Articles
Whatever Happened to Sin
The Bible speaks candidly about the effect of sin on our lives. Through command-ments, prophetic utterances, and personal narratives we learn of its damaging effects in this life, and especially in the one to come. "He who practices such things will not inherit God’s kingdom.” (1 Cor. 6:9).
The world, on the other hand, attempts to sugarcoat sin by rebranding it with updat-ed language. This is nothing new. King Saul was the king at this. Instead of “I have sinned by violating the exclusive rights of the Levite to offer sacrifice,” it was “I felt compelled” (1 Sam. 13:12) by an impossible situation which was not really my fault, but Samuel’s for not showing up when he said he would. Two chapters lat-er, King Saul rebranded his sin of sparing some of the Amalekites by saying, No, we haven’t sinned (15:13), “we have spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sac-rifice to the Lord (v. 15).” Consider King Jeroboam’s spin on sin when he tried to pass off his sin of idolatry as compassion for the hardships of his people (1 Kings 12:28). Instead of sinning against God by dishonoring the sanctity of the Levitical priesthood, he rebranded his rebellion as making people’s dreams and wishes come true (13:33). Consider some examples from today….
1) Stealing is no longer stealing. To-day it is often “social justice,” or “getting what’s mine.” It is spoken of as a way to stick it to the rich who exploit wage earners because their labor isn’t worth as much as the owners. It is not just the poor who steal, but for some reason many seem to think it is justified today for the poor to do so (contrary to Prov. 6:30-31). Read what Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus. “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that need” (Eph. 4:28).
2) Adultery is no longer adultery, it’s an extramarital affair. It is supposedly nothing more than the result of having grown apart from one’s spouse. However, God’s Word says: “Marriage is honora-ble in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Heb. 13:4).
3) Gambling is no longer gambling, it’s gaming. How ingen-ious! We are led to believe that this is all in good fun, for entertain-ment purposes, the same as if a man would go out to a movie or bowling. One man spends his entertainment dollars one way, and I spend them to make watching sports even more exciting. We should not be surprised that sin is exciting, but that hardly proves your case. Notice these scriptures. “Provide things honest in the sight of all men” (Rom. 12:17). “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatso-ever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thess. 5:21-22). Is gambling a good thing to hold on to? If a person gambles, is that abstaining from the appearance of evil? Is it “loving one’s neighbor as himself,” knowing that your wins are predi-cated on the losses of others. Whether they’ve entered willingly into the transaction is beside the point.
5) Homosexuality is no longer a gross, unnatural perver-sion, but is an “alternative lifestyle” to be celebrated for their bravery. Those who honor the God-given institution of marriage to be exclusively between one woman and one man are con-sidered hateful and fearful. The Law of Moses condemned this griev-ous sin. “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them” (Lev. 20:29). God de-stroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of it (Gen. 19). “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes con-demned [them] with an overthrow, making [them] an ensample un-to those that after should live ungodly” (2 Peter 2:6).
7) Cursing is no longer inappropriate and vulgar, it’s colorful speech. The worldly minded see nothing wrong with it. There was once a time when public leaders were mindful of their example and had too much respect for their offices to so speak in public. Not so anymore! God said in the OT: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Exod. 20:7). Jesus said: “…every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be con-demned” (Matt. 12:36-37).
8) Abortion is not killing innocent human life, it is simply birth control. The United States, on an annual basis, kills more babies in one year than the number of lives lost in all the wars fought in this coun-try’s history! What does God say? Study Proverbs 6:16-19. God hates hands that shed innocent blood. “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward” (Psa. 127:3). “As thou knows not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knows not the works of God who makes all” (Eccl. 11:5). “Thus says the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that makes all things; that stretches forth the heavens alone; that spreads abroad the earth by myself” (Isa. 44:24).
9) Nakedness is not immodesty, it’s being proud of your body. Whether we’re talking about dressing ostentatiously or scantily, the message of Scripture for both men and women is that we not dressed to be noticed or to draw attention to ourselves. “In like man-ner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becomes women professing godli-ness) with good works” (1 Tim. 2:9-10).
A father asked his son, “If you count a cow’s tail a leg, how many legs does it have?” He answered, “five.” But, we know that is not true, be-cause calling a cow’s tail a leg, does not make it a leg. Men can call sin by any terminology they desire, but it’s still sin. Sin practiced will sepa-rate one from God. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniq-uities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear” (Isa. 59:1-2). Let us speak [of sin] as the oracles of God!
