Posted on 10/01/2021 7:38:31 AM PDT by metmom
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Sin is pervasive and deadly.
When the early church father Chrysostom remarked, “I fear nothing but sin,” he correctly identified sin as the greatest threat any person faces. Sin mars all the relationships people are involved in: with other people, with themselves, and, most significantly, with God. Sin causes suffering, disease, and death in the physical realm and also causes spiritual death—eternal separation from God in Hell.
Because sin is so deadly, we need to carefully define it, so we can understand and avoid it. First John 3:4 sums up the essence of sin when it says, “Sin is lawlessness.” Sin is refusing to obey God’s law; it is rejecting God’s standards; it is, in fact, living as if God did not exist.
In 1 John 5:17, the apostle John adds to his definition of sin, describing it as “unrighteousness.” James defines sin as failing to do what is good (James 4:17). Paul defines it as lack of faith (Rom. 14:23). Sin is the ultimate act of ingratitude toward the God “who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17).
Sin pollutes the sinner, prompting Paul to refer to it as that “defilement of flesh and spirit” (2 Cor. 7:1) from which sinners are in desperate need of cleansing. No amount of human effort, however, can cleanse a person of sin. Such self-effort is as futile as attempting to change the color of one’s skin (Jer. 13:23). Only through the death of Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice for sin (Heb. 10:12), is forgiveness and cleansing available (1 John 1:7).
Sin is the only thing that God hates (cf. Jer. 44:4), and so must believers (Ps. 97:10; Amos 5:15). The great Puritan writer Thomas Watson noted that a prerequisite for sanctification is such hatred for sin. Renew your commitment today to grow in your relationship with the Lord by hating evil (Prov. 8:13).
Suggestions for Prayer
Pray for yourself and others that you would not be deceived by the subtleness of sin (Heb. 3:13).
For Further Study
Identify the sins you struggle with the most. Using a concordance and other study tools, find out what the Bible says about those sins. Form a biblical plan of attack to combat them.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
sins are just peccadillos. no big deal. Now a pecado is easy to spot.......................in others.
https://www.lexico.com/definition/peccadillo
A relatively minor fault or sin.
‘the sexual peccadilloes of celebrities aren’t necessarily news’
Late 16th century from Spanish pecadillo, diminutive of pecado ‘sin’, from Latin peccare ‘to sin’.
There is no man who can avoid sin; all have sinned.
I like the definition of sin as “failure to love”.
Luke 10:25-29 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
Do we really understand sin?
Is our sin based on our beliefs or God’s Truth?
Do we have a well formed moral conscience in order to avoid the temptations of sin?
How do we seek forgiveness of sin and is it according to what Jesus taught us?
Do we fully understand that Jesus taught us that few would find the narrow gate? Matthew 7
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