like our heart or our mind.

     If we look deeper into the soul of man, we should come to realize that we do not have a soul in that physical sense. We are a soul. We have a body. Our soul is who we really are on the inside. It is that inner man. It is what we think and how we see the world. Jesus explained to His disciples that it was not what goes into the physical body that defiles a man, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man” (Matthew 15:18, NKJV).

     Our bodies are like the houses that we live in. We are not our house. Our house is just a temporary dwelling place while we live in a certain community. Our bodies are our temporary dwelling place while we are here on this earth. When this life is over, our bodies will return to the dust of the earth, and our spirit (the power from God that gives our bodies life) will return to the God that gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Our souls will live on into eternity. “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). All three of these elements, body, spirit, and soul are seen in the use of three different words for each of these in Genesis 2:7. “And the Lord God formed man [our body] of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [our spirit]; and man became a living soul.”

     Seeing then that we are spiritual creatures, that we are not just this physical body, how then should we live? All the physical things of this world will be destroyed someday, but our souls will live on (2 Peter 3:11). Let us then seek to feed our spiritual souls, and not waste our time on the lusts of the physical body. Let us prepare for that eternal home, for that spiritual body, which awaits those who are obedient to the Lord!

Esther’s Courage

Posted on by under Christian Living

Ester_y_Mardoqueo_escribiendo_la_primera_carta_del_Purim_(Ester,_9-20-21)_-_Aert_de_GELDER_-_Google_Cultural_Institute     In the twelfth year of the reign of King Ahasuerus of Persia, Haman, the king’s right hand man, issued a decree that in eleven months all of the Jews within the Persian Empire were to be executed. Haman was looking to wipe out the Jews because Mordecai, a Jew living in the Persian capital of Shushan, refused to bow down to him. The decree was sealed with the king’s signet ring, which he had given to Haman. This meant that the decree carried the authority of the king, and under Persian law it could not be rescinded (Esther 3:7-12).

     Unbeknownst to Haman, King Ahasuerus’ wife Esther was the cousin of Mordecai. Thus she was also a Jew. What would become of Esther and her nation? Would they be wiped out by this decree? When news of the planned massacre reached the ears of Mordecai, he pleaded with Esther to appeal to the king (Esther 4:1-9). Esther had not been summoned to appear before the king for some thirty days, however. In Persian law and custom, it was illegal to appear before the king if not summoned. If Esther appeared in the king’s court and did not curry his favor by having him extend his scepter towards her, Esther could be put to death (Esther 4:10-12)! What would Esther do?

     Although she was initially reluctant to appear before the king for fear of death, Esther was finally convinced by Mordecai to go before the king. Mordecai urged Esther to go to the king by saying, “[perhaps] you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14b NKJV).   Esther showed a great deal of courage and faith in God to go to the king’s court and inquire with the king. Esther’s bold action saved her people and exposed Haman before the king as the bitter, arrogant man that he was. Instead of Mordecai and the Jewish nation being wiped out, Haman and his whole household were destroyed. Mordecai and Esther became prominent members of the ruling class of Persia.

     Are we, like Esther, afraid to approach the King? Do we hesitate to come before our Lord and King in prayer due to feelings of fear, inferiority, or hopelessness? Like Esther we should have the courage to boldly come before the throne of God with our prayers and petitions (Hebrews 4:16). Even though God already knows what we need before we ask for it, He still desires that we come before Him (Matthew 6:8). We need not fear that we are “wasting God’s time” with our requests and prayers of thanksgiving. God loves us, and He wants to hear from us. Therefore, let us continue to come before the throne of our Lord and Ruler in prayer.

Yaweh-jireh – The Lord will Provide

Posted on by under Love of God

     There are eight various names or descriptions that are used to characterize God within the book of Genesis. One such name is Yaweh-jireh, which translated means God will provide. This name for God is found only once in Genesis 22:14.

     Abraham gives this name to God and to the location where he was to offer his only begotten son Isaac in Genesis 22. eightThis is significant in that it shows the attitude of Abraham that he had faith in God, and he believed that God would provide for him that which is necessary. The name Yaweh-jireh ties in with the thought expressed earlier in the chapter when Isaac inquires of his father about the lamb for the sacrifice (Genesis 22:8). Abraham’s answer to Isaac is “well-nigh prophetic” in answering him that they would be provided for by God Himself. This comes to fruition when Abraham is halted from his sacrifice of Isaac and a ram is provided by God for their sacrifice. Thus in the name Yaweh-jireh we find that the Lord has provided or seen to the needs of Abraham and Isaac.

