WHAT
IS SIN?
WHAT IS NOT SIN?
Today
we face the definition of SIN because it is important to our understanding of the lesson of the cross
and I John 3:9.
“As
a man thinks in his heart, so is he….” (Proverbs 23:7). Does he see himself as a sinner
or a saint? A child of God or a child of Satan?
SIN.
Let’s keep it in the box – separated from the redeemed child of God.
Each
person will have a different opinion of what sin is or is not. This opinion was created in them through
worldly or religious teachings. They never inspected the Word for themselves. It was easy enough to accept
someone else’s definition by a simple One-Liner, like:
“Sin
is anything contrary to the will of God.”
My, my. Now we have the whole simple answer. Isn’t
that great?! (Please excuse my cynicism). Now when seekers of the Truth ask us what SIN is, we can piously
lay this heavy burden on them and convince them that there is no way to ever please God.
Then
we tell them about how God saw no one was helping us so He reached down with His strong right hand
and rescued us by sending His Son to die
for us and take all our sins upon Himself. We’ve planted a seed of Satan so tiny in this
new believer, that neither we, nor they, recognize it. We meant to plant seeds of hope in them but through
lack of knowledge we have actually planted seeds of despair, years of self-works, confusion over whether
they are saved or not…trying to become saints instead of sinners…worn out by struggles
to receive something God has already done for them.
The
time has come for each of us to confront what we individually believe sin is. What have we learned
through God’s Word and revelation of His
Holy Spirit, our personal Teacher?
We
must decide if SIN remains in us or is an outside attack on the children of God. Are we so comfortable
calling ourselves sinners that we find it hard to call ourselves saints, redeemed sons of God? Do we
continue to call ourselves sinners (seeds of Satan) in a false humility?
Please
ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you personally believe about SIN? Whatever He shows you, whether
it is the same thing I see for me, it will help you grow because you’ll have searched out
the word “SIN” and you will know where you stand. Please don’t assume that just any
author, teacher, or preacher, knows all there is to know about the word “SIN”.
I
believe Satan enjoyed seeing us wrap it up in a tidy little box, put a ribbon on it and let ourselves
become satisfied with the One-Liner that
“SIN
is anything contrary to the will of God.” There
is truth here, but perhaps we still have more to learn about SIN than a simple statement.
INSPECTION TIME
TIME
TO INSPECT SIN
TIME TO
OPEN THE BOX AND LOOK INSIDE
WHAT IS IT REALLY?
WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL DEFINITION OF SIN?
I’ll
go first. (Help me Lord). To me SIN represents Total Evil; premeditated acts against God and His children.
It is ugly, diseased, warped, spiteful, full of hate and retaliation, full of pride and self-centeredness.
It
is ugly and likes to break every one of the 10 Commandments on purpose: Premeditated
Evil. It is Seeds of Satan; acts carried out by the children of Satan or people deceived by Satan.
It
lies, kills, steals without remorse. It’s heart is black and evil. It cannot do good…except
as a way to deceive. It’s only purpose is to deceive and destroy God’s people and plans.
SIN
to me, represents the SEEDS of SATAN.
I
believe I John 3:9 that God’s
SEED remains in me and I cannot sin because I am born of God at my second birth. Of whose SEED are
you?
OK. “IF” WE
CANNOT SIN, THEN WHAT ARE ALL THESE OTHER THINGS
WE HAVE BEEN CALLING SIN?
(Sometimes
I think we just can’t be happy if we can’t
have the idea of sin in our lives. Boy, the devil must love this.)
When
I agreed with the devil that there was sin in my life—even after what Christ did for me—I
had agreed with my adversary and he was able to pile so many counterfeit sins on me that I could hardly
stand up under the weight of them. God wants us FREE!
It
may sound silly, but I saw all these things as SIN. If not SIN—what? Let’s see if we
can separate SIN from WHAT?
Make
a list of all the things you have looked at as SIN in your life. That is, after Salvation. They were
SIN before, but you repented and received forgiveness and cleansing. So what are they now?
List
the things that Satan is quite willing to accuse you of. Even silly things. Now, be honest.
MY PRESENT LIST:
l. My physical house is NOT in order.
2.
My yard is not manicured.
3. Neither are
my nails.
4. I should spend more time with
my grandchildren.
5. I failed at being a
wife.
6. I was a people pleaser, now I
don’t
seem to desire to please at all.
7. I don’t
dress as nice as I should.
8. I don’t eat
right.
9. I don’t sleep right.
10.
Don’t exercise as I should.
11. I haven’t
read the Bible enough.
12. I desire to have clean
house, body, yard, but don’t have this.
I
must be double minded. Is that a sin?
13. It’s
a SIN to be late. Although I’ve adjusted to God’s
time and have
resisted being pushed and hurried.
14.
Sometimes I get angry.
15. Feel sorry for myself.
16.
Talk about others when I don’t
mean to.
17. Am emotional.
18.
Haven’t written Rocky’s
book like I said I would.
19. Mood swings —tempt
me to think like the world’s
term schizophrenic.
20. Stubborn — refusing
to think like the world.
21. Frustrated when
I try to be perfect. Perfection doesn’t bring Peace.
(What
a lie of Satan…for
us to think it does.)
22. I should be doing more
for God.
23. It must be a SIN to make the wrong
choice when trying to hear from God.
24. A SIN
to fail a test in school or life.
MANY THINGS LOOK LIKE
SIN
IN
YOUR LIFE. BUT IF THEY ARE NOT,
THEN WHAT ARE
THEY?
