Sin And Our Accountability
Below is a study of sin from the biblical perspective
Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Does anyone really understand the depth of sin as God does and why it must be judged?
James 1:14 - “But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” What is Sin? - 1 John 3:4 - “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.” God's laws were made to protect us from ourselves because human nature within us loves evil and needs God's direction.
Romans 14:23 - “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” - What is being said here is that we are to live and act our entire life with faith in God in every area of our lives. We pray before we eat, we pray before we go on a trip and we pray about many things in life because we trust that God is interested in everything that has to do with us.
Revelation 20:12 - “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened, and another book was opened; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works.” - This is a description of final judgment when all men, women and children of all time will be called to stand before a holy God and be judged for their lives before the entire universe. The books here are not defined, but I believe books are necessary because the books will list the sins of those who died without Christ as their Savior. The book spoken of here is just a list of names because their sins are forgiven and they have been accepted by God through the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary. The single book is the “Book Of Life.” See Also Revelation 20:15
How would you reply to someone who says, "I am not a bad person. I don't steal or hurt people, and I never killed anyone! Why would a loving God send a good person to Hell? Psalm 39:5, Isaiah 64:6, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3:10-12 and Romans 3:23 should give you a start. But there are even more scriptures in both testaments that should be convincing.
A strong evidence of our sinful nature is found at the earliest stages of life. Someone once wrote that babies left to themselves to do what they want with no correction or direction from birth to adulthood would grow up to be the worst, most vile heathen to ever live. Consider that babies think of nobody but themselves. Sweet as they seem to us, when they want something they will do whatever it takes to get it, and they don't care who they have to bother to get what they want or what time of the day or night it might be. When a new born baby is hungry the baby will cry or scream or whatever it takes to get the parent's attention. When a baby is wet the same applies. It doesn't matter if it is three o'clock in the morning or right after dad and mom just laid down to sleep because the baby wants its needs met NOW! Make the baby wait and there is hysteria through the entire house and everyone suffers for it. Now imagine if this behavior was carried into adulthood and throughout a person's entire life without being corrected by anyone. The end results would be evil beyond what we might want to believe and horrible to behold and experience!
David, King of Israel in Psalms 51:5 wrote, "Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." Every baby ever born could testify to that same thing in their lives if they could grasp that concept. As adults they would have to admit to their sin if they were honest enough to admit it after they understand the reality of sin from God's viewpoint. - "Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way, but wickedness overthroweth the sinner." It doesn't take a genius to understand that we have a strong Proverbs 13:6 - "Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way, but wickedness overthroweth the sinner." It doesn't take a genius to understand that we have a strong bent to evil!
Psalms 7:11 - “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” Does this mean all the wicked? Since the scriptures make it clear that God is no respecter of persons or, in other words, he doesn't play favorites, the answer to this question must be yes.
Everyone who is ever born is endowed with a conscience so we know when we are violating any of God's laws. Children know instinctively when they are misbehaving as evidenced by their actions. This is an undeniable proof of our sin nature at work in us! Acts 24:16, Romans 2:13-15,
Hebrews 9:13-14 and 1 Peter 3:15-17 speak of our conscience.
While we inherited a sin nature as descendants of Adam and Eve we cannot blame them for how While we inherited a sin nature as descendants of Adam and Eve we cannot blame them for how While we inherited a sin nature as descendants of Adam and Eve we cannot blame them for how While we inherited a sin nature as descendants of Adam and Eve we cannot blame them for how While we inherited a sin nature as descendants of Adam and Eve we cannot blame them for how we respond to the temptations of our sinful nature. God has given us the ability to have victory over our sinful ways through the blood of Christ, but we still go on in sin anyway and violate our conscience and resist the convictions of the Holy Spirit. The drawing of God's Spirit is seeking to deliver us from our own wickedness and desires that will destroy us, but until we see our need of a Savior we will continue on in sin even if in doing so we are wrecking our minds, bodies, and destroying the lives of those we love.