     Additionally, there are other implications that can be drawn from the use of the name Yaweh-jireh at this particular location geographically. Here Abraham is calling this place upon the mountain where he purposed to offer Isaac, the mountain where the Lord provides, and in this mount of the Lord it shall be seen or provided (Genesis 22:14). It is speculated that this may be the mountain that would later be the location of the Temple, where God would be worshipped, and where Jesus would later appear in person.   This may also be the mountain upon which Jesus would later be offered as a sacrifice, which has many parallels to the intended offering of Isaac. Adam Clarke, in his commentary on Genesis, says that it, “appears that the sacrifice offered by Abraham was understood to be a representative one, and . . . that Jehovah should be seen in a sacrificial way on this mount.” In this sense the Lord certainly did provide for man in this mountain. We all should be thankful for Jesus’ willingness to be that sacrifice for each of us!

Who Are You Listening To?

Posted on by under Christian Living

          After reigning over Israel for forty years, King Solomon died and rested with his fathers (1 Kings 11:42-43). The next in line to the throne was his son Rehoboam, but he had a test presented to him by the nation of Israel. How would he handle this challenge? Would he be able to win the hearts of the people? In order to face this great challenge, Rehoboam consulted with two groups of advisors before making his decision, which would shape the history of Israel for years to come.

            After calling the nation of Israel to Shechem, Rehoboam2191408271_3408b3e46c_o was presented with their challenge. They asked to have their burden reduced from what had been required by Solomon. Rehoboam asked for three days to consider their proposal. During that time he first consulted with the wise elders, who had advised his father. These men gave Rehoboam sound advice. They told him to lighten the burden on the people and they would serve him forever, but this was not what Rehoboam wanted to hear (1 Kings 12:1-8a).

            After hearing the advice of the wise elders, Rehoboam turned to the young men that made up his peer group. Their advice was to make the burden on the people heavier than what they had endured under Solomon. This was what Rehoboam wanted to hear, and perhaps this stroked his ego in that he could show that he was greater than his father. When the nation came back together to hear Rehoboam’s response, he told them that he would make his little finger thicker than his father’s loins (1 Kings 12:8b-11). This rude response did not set well with the Israelites.

            After hearing Rehoboam’s response, ten of the tribes of Israel went north with Jeroboam and formed the kingdom of Israel. Rehoboam lost out on the majority of the nation and the kingdom was divided, fulfilling the prophecy of the Lord as punishment for Solomon’s sins (1 Kings 12:15). Because Rehoboam heeded bad advice, his legacy was tarnished. He lost out on ruling over all the tribes of Israel except for Judah. The history of the Israelites was forever changed by Rehoboam’s decision to heed bad advice.

            After considering this lesson from the life of Rehoboam, what application can we make in our lives? When we have a major decision to make in our lives, to whom do we turn? Do we only want to have our ears scratched and hear what we want, or are we willing to hear the truth from wise men? We have the opportunity each day to heed the good words of God and to follow His statutes and His commandments. Or we can choose to listen to those around us, whose advice may sound good at the time, but the end of their path leads to ruin and misery. Whose advice will you heed this day?

Running Away From God

Posted on by under Christian Living

3633230337_6e4f9c4f0a_b     Imagine that you were told by your elders that you needed to travel to the Middle East and preach the gospel to members of a terrorist group that was responsible for terrible attacks upon your people. Would you be willing to go? Would you be eager to make that trip?

     In the days of Jeroboam II, king of Israel, God spoke to His prophet Jonah and instructed him that he was to travel to the great city of Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-2). Nineveh was one of three main cities in the Assyrian empire, and they were great enemies of Israel at the time. Additionally, they were Gentiles, and the Jews felt some exclusivity with regards to being God’s chosen people. Thus there was no love for the Assyrians within Israel, but animosity.

     We know that instead of traveling towards Nineveh that Jonah instead ran the other way, boarding a ship headed for Tarshish at the end of the known world at the time (Jonah 1:3). Jonah tried to run and hide from God, but God knew exactly where Jonah was, being that He is the creator of the land and the sea (Jonah 1:9). Jonah was not interested in the salvation of the Assyrians. After three days in the belly of a great fish, Jonah reluctantly went to Nineveh to preach repentance to the people.

     How is our attitude when it comes to preaching the gospel to others? Are we being selective in who we approach, because they are not like us? We should not allow our prejudice or bias keep us from sharing the truth of God’s word with anyone. God wishes for all men to come to the knowledge of the truth, to repent, and to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). It is not up to us to limit the power of God. We are to be but simple messengers, carrying the story of the cross to this lost and dying world.