Chapter 1, Part B
Understanding The Word Of God
When many of us consider the sin question we think of violations
of the Ten Commandments. Even then, we tend to think of murder and
adultery as "major" sins compared with lying, cursing, or idolatry. Under the dispensation of the law,
certain sins carried an instant death penalty; therefore they were considered
major sins. Under the dispensation of grace,
the attempt to separate sin as to major and minor often is just an attempt to
justify sin. Such as the homosexual who
often state that its sin is no greater than those who commit adultery. “All unrighteousness is sin...“ (1 John 5:17) Paul, however, puts this in perspective
when he said, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by
observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” (Romans 3:20). To be
conscious of sin, we must become aware of the feeling derived from sinning;
therefore our reaction to sin is also based upon how it makes us feel. If the Holy Spirit, an attribute of grace and
not of the law, abides within our heart, the feeling that we derive from being
in the proximity of sin should be disgusting.
The second point of 1st John 5:17 dissertation states
that there is a sin that is not unto death.
This is based upon the contention of the Law that required an instant
death penalty for certain sin, the chief commandment is faith and love.
Therefore, the chief sin is that by which faith and love are destroyed. “Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be
forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith whosoever they shall
blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never
forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.” (Mark 3:28-29)
What is blasphemy? Blasphemy
against God is equated with treason against the State. Blasphemy is derisive language or any other
insult against God, His character, and His system of proper worship. It is addressed in Old Testament law through
the third commandment (do not take the Lord's name in vain). This should set the stage for a deeper
understanding of sin.
Jesus approach to sin under the presumption of Grace was
different from that which was set forth by God under the law. This
should be an interesting line of study for those who insist on invoking the Law
of Moses. The Law says, “If a man be
found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them
die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put
away evil from Israel. If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto a
husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; Then ye shall bring
them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones
that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the
man, because he hath humbled his neighbor's wife: so thou shalt put away evil
from among you. But if a man finds a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man
force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die.” (Deuteronomy
22:22-25) The High Priest was to insure
that this punishment was carried out.
The Scribes and Pharisees approached Jesus in an attempt to
bring an accusation against him. The
foundation of their test was to determine if Jesus was following the Law of
Moses. The Law verses the presumption of
Grace was a point of contention throughout Jesus’s ministry, and Paul sought to
deal with it during the formation of the church. “And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto
him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say
unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses
in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?” (John
8:3-5)
“So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and
said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at
her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard
it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at
the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman
standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the
woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those, thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto
her, neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” (John 8:7-11)
“I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for
if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. If we do not believe in the Word of God and
speak words of blasphemy against God, we shall die in our sins.” (John 8:24)
The road to the justification of sin began with allowing our
emotions to play a role in determining what a sin is and what is not. If
we believe in God, then the Word of God should be the determining factor. Paul explained
what happens when we remove the knowledge of God from our thought process
and replace it with the knowledge of good and evil. The knowledge of good and evil will blur the
line that separate good from evil.
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their
knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are
not convenient.” (Romans 1:28) Feeling
good is subjective morality; it allows us to justify sin through a non
Christian agenda. The path of sin is marked with a simple truism, “God
loves his children and he wants them to be happy.”
God wants us to recognize our sins. Even those who have not
murdered or committed adultery will find themselves convicted of lying, or of
worshipping false idols like wealth or power instead of God. We have
created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in
a new and ruthless disguise. It exists in the form of the idolatry of
money, in the dictatorship of an impersonal economy within the church. Worship services are designed to stimulate or
excite the masses and are lacking a true spiritual purpose.
So what is sin? If you believe in God, this should be a
no-brainer. Some things are wrong, some things are right, simply because God
says so and He knows. But if you do not believe in God to become involved in a
legalistic argument over what is right and what is wrong is pointless.
This argument will never be resolved.
David speaking to a group of none believers was direct and
on point. "The fool hath said in
his heart, There is no God, corrupt are
they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.”
(Psalms 53:1) David used the word "fool”, this word is edited out of the modern
text. The attitude of a fool can be
ascertained through words or deeds.
Often the Bible is used by the fool to justify sin. A small snippet of a verse will be surgically
removed and quoted out of its context, “The bible says, there is none that does
good”, the church agreed and said amen because it allowed for the justification
of sin.
The organized church allowed itself to be drawn into an arena filled with contradictions and lies. Vain an blasphemous promise is made in the name of God and God is not responding to these requests or promises. The respect that should be given to God, the church and Christianity is fading because of this fallacy. Many organized churches are becoming nothing more than a place of entertainment as a new and suggestive beat invades what once was a sacred worship service. A play on the emotions is taking center stage and the spirit of God is presented as nothing but an emotional expression.
Men and women of dubious stature are demanding that they become respected as messengers of God when their message is tainted with subjective moralities. Leaders who practice to deceive are amassing fortunes selling a shaped message and goods designed to make the listener feel good, while they skillfully massage and manipulate the sinful nature of humanity. Motivational speeches are not preaching the Word of God. Practical living exposés is not expository preaching. Pep talks and clever clichés have no power to save. Wealth building is not a part of salvation.
“I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8) This question put forth by Jesus deserves an answer. Take a look around. What do you see? Do you really see the faith Jesus spoke of? It is easy to go through life pretending. Often we pretend to know the answer when we do not fully understand the question. It is easy to pretend that we are something that we are not and often it is the pretenders that receive the greatest accolades. Has our faith become like polluted water and we are guilty of pretending?
To be Continued
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