It is because of this incredible resistance to what is right that man must be held to account by God on the day of judgment! If God had not made a way to escape our evil nature we could complain that it was unjust for us to be born with it, but the blood of Christ shed on Calvary gives us the promise of forgiveness and power over our wicked nature now and throughout eternity.! We should be deeply thankful that God is long suffering toward us and not vindictive as we are when others offend us. His mercy is renewed day by day or every morning as recorded in the book of Lamentations. Lamentations 3:22-23
Do you remember when you were a little child and your mom and dad told you not to do certain things, and you went ahead and did them anyway? Do you remember looking around to see if anyone was looking? Before or after you did the deed wasn't there something telling you that what you were doing was wrong? Everyone knows that it was their conscience convicting them.When we violate our own conscience we sin against God, because the conviction comes from the conscience he gave us to warn each of us to do what is right.
When the consequences of our actions catch up with us we suddenly realize that what we learned about doing the wrong thing was for a good reason, but then it was too late. The answer is written below.
Proverbs 6:16-19 - "These six things doth the Lord hate, seven are an abomination to him."
While there are lists of sin in scripture, sins of omission (things we know we should have done and didn't do) are omitted. Do you believe the statement above about omission is correct? If so, why? If not, why not? How would you describe or define a sin of omission? Do you believe that everyone is in some way guilty of sins of omission? Can you prove it? What scripture(s) would you use?
1 John 1:10 - “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” -Calling God a liar? Frightening! There are, however lists of sins that we need to consider because there are so many sins that we commit throughout our lives, and it is vitally important that we be able to recognize them as God describes them. Some of them are listed below, but rest assured that these lists are not the only things defined as sin.
Proverbs 6:16 -19 - lists the things God hates and are an abomination to Him.
I Corinthians 6:9-10 - lists things that keep mankind from inheriting God's Kingdom
Galatians 5:19-21 - Gives the works of the flesh which are all evil.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 - Speaks of the wickedness abounding in the last days.
Mark 7:20-23 - Speaks of that which comes out of us
As you go through these lists above write down the ones that might apply to you. Consider the importance of dealing with these sins. Does the word "abomination" strike a chord in your heart when mentioned in the first list? If not, why? The words that call attention to evil in our lives is not there to condemn us, but rather to convict us so we can repent of that sin. Why would we want to continue in anything that would hurt or destroy us spiritually? What is it in us that makes \us run past all warning signals our conscience sends our way and do what we know is wrong even though we are convicted to stop doing it. Perhaps reading Paul's account of his struggles in Romans 7:14-25 would help us see the inherent sinfulness of our nature and also the victory that was purchased for us in a better light! It should also remind us that even though Paul was a great man prior to his salvation in a religious sense, and a great apostle after his salvation, he was still dealing with weakness just like all of us!
Consider this great apostle of Jesus Christ and his struggles against his own nature! Think of Moses, Elijah, Thomas or Peter. What moved these men to fail God? Each was, in his own right, a powerful man of God, and yet each one also was found to be weak in one way or the other, and all five of them gave in to either excuse-making, unnecessary fear, materialism, lies or other sins. David the King of Israel was called "a man after God's own heart," but he was guilty of adultery and murder and was confronted by a prophet and called to repentance. His repentant response to his failure can be found in Psalms 51:10-12. We are all weak, and we should rejoice in our weakness as Paul did because it is in our weakness that the power and mercy of God is really manifested to us and all who will love and trust him!
Our weakness is not an excuse for our sin, but rather a confession of how very much we must rely on God and his grace and mercy toward
us every day. In John 15:5 we understand how very much we need Jesus. As we grow and mature in our walk with the Lord this statement will become more and more real to us as we are honest about our inability to be righteous in our own selves and honest about our constant need of Jesus to overcome all that comes our way in life! We must come to God for forgiveness!
C R Lord © 2016
A Small Oblation
I do not minister for money, But somehow it seems kind of funny,
That those who let me build this site, Somehow feel that it's alright,For me to pay a monthly fee, To offer all this stuff to thee, So if you'd show appreciation Kindly leave a small oblation.
C R Lord © 12/17/2018
