What is Sin?

Matthew 18:7-9

“Woe to the world for temptations to sin!”

What is sin?  Is it objective, or is it cast in stone, and do you as a Christian understand that it is devastating to your relationships?  First, shall we look at how it effects our relationship with God; often we do not look to what is the will of God, but only to our desires, and when we approach God in this manner, it is like praying for rain because your yard needs water, not because your neighbors land is dry.  “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” (1 John 5:14).  Anytime we are not interested in the will of God, and only desire that our needs and wants are priority, we have moved very close to sin.  Sin will also set us up to want what we want with no regard for the will of God. The apostle James tells all about this, in James 4:3, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”  Study the Scripture and ask the Helper (the Holy Spirit) to give you a heart to be holy, to desire the will of God above all else.

How does temptation to sin enter into your relationships at work, at school, at home, in the church parking lot, or while at church?   In Romans 12:3, the Amplified Bible;  ^“For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him.”  When self-importance is in your mind, sin is always at the door, watch out!  As a husband I’ve learned to take 1Peter 3:7, very serious, in that I want my prayers to be answered, there is always the temptation to not show honor to my wife.

This passage in Matthew 18:7-9 is not directed to a follower of Christ, but to the world, but if we, the Ambassador’s of Christ, do not tell the world, how will they understand the dangers of eternal Hell?  If you are not in Christ, or even if you are and have bought into a heaven without a hell, that is not Jesus’ message; for Jesus talks more about hell than heaven in the Bible.  So read and ask the Spirit of God to open your heart to this warning from our Creator, our Savior, our mighty God, and the Lord Jesus Christ.  “For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.”   What will you do with Jesus?  If you have read this it is because the Spirit of God loves you so much that He does not want you to be thrown into the fire of hell, it was not designed for you, it was designed for the devil and his angels.  So pay attention to 2 Corinthians 6:2, “For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice