Understanding Sin

For all have sinned,

and fall short of the glory of God

Being Justified as a gift by his grace
through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.
Romans 3:23-24

These two verses say almost everything you need to know about being a Christian, and being forgiven of your sins from God’s viewpoint.

1. All have sinned.

2. All fall short of God's glory.

3. We are justified by grace (free gift)

4. We are redeemed eternally by believing in Jesus Christ.

The controversy in the media today seems to be that some people are offended because of the things that the Duck Dynasty leader said in an interview about his views from the Bible. I have never watched the show and only seek the truth here. But I must say that many people are confused about what sin is. It seems that many want to create their own definition of sin so that they can feel better about the stand they have taken, or to be viewed by the unbelieving world as tolerant and politically correct.

One Christian even said to me this past week that homosexuality is not even mentioned in the New Testament. When I asked him to explain the following verse … 
his response was silence. 

"For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper." Romans 1: 26-28

Now anyone is free to disregard this teaching. But for Christian’s to disregard teachings they don’t like for the sake of tolerance and political correctness is dishonest, and is a primary reason that many Christians are considered to be hypocrites. Do not make up your own religion and call it Christianity. There should be NO tolerance for that.

But at the same time, God’s truth is clear … all are sinners, not just one group or another. And from a standpoint of forgiveness and eternal life, a sin of pride has the same end result as a sin of lust.

Phil Robertson would be doing no-one any favors by twisting the truth and saying what people want to hear. It really does not matter what any of our personal opinions are, God is the judge, not us. There are literally hundreds of ways we can sin and as a result none of us will get a pass based upon what we have or have not done.

God’s definition of sin is divided into three categories.

All sin falls into one of these three groups.

           1. Lust of the Flesh

           2. Lust of the eyes

           3. Pride of life

Can anyone say they have never been guilty of some form of fleshly lust?

Can anyone say that they have never been guilty of coveting things?

Can anyone say that they have not been consumed by anger, bitterness, or resentment?

The answers to these three questions is: no, no, no. This is why judging a homosexual or anyone else is wrong. Nobody (besides Jesus) has ever met or currently meets the sinless perfection God requires for forgiveness and eternal life. 

But on the other hand, there is a big difference between judging a person and judging an action. For example: would you be upset with me if I said that it is a sin ... to lie, to murder, or to steal? I think not.

So are the various homosexual acts a sin? Yes,  without question. 
Will a person who commits these sins be saved or condemned? 
That is between the person and God.

"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world." 1 John 2:16

Notice it says all that is in the world. So does this literally mean: all? Yes, without the saving grace of Jesus Christ we are all incapable of doing any good thing. From the view of men or the world we can do many good things; but God does not look at things from the view of the world or men. I know this is difficult to believe; but God’s Word clearly tells us that this is the Truth.

“Every man's way is right in his own eyes; But the LORD weighs the (motives of the) hearts.”  Proverbs 21:2  All have sinned over and over every day and as a result all are judged and condemned.   “ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” Romans 3:12

This is why Jesus came and died as the sacrifice for our sins … we all need a Savior from the consequences of our life apart from Christ. Even though Jesus calls us to love others, and to live out His loving ways, He did not come to feed the hungry and heal the sick; but rather He fed the multitudes, and healed the sick in order to demonstrate who he is. The purpose of Jesus coming to earth was to seek and save the lost, whoever and wherever they were. 

"For the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" Luke 19:10

The word is perfectly clear: He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotton Son of God. John 3:18 

Every person has either believed or not believed in Jesus Christ. This determines whether one is a Christian who will receive eternal life in heaven … or not. There is no other criteria of Christianity.

It is not being judgmental to point out this truth. This is what the Bible teaches. 
It would be dishonest not to point it out.

So what can we conclude? According to Jesus, the world is divided into two groups of people: sinners who believe in Him and are not judged; because of His sacrifice on the cross for our sins … and those who do not believe, and have been judged already as a result of their sins. Good deeds and being a good person from a human point of view will bring rewards only for those who have believed in Christ. 

This is obviously going to be offensive to those who have rejected Jesus and have already been judged. But this is their choice and they are free to believe upon Jesus Christ at any time for redemption.

According to Jesus, we are to build our life upon the foundation of His Words and not upon the teachings of the world. 

"Therefore whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one who hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened to a foolish man which built his house upon sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." Matthew 7:24-27

The atheistic wisdom of the world has taught an entire American generation otherwise. Pointing out this false teaching should be a mission of every Christian. To promote that which is the opposite of God’s eternal Truth is a gross hypocrisy that leads many away from the Creator of all things.

God Bless you my friends, Bob