Sin, is an interesting word that most of us don’t like! Websters Dictionary say it means…
A: transgression of the law of God
B: a vitiated state of human nature in which the self is estranged from God
You
see God says in Romans 3:10-12 As the Scriptures say, "No one is good
not even one. V.11 No one has real understanding; no one is seeking
God. V.12 All have turned away from God; all have gone wrong. No one
does good, not even one."
That
standard is Holiness, Perfection, never doing anything wrong! You may
say sure I make mistakes like everyone else but I’m not a sinner… I
have never murdered anybody or committed adultery, robbed a bank,
molested a child or stole a car or anything else you want to put in
there… In fact you are probably thinking I am a pretty good person… Go
ahead, admit it… Come on, be honest with yourself… I use to think I
was… Remember; God knows what you’re thinking… So like most of us we
all believe we are a good person… So now that we know what Gods
standard are for being good let’s take a test to see how we measure up
to 10 things God says are His standards for Holiness…
Have you ever told a lie? Even a white lie?
Exodus 20:16 Do not testify falsely against your neighbor and Leviticus 19:11 Do not steal."Do not cheat one another."Do not lie.
All us us, GUILTY! (NLT)
Have you ever stolen something? Even the smallest thing… Even if it was unintentional… We all have done it…
Exodus 20:15 Do not steal.
All of us, GUILTY! (NLT)
Have you ever taken Gods name in vain? Used it as a cuss word? That’s called Blasphemy! A very serious offence against God…
Exodus 20:7 "Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name…
All of us, GUILTY! (NLT)
Have you ever committed adultery? You might say “that one I’ve never done!”
Exodus 20:14 "Do not commit adultery Jesus said in Matt 5:28 But
I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has
already committed adultery with her in his heart. Sorry ladies that
includes you as well toward men…
All of us, GUILTY! (NLT)
So
far we if you have been truthful, you have admitted you are a lying
thieving blaspheming adulterer at heart and you will face God on
judgment day to pay for the sins you admit you have committed.. We have
only looked at 4 of the 10 Commandments… Believe me when I say all of
us are guilty of breaking all 10 of Gods Commandments based on His
standards…
Oh yah, You could say I’ve never murdered anybody!! Ha I got that one. 1 John 3:14 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (NAS) Sorry God has it all covered…
It sounds pretty bleak doesn’t it?
But
the Good News is God in His great love and mercy for us provided a way
to have our slate wiped clean and be forgiven of every sin we have ever
committed… We were worthy of the punishment of death but God sent His
Son Jesus to die on the Cross for your sin and mine… Jesus took the
punishment for our sins upon Himself and because of that He calls us to
Repent, and turn from our sin and ask God to forgive us and accept
Christ as Savior… It’s really pretty simple… I pray for those who are
reading this that you will take to heart what God says is His
requirement for Him to forgive us so that someday when we face death we
will already have His promise of eternal life in us…
Kurt Akin
Co- Pastor/Elder Rolling Hills Christian Fellowship
___________________
When I was 6 or 7 years old my mother
took us grocery shopping at the local A&P. Sometimes Mom would
give us a nickle to buy some candy but on this particular day, I had
no money and Mom said no to my inquiry for candy.
I remember standing in the checkout
line, smelling the fresh ground coffee and looking at the Life Saver
candies just inches away from my eyes. As I gazed longingly at that
multicolored package I could almost taste that wonderful sweetness.
The temptation was too much to bear and since my mother was chatting
with the checkout lady I reached over, grabbed the candy and quickly
stuffed it in my pocket.
I thought I had gotten away with my
crime and once I got home I opened the candy and began to enjoy my
prize. However, Mom did not miss the fact that I was eating candy
after she had given me a firm no. Finally, after a couple of failed
attempts at a lie I confessed that I had stolen the candy from the
supermarket.
Looking back, I really appreciate my
mother's response to my little “innocent” larceny. She promptly
packed me into the car and drove back to the store. I was going to
have a little meeting with the manager. Mom was going to make me
tell him what I had done. To say I was scared is to put it mildly.
I still remember being terrified as I
looked up at Mr. Stiles and told him what I had done. But Mr.
Stiles reacted in a very unexpected way. He smiled at me and said,
“Oh that's okay. It's just a little pack of candy. You can have
it.” I thought to myself, “Wow! This is cool. I get the candy
after all and I'm not in trouble.” But I had failed to consider
the “Mom factor”. With one fell swoop my hopes for an amiable
settlement to my little “faux-pas” was shattered. Firmly;
without hesitation my mother said, “No. What he did was wrong. He
cannot have the candy.” Then she made me give the candy back to
the manager, gave me a nickle to pay for the candy and told me I was
going to have to work off the nickle, plus reparation. Ouch! This
did not turn out as planned.
Sin is not a popular word in today's
culture. We prefer less offensive terms like “He had poor
judgment” or “He made a mistake”. Was what I did a sin? Yes,
by God's standards it certainly was. But I was just a kid, right?
True, but in God's eyes, sin is sin regardless of who commits it. I
fell short of God's standards. I took something that did not belong
to me and I lied about it. I committed a sin compounded by more sin.
You may wonder why it is that
Christians make such a big deal out of sin. It's because when we sin
we have missed God's standard and our sin separates us from him.
That's why the Bible says God hates sin, because it separates him
from those he loves.
In the Bible sin literally means “to
miss the mark”. God has set a standard and anyone who does not
meet these standards “misses the mark”. You see, we have all
sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23) Sin has
consequences, separation from God being the most serious.
