Category: Sin

When men want to bind what God has not bound or loose what God has not loosed, there is sin involved. Call it liberal or call it conservative, the Bible calls it sin. If it is not right it is wrong, and if it is wrong it is sin, and if it is sin, it separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2), and if we die separated from God, a Devil’s eternal hell will be our home.

It is neither our privilege nor right to draw arbitrary lines for others, in the absence of a sure edict from God. When God has drawn lines, however, we ought to observe them and uphold them and make them pleasant, for they are not burdensome compared to the weight of the cross upon our Lord’s back (Romans 7:22, 1 John 5:3).

By remembering God’s attitude toward sin, perhaps man will be motivated to live righteously before Him. “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil.” (Revelation 2:2).

The journey to our Canaan begins with blood and water and ends in milk and honey. Along the way, Pharaoh Satan will attempt to lure the pilgrim back, but abiding in Christ’s word will lead to the Promised Land.

One must hear the gospel, believe it, repent of his sins, be baptized and continue to do all things commanded by Christ through His apostles. The one who meets those conditions is a disciple of Christ, saved and enjoys the remission of sins.

One aspect of Calvinistic doctrine is the three-fold error whereby it is taught that (1) Adam’s sin was transferred to mankind; (2) man’s sin was transferred to Christ; and (30) Christ’s personal righteousness was transferred to believers. None of these statements are true nor do they reflect accurately the Bible doctrine of “imputation.” In this article we will note the second of these errors and study the claim that the sins of mankind have been transferred to Christ.

The death of sin is producing a generation of Americans unequipped to meet the challenges of temptation. The church of Christ is far from immune, for we hear the tone of preaching softening among us as well, in a rush to embrace the positive mental attitude approach, which cannot build anything enduringly good, for it knows not how to identify and tear down sin.

The teaching of our Lord in Matthew 18 must be followed by all Christians. It is our responsibility as children of God to rebuke our sinning brother, in an attempt to restore him to standing. We do not have the right to ignore his sin, and we do not have the right to embarrass him by disregarding the prescribed steps of the passage.

However, the passage is limited contextually to private offenses between a sinner and the one he has wronged. The Lord never intended that his instructions to the Disciples be applied with such a broad and unsuitable stroke. A proper understanding of the passage, and the nature of public sin will go far in correcting this present destructive error.

Do trips to the doctor exasperate you as much as they do me? It seems like there is something wrong when you pay a guy fifty dollars to tell you that you are too fat! Even though it is the truth, it seems to me that I should not have to pay fifty dollars to hear a doctor tell me what I could have told him by looking in the mirror.

During my last doctor visit, the nurse was somewhat more kind in breaking the news. Her way of expressing it made me consider the problem from another angle. She looked very surprised when she had to adjust the balance weights upward and then said, “You hide your weight well.” I had never heard that before, nor do I believe she looked very closely or she would have discovered where I was hiding it. But it did make me think about something. Let us suppose that one could “hide the weight” from others, would it change the weight total? Would it change the effects of the added weight? No, the effects remain the same whether hidden or obvious. There is no relief from the effects of the physical burden by hiding the problem. Whether the nurse, the doctor or the patient think the burden is hidden, it still exists and the effects remain.

Anyone who shares my problem of being overweight can understand how you can bear a burden everyday, but fail to think about it in that light until forced to do so. The extra weight has its effect upon one every day, but we just fail to think about it until we look in a mirror, step on scales or face reality due to some other factor. Whether conscious of the problem or not, the need for relief from the ill effects remains.

There is a parallel to be drawn between a burden often present on the spiritual man. Just like the physical body can be quietly burdened by a load, so can our soul. The effects of a burdened soul, however, are far worse than the increased risk and fatigue associated with a physical burden of added weight. The burden associated with the spiritual man may have eternal consequences.

The Bible teaches us that our sins are heavy burdens upon our soul. David spoke of such saying, “For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me” (Psalm 38:4). Other passages refer to sin in the same way. Sin is a burden too heavy for any person to lift from the soul.

But the burden of sin is not always apparent to the sinner or those surrounding the sinner. Sometimes the sinner is deceived by sin (Hebrews 3:13). Some sins are kept secret (Psalm 19:12; 90:8). Some people conceal their sins from others (Proverbs 28:13; Isaiah 29:15). Does that change the effect of the sins? No, the wages of sin is still death (Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

However, the Word of God also makes plain the means by which we can find rest from the heavy burden of sin. When we look to Jesus, we find the needed help in taking our sins away. Notice His promise of help:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Paul told the Christians to whom he wrote that they were dead spiritually as a result of their sins, but were made alive by the grace of Christ (Ephesians 2:1-10). Salvation is not earned by man. Regardless of what one does, he does not merit forgiveness. Man is not strong enough to lift the load of sin himself, but Christ can and will.

The fact that Christ promises to lift our burden of sin by His grace does not free us from meeting the conditions He commands. Grace may well be extended conditionally.

If a speaker offered a $1000 to each person in the audience who got out of his seat, walked to the front, and took the money from the speaker’s hand, would the recipients have earned the $1000 by meeting those conditions? Obviously not, it was still a gift! That gift was conditional, but it was no less a gift.

So it is with Christ and the gift of salvation. He says, “Come to Me” and “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me.” Those are conditions for us to meet in order for Jesus to lift our burden of sin, but His cleansing is still by grace. In order for us to understand what is entailed in those conditions, we must see what else the Bible says about the subject.

