I’ve begun reading about sin. Sin. It’s an ugly word. But it looks beautiful. It is attractive and desirable. Sin makes you acceptable to people who ignore God, and it makes them comfortable when they’re with you. But sin separates us from God. What do we want most? To be acceptable by everyone surrounding us? Or do we want to be found acceptable to God? It’s our choice.
In his book, Know Your Enemy, Graham Beynon gives us some pointers about sin. I thought it would be helpful to stop and consider what sin really is and what it does to us.
Sin is disobedience to God’s Word. We do not want to be governed by God’s law. We make ourselves the god of our lives when we take away God’s authority. We live as if we know what’s best for us, rather than seeking the will of our perfect Heavenly Father, who sacrificed his only Son for our sins.
In any form of sin, we are acting in open hostility to God. It seems harsh to say that, but participation in a sinful life is not an act of loving God. How can it be? We can’t say we love God and then intentionally disobey him. Sin is outright rebellion.
Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. 1 John 3:4
Sin involves losing faith in God. Satan sows seeds of doubt about God and his commands for how we are to live. Satan twists and distorts God’s word, so we will doubt God’s character. For example. God says he loves us, but then he allows hardships to come into our lives. Why would a good and perfect God do that? If God is generous, why does he restrict us from doing certain things? I must ask myself. Have I ever questioned God’s goodness? If so, what caused me to doubt? Am I willing to turn the tables on those doubts and study the Bible until I’m reconvinced that God is always and forever good even when my circumstances may not be? How can we say our faith in God is strong if we deliberately choose to sin against him?
A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. Ephesians 6:10-11
It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:31
Sin involves believing lies. In order to separate us from our belief in God, Satan has to distort the truth. He has to convince us that what we once thought was truth isn’t. Satan has to win our confidence. At times, it’s a hard sell for him. Other times. He’s got an easy job. How hard do we make it on Satan to convince us that his lies are the truth?
We can believe that our disobedience is actually good for us. That sin is right. It can be easy to convince ourselves that our actions or our words or even our intentions are good. But if we’re truly honest with ourselves, we know that we’re rotten to the core. We know that we’re self-centered, but we won’t admit it. And we definitely don’t call it sin. We believe the lie that sin has told us. We resist the truth, because the lie seems easier to live with. Until it isn’t.
For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44
Sin will always be attractive. If sin was actually ugly, would we be interested? Honestly? We want to look at beauty. We want to be involved with beautiful people. We want to drive fancy cars and wear the latest fashions. We want others to want to know us. We long to be part of the in crowd. We want to be attractive to others, so we look for things that attract us. We don’t have any interest in ugly. So, Satan knows how to attract us to his evil schemes. Make wrong look right and make right look wrong.
Sin won’t look live an ugly man with glowing eyes, dressed in a red robe and carrying a pitchfork. Oh. No. Sin will be pretty and easy. It will be more appealing than not sinning. Because not sinning means denying ourselves something that seems so right and good and beautiful. But sin will lead to eternal death.
Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. James 1:14
Sin never delivers on its promise. When we sin, we believe something about God that isn’t true. And once we’ve committed that sin, it loses its allure. Suddenly, the shiny apple has dulled. The new has worn off. And we’re left feeling used and worn. Maybe not at first. But, after awhile. After believing the lie that sin has told us, we’ll realize that the lie isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
What was once appealing has now been exposed as a lie. The happiness we thought we would find didn’t last. And we find ourselves in an uncomfortable situation. How can we get back to where we once were? How can we regain our innocence?
We have the option to believe truth or lies. And once we’ve lived with believing lies, we can turn back to the truth. We don’t have to believe lies and live in sin all of our days. We can turn back to belief in God. God keeps all his promises. All the time. In his time.
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Hebrews 10:23