All of us have sinned and fallen short
of God's standards. But the good news is that God sent his Son Jesus
Christ to accomplish what we could not; to live a perfect sinless
life. For us to be forgiven of our sins we need only ask Jesus to
take our sins, ask forgiveness and give our lives to him.
Looking back I have to say that my
mother handled this incident exactly the way she should have. Her
actions had a profound impact on me. Thank you Mom, but more than
that, Thank You Jesus!
Pastor Jim French
Rector, St. Luke's Cambridge
pastor.jim.137@gmail.com
___________________
Today
we live in a culture where the concept of sin has become entangled in
legalistic arguments over right and wrong. When many of us consider
"What is sin?" we think of violations of the Ten
Commandments. Even then, we tend to think of murder and adultery as
"major" sins compared with lying, cursing, or idolatry. The
truth is that sin, as defined in the original translations of the
Bible, means "to miss the mark." The mark, in this case, is
the standard of perfection established by God and evidenced by Jesus.
Viewed in that light, it is clear that we are all sinners. The
Apostle Paul says in Romans 3:23: "All
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
In light of this, it does no good to compare ourselves to others. We cannot escape our failure to be righteous in our own strength. This is by God's design, because only when we understand our weakness will we consider relying on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.
In light of this, it does no good to compare ourselves to others. We cannot escape our failure to be righteous in our own strength. This is by God's design, because only when we understand our weakness will we consider relying on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.
Sin
is mentioned hundreds of times in the Bible, starting with the
"original" sin when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of
knowledge. Often it seems as if sin is simply the violation of any of
God's laws, including the Ten Commandments. Paul,
however, puts this in perspective in Romans 3:20, when he says,
“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by
observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of
sin."
God wanted us to recognize our sins. Even those who have not murdered or committed adultery will find themselves convicted of lying, or of worshiping false idols like wealth or power ahead of God.
Tragically, sin in any amount will distance us from God.
"Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear," says Isaiah 59: 1-2. "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear."
We must resist the temptation to act as if we are righteous, especially by leaning on our good works.
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives" (1 John 1:8-10).
God wanted us to recognize our sins. Even those who have not murdered or committed adultery will find themselves convicted of lying, or of worshiping false idols like wealth or power ahead of God.
Tragically, sin in any amount will distance us from God.
"Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear," says Isaiah 59: 1-2. "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear."
We must resist the temptation to act as if we are righteous, especially by leaning on our good works.
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives" (1 John 1:8-10).
The
good news in all of this is that, once we recognize ourselves as
sinners, we need only to repent and embrace Jesus to be forgiven.
Jesus can forgive us because he died and rose again three days later
in victory over sin and death.
The Apostle Paul refers to this process of recognizing sin and being responsible for it as "godly sorrow."
The Apostle Paul refers to this process of recognizing sin and being responsible for it as "godly sorrow."
"Godly
sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no
regret, but worldly sorrow brings death," Paul
writes in 2 Corinthians 7:10-11. "See
what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what
eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what
longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every
point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter."
Pastor
Richard Setzer Sr.
Associate
Pastor
Jacob’s
Well Fellowship
resetzer@gmail.com
___________________
In
the discussion we might have about sin, the first thing we must do is
recognize the reality and definition of it. The best place, I think,
to find the definition is in the Word of God. Since it was God who
first defined sin, let’s let His Word tell us what it is and how to
deal with it.
In
the Old Testament, the word for sin in the Hebrew is:
2403
chatta'ah (khat-taw-aw') or chatta'th (khat-tawth'); from 2398; an offense (sometimes habitual sinfulness), and its penalty,
occasion, sacrifice, or expiation; also (concretely) an offender:
KJV-- punishment (of sin), purifying (-fication for sin), sin (-ner,
offering).
In
the New Testament, the greek word is:
266
hamartia (ham-ar-tee'-ah); from 264; a sin (properly
abstract): KJV-- offense, sin (-ful), or
264
hamartano (ham-ar-tan'-o); perhaps from 1 (as a negative particle)
and the base of 3313; properly, to miss the mark (and so not
share in the prize), i.e. (figuratively) to err, especially (morally)
to sin: KJV-- for your faults, offend, sin, trespass.
As
we can see, sin is an of fence, missing the mark. But what mark? The
answer is; the holiness of God, the state into which man was
originally created before the fall, (the sin of disobedience in the
Garden of Eden); when man and woman ate of the Tree of the Knowledge
of Good and Evil.
If
there is one thing that is sure, and we would all admit it if we were
being honest (and if we’re not honest, that’s a sin-LOL), is that
we are all sinners. We have all missed the mark, which puts us all in
the same boat, if you will. Unfortunately, many do not want to own up
to being sinners, and therefore, they cannot find the cure for sin.
They will not even entertain the idea that they need a cure. The
Bible tells us that “all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory
of God.” (Rom. 3:23) and that the wages of sin is death” (Rom.
6:23) but that the gift of God is “eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23) The method to find forgiveness of sin
is also given. What a miracle! The problem of mankind is delineated;
it is sin. And the cure is also given; it is Jesus the Christ! Praise
God!! Now the hard part: getting people to admit that they have
missed God’s mark, falling short of His perfection and have sinned.
Therefore, they need a Savior. And hallelujah, God provided that
also. The answer is found in the book of Romans-
Rom
10:8-10
8 But
what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and
in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:
9
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved.
10 For
it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is
with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (NIV)
So,
the answer to sin is Jesus. Why don’t you ask Him into your heart
again, or for the first time and find the peace and joy that comes
from being free from the penalty of sin? Amen
Pastor
Tim Bohley
Jacob’s
Well Fellowship
revstnc@aol.com
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