Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus
We are now observing the 3 Day Lent or also known as The Nineveh Lent. The Nineveh lent symbolifies the repentance of the people of the city of Nineveh and they coming back to God. As we come to the close of the first day of the lent, I would like to bring to your notice the mind boggling scenario of the disappearance of sin or the notion of it from our lives.
Author Peter Barnes, in an article titled "What! Me? A Sinner?" wrote,
In the twentieth century England, C. S. Lewis noted that, "The barrier I have met is the almost total absence from the minds of my audience of any sense of sin." And in 2001, New Testament scholar D. A. Carson commented that the most frustrating aspect of doing evangelism in universities is the fact that the students generally have no idea of sin. "They know how to sin well enough, but they have no idea of what constitutes sin."
In many of our cultures, we can see that the entire concept of sin has virtually disappeared and in most of our churches the notion of sin has been softened, to accommodate modern sensibilities. Strong biblical words for sin have been excised from our vocabulary. People no longer commit adultery, instead they have an affair. Corporate executives do not steal, they commit fraud.
In many of the churches and conservative societies, the idea of sin has not disappeared, but in many instances, it has been deflected to those outside our circles who commit flagrant sins such as abortion, homosexuality, and murder, or the notorious white-collar crimes of high-level corporate executives. It's easy for us to condemn those obvious sins while virtually ignoring our own sins of gossip, pride, envy, bitterness, and lust, or even the lack of those gracious qualities that St. Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23).
Many a times, the attitude towards sin can be seen reflected in our prayers. Many of us appear to be concerned about the sins of the society than we are concerned of our own sins - sins committed by the saints, people sanctified by God, for God. Our gossip or unkind words about a brother or sister in Christ Jesus roll off our tongues without any awareness of wrong doing. We also harbor hurts over wrongs long past without any effort to forgive as God has forgiven us. We look down our religious noses at "sinners" in the society without any sense of a humble "there but for grace of God go I" spirit.
We are ready to cry out in anger and are incensed when something wrong is done in the society. But why do we not mourn over our selfishness, our critical spirit, our impatience, and our anger? We find it so easy to let off our sins from the hook by saying that our sins not as bad as the flagrant ones of the society. But God has not given us the authority to establish values for different sins. Instead, He says through the writing of James, "Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for (is guilty of) all of it" (James 2:10). That Scripture is difficult for us to understand because we think in terms of individual laws and their respective penalties. But God's law is seamless. The Bible speaks not of God's laws, as if many of them, but of God's law as a single whole. When a person commits murder, he breaks God's law. When a Christian lets corrupting speech (that is, speech which tends to tear down another person) come out of his mouth (see, Ephesians 4:29), he breaks God's law.
We all understand that some sins are more serious than others. I would rather be guilty of a lustful look than of adultery. Yet Jesus said that with that lustful look, I have actually committed adultery in my heart. I would rather be angry at someone than to murder that person. Yet Jesus said that whoever murders and whoever is angry with his brother are both liable to judgement (see Matthew 5:21-22). The truth is, all sin is serious because all sin is breaking of God's law.
The apostle John wrote, "Sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4). All sin, even sin that seems minor in our eyes, is lawlessness. It is not just breaking of a single command; it is a complete disregard for the law of God, a deliberate rejection of His moral will in favor of fulfilling one's own desires. The Bible states simply states that sin - all sin without distinction - is lawlessness.
In the Greek culture, sin originally meant to "miss the mark", that is, to miss the center of the target. Therefore, sin was considered a miscalculation or failure to achieve. There is some truth in that even today. A person, for example, when genuinely repentant over some sinful behavior and is earnestly seeking to overcome it but fails frequently. He wants to hit the bulls-eye every time, but he can't seem to pull it off. However, many a times it would seem that our sinful actions do not stem from a failure to achieve but from an inner urge to fulfill our own desires. As Apostle James wrote, "Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire: (James 1:14). We gossip or lust because of the sinful pleasure we get out of it. At that time, the lure of that momentary pleasure is stronger than our desire to please God.
Sin is sin. Even those sins that we tolerate in our lives are serious n God's eyes. Our religious pride, our critical attitudes, our unkind speech about others, our impatience and anger, even our anxiety (see Philippians 4:6); all of these are serious in the sight of God.
The apostle Paul, in stressing the need to seek justification by faith in Christ alone, quoted from the Old Testament, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them" (Galatians 3:10). That is the standard of obedience that is expected of us. St. Paul goes on to assure us that Christ has "redeemed us (that is, all who trust in Him as their redeemer) from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13). But the fact still remains that the seemingly minor sins we tolerate in our lives do indeed deserve the curse of God.
Yes, the whole idea of sin may have disappeared from our cultures. It may have softened in many of our churches so as not to make the audiences uncomfortable. Also, sad to say this, the concept of sin among many Christians have been redefined to cover only the obviously gross sins of our society. The result is that for many morally upright believers, the awareness of personal sin has effectively disappeared from their consciences. But it has not disappeared from the sight of God. Rather, all sin, both the respectable sins which are often tolerated and the flagrant sins of the society, are a disregard for the law of God and are reprehensible in His sight. Both deserve the curse of God.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, during this period of the 3 day lent season, let us remember and recollect all of the sins that we have committed against God, for no sin is worthy to be placed before God. Let us become clear in our consciences so that we can stand upright in the presence of God.
May the Lord Almighty bless you and keep you in all your ways.
Your Brother in Christ Jesus
Jobin George
P.S. The above portion has been taken from the book "Respectable Sins" by Jerry Bridges
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