Re-thinking sin?

They say that your first guess is usually the right guess. Have you ever pondered what gift to buy for someone. You’ve decided for weeks on what to get, and then the day finally comes and you begin to think whether or not it’s the right gift? How about a recipe? You know what ingredients are called for and the specific measurement of each, but then you begin to second guess whoever it is that created the recipe. You think you know better and alter it only to be totally surprised that it tastes nothing like what you thought it would taste like! Then there’s the test in school. You’ve studied for hours on end, you know the answer, you feel it, you see it, but then you begin to think that, just maybe, you’re wrong. You choose B instead of A and you kick yourself for the rest of the semester because your first guess was the right one. Second guessing. Re-thinking. We most often do it when we think that we’re wrong, someone else is wrong or that there’s a better way. The problem with re-thinking is that you eventually doubt everything you think.

There are some today attempting to re-think sin. That is, they are wanting to re-write God’s moral standards as given in His Word. It’s an attempt to be okay with their sin and, therefore, to be okay with another’s sin. This is a problem when Paul says that because of our sin we all fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) We cannot attain to His righteousness and holiness. Ever. Furthermore, Isaiah says that our sin has separated us from God (Isaiah 59:2). So, because of our sin, we cannot stand before a holy God and are separated from Him by Him. This is not good news. This bad news is the news that people want to erase or edit to make it say, “God is okay with sin. He loves you.” But God is not okay with sin. Even the desire to sin is sin. Some believe that if they don’t actually commit sin they have not sinned. This is dangerous because it implies that I can struggle with lust, but if I never act on it it’s not sinful. It’s sinful. Jesus said that a lustful thought was the equivalent of the act of adultery. (Matthew 5:28) It is not okay to be okay with our struggle with sin. We are called to fight sin by putting it to death by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:13) We cannot live with sinful desires in our hearts and take the approach that it’s the way it’s always going to be. In the heart of every believer, every disciple of Jesus, every born again Christian there is a desire not to sin, not to think sinful thoughts, not to make at home sinful affections, not to do anything that falls short of the glory of God or separates us from His presence.

Sin is serious. It’s not excusable at all. If sin is not sin, then we have no need for forgiveness. If there’s no need for forgiveness, there’s no need for a Savior. If there’s no need for a Savior, there’s no Gospel. But if we call Jesus Savior, then we must believe that He came to save us from something. That something is not poor choices or a bad lifestyle; bad character or our bad upbringing; bad looks or bad investments. Jesus ultimately came to save us from sin and the wrath of God. Whatever other problems we may have they do not compare to the problem of sin and the certainty of His wrath. The Gospel is not therapy to make us feel better. The Gospel is power to set us free. (Romans 6:6) The Kingdom of God is not about the unconditional acceptance of who we are by Christ, but the unconditional acceptance of who Christ is by us. The Cross sets us free to finally worship, serve and live for Christ alone. Jesus Christ came that He might become the only One of worth in our eyes. He becomes Lord and King, Savior and Treasure. This means that we conform to His ways. We are transformed into His image by His grace, mercy and love. And because He is Love, He is relentless in seeking His glory by bringing us joy in Himself, not in sin, which is infinitely contrary to Himself.

We should not re-think sin. We should think Biblically about sin. Therefore, every Christian needs to understand the difference between practicing sin and fighting sin.

1. Practicing sin (1 John 3:8) - John writes rather explicitly that whoever makes a practice of sinning is not of God, but of the devil. The devil has been missing the mark, falling short, since the beginning and so do all who follow him. There is nothing in Satan that desires to stop sinning. Everything within him hates God. Every act of sin is an act of hatred toward God. Satan is the deceiver of the whole world (Revelation 12:9) and has blinded the minds of unbelievers to the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4). The result is that sinners sin without regard for God, His Word or their eternal fate. They are not able to stop sinning. Those who practice sin have not known God. That’s pretty straightforward. No spin. If you or I are habitually engaging in sin we are in need of a Savior. Re-thinking sin does not change this fact.

2. Fighting sin (1 John 3:9) - John goes on to say that no one, not one person, born of God makes a practice of sinning. That is, he will not purposefully create new sinful patterns. Additionally, whatever practices or habits of sin he does have he will not be able to continue. This is not because he’s forced to abandon his sin, but because the life of God resides within him now, creating a new heart with new desires, and he longs for what is true and pleasing in the sight of His God and of His Savior Jesus Christ.

This is a huge distinction John is making. What he is calling "a practice of sinning" we should not call fighting with sin. This distinction is one that many want to erase today. To say that Jesus loves us, but is okay with our sinful practice, which is satanic, is to grossly misunderstand His work of love on the Cross. John says that the reason Jesus appeared on earth was to destroy the works of the Devil, which are the sinful practices the Devil has enslaved all mankind to. (1 John 3:8) This doesn't mean that we will stop missing the mark and falling short in our sin, but it does mean that we will follow Jesus out of our sin. We now ardently fight against it, because loving Jesus is hating sin and being loved by Jesus is being strengthened by His grace to do his will.

We need a Savior to free us from our sin. Repentance, not re-thinking, is the proper response to sin. One leads to Christ, who is our Life, the other leads to death.