Immediately before He ascended to heaven, Jesus spoke of the conditions upon which He would save us. At that time, He laid down in plain terms how we “come,” “learn,” and take His “yoke” upon us in obedience. Christ says it this way:

“And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15-16).

When we come and learn of Christ through the Gospel and take His yoke in obeying that Gospel, we meet the conditions of Christ and we receive the gift of salvation from our sins. We do not merit salvation by meeting those conditions any more than the people earned $1000 by meeting the speaker’s conditions. It is still a gift of grace!

Some today question the conditions of faith and/or baptism set by Jesus as being essential. When one teaches that both conditions are essential to receive salvation, some accuse that one of teaching that we merit salvation by works. Why would they so misrepresent simple, plain, Bible teaching?

If Jesus had said, “He who believes and is baptized will receive $1000,” I doubt that anyone would question either condition as essential to receive the $1000. Why do some reject the conditions when something far more valuable, salvation, is at stake?

Jesus’ offer still continues as it was originally given. He will lift the load of our sins and give us salvation if we will but respond to Him in obedience to His will, meeting His conditions for gracious pardon.

For every soul burdened down with sin, there is rest in Christ. The dreadful toll of sin can be exchanged for the joy of salvation in all who will obey Him. Though some may doubt it, the conditional offer of rest from the burden of our sins constitutes the only way to salvation offered by the grace of God. Failure to realize that our burden of sin is the root problem for our spiritual ills does not change the effect. Whether we, a nurse, our friends, a loved one or anyone else think we hide our burden well, the problem and its effect remain until we receive the gracious gift of forgiveness and rest for the soul found in Christ.

Christians must serve as “lights” in rejecting the use of intoxicants at any level amidst a world of darkened users. We cannot compromise and begin to justify “just a little” drinking. If we do, our potos may easily become komos, our komos may progress further to methe and our methe may eventually end in oinophlugia. However, even if it does not, we are still involved in sin which condemns the soul with our first step in the process. Be not deceived!

The Bible tells us of the sad effects of drunkenness and how to avoid it. Don’t even start down the road to drunkenness (Ephesians 5:18). Abstain from drinking parties, for they lead to, and accompany drunkenness (1 Peter 4:3); Maintain a sober vigilant mind so the Devil cannot devour you when your resistance is low (1 Peter 5:8); And be protective of your example so that no action of yours leads another to sin (Romans 14:23). By not drinking alcoholic beverages, you will take the wise step in meeting these demands of God.

Within the text of the Bible willful murder has been distinguished from accidental homicide. The consequence under the law of Moses was capital punishment “And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death” (Leviticus 24:17; cf. Numbers 35:16,18,21,31). This law in its principle is surely based upon that indelible fact of man’s having been made in the likeness of God, “And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man” (Genesis 9:5,6; cf. John 8:44; 1 John 3:12,15).

In order to cure or prevent the evil passion of envy, one needs to seek a renewed heart and dwell often on God’s divine love. We must learn to be content with what we have been blessed with by God. The apostle Paul wrote, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content” (1 Timothy 6:6-8). We need to entertain lowly thoughts of ourselves while at the same time learning to admire the excellence in others, and regarding it as if it were our own.

Faithful Christians may publish a paper or engage in other activities because they “choose” to associate with others who have made the same choice, individually. Collectively, disciples may choose a congregation because of common beliefs. The choosing itself is not heretical because of the common faith that they share. All people make choices. But only those who choose to follow Jesus in the true sense can rightly escape the rightful condemnation of promoting a work of the flesh.

True, we all have opinions and where God has not spoken we have a right to our opinions. We also have a right and a responsibility to keep our opinions to ourselves at times. May God bless us with the wisdom to know when.

Strange indeed it is that the Bible prescribes unity, but we often practice division; It teaches brotherly love and we often practice brotherly hate; it demands truth but we often practice falsehood; the Bible places Christ preeminent in all things (Colossians 1:18), but some brother want to be the center of attention; it says we should have the same care one for another, but we often have parties, clicks and politics; we are to have elders that rule well, but we often have elders that rule from hell.

“Outbursts of wrath” is a major thing with God, though minor with some men. It is listed as a work of the flesh, along with “idolatry” and “sorcery.” For the one who is guilty of it, but comes to a proper understanding of its consequences, he will put it off. The one who does not put it off, will suffer the wrath of God. Therefore, let us not make an excuse for ourselves or others, but put off this work of the flesh.

It is certainly no wonder the Bible declares that “jealousy [is] as cruel as the grave.” Song of Solomon 8:6; and that “jealousy is the rage of man”, Proverbs 6:34. Let us strive to be humbly grateful for the gifts which God has so richly blessed us with, rather then being grumbly hateful over what he has not (yet). Paul said in Hebrews 13:5, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.'”

The Scriptures firmly associate strife and faction. We are told in 1 Timothy 6:3-5 that those who “…do not consent to wholesome words…” are “…obsessed with disputes and arguments over words….” These things, we are told, lead to “…envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wrangling….” We are also told in Titus 3:9-11 that we ought to “…avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions [eris], and striving about the Law….” This command is immediately followed by the command to “…reject a divisive man after a first—even a second—warning.”

Although translated “sorcery” or “witchcraft,” this work of the flesh involves not only occultism, but also the use of mind-altering drugs. The Christian should avoid both sides of this pernicious coin.