Understanding Sin

Chapter 4

Pages 91-105

What is the Truth About Sin?

It's time to address lies women believe about sin. Many people would like to get rid of the notion of "sin" altogether. They believe that there is no absolute standard of right and wrong. They believe that truth is a personal issue, depending on what's best for you. They believe that tolerance is the key for unity in our world.

Those are nice thoughts, unfortunately, they're not true. A perfect God exists, and evil exists as well.

13. The Lie: I can sin and get away with it.

This one seems so true to us, because it appears to happen all the time. In fact, we see people who actually seem to get rewards for their sin.

The Truth: The choices I make today will have consequences; I will reap what I sow.

Galatians 6:7-8, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."

The truth is that sinners will ultimately receive the consequences of their sin. The pleasures that sin gives will eventually turn sour. We must understand that there is no exception to this principle.

14. The Lie: My sin isn't really that bad.

15. The Lie: God can't forgive what I have done.

The above two lies represent two ends of a spectrum. One lie is that our sin is no big deal; the other is that our sin is such a big deal that God Himself cannot even forgive it. Both are lies, because according to God, all sin is sin, not matter how much we try to rationalize it.

The Truth: Every act of sin is an act of rebellion against God.

The Truth: The blood of Jesus is sufficient to cover any and every sin I have committed.

1 John 1:5-10 (The Message)

"This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there's not a trace of darkness in him.

If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth - we're not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin.

If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins - make a clean break of them - he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God - make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God."

A Note

Ladies, I pray that all of us will take a good look at what the Bible says about sin. As we seek God's truth in the matter, He will bring light and balance to our lives. Have a great week!

Love, Karen