It has been said that sin would be far less attractive if we had to pay the cost upon receipt. Of course, the Scripture tells us this truth: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23, emphasis added) As I sit here contemplating the truth of this Scripture, I am reminded that the payment, that is the results of our sin is death. One commentator remarked that when we sin, something dies. With those things in mind, do we handle sin as seriously as the Scripture?
If I’m being vulnerable, I don’t always see sin the way God sees sin. If I did, I think I would be far more serious about praying through, battling against, and seeking God’s grace and help to walk in freedom and victory (see John 8:32 and Romans 8:37). When speaking of sin, Jesus uses strong, figurative language to demonstrate a key Biblical truth. Jesus says it like this: And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. (Matthew 5:30 ESV) Of course, Jesus isn’t commanding us to literally cut off our hands or other body parts to combat sin, if so we would all be walking around with far fewer hands to serve Him.
What does Jesus want us to grasp? The serious nature of sin and the attitude we should have towards it. Most of us, whether we want to confess it or not, have a far different relationship with sin in our life. Some of us tolerate it. Some of us nurture it. Some of us play with it or entertain it. Some of us justify it, excuse it, or blame it on others. Yet, the call of Jesus is for us to be deadly serious about our sin, confess in humility our inability to do anything meaningful or lasting about on our own, and draw near to Him to allow His strength and grace to radically change our lives.
In my teaching before I’ve tried to help visualize many of our relationships with sin this way. Sin, left unchecked, unconfessed, and unrepented, starts off as a cute little kitten. Over time the kitten develops, it becomes stronger, faster, and more intelligent. After time, and the time can vary depending on a variety of factors, the once small, cute thing has become a deadly predator that is stalking us, controlling us, and ruling over our lives. It has been written somewhere: Kill sin before it kills you.
This is where Romans 12:9 becomes instrumental in our journey against sin and all the things that influence our lives. Paul writes it like this: Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. (Romans 12:9 ESV) First, love is primary even in our quest to live victorious lives filled with Christ holiness and the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23). If we truly love God and love those created in His image, the way we think about sin and live our lives will be radically influenced by this truth.
Next, we are called to abhor “what is evil.” We must have our sense of right and wrong firmly established in the Scripture and the character of God. We must confess and respond in faith to the things that Bible calls evil. We don’t get to redefine, ignore, or even reject what the Bible reveals concerning God’s moral character and His will for our lives. If we truly abhor what is evil, that is we regard (it) with disgust and hatred, this is going to change how we live our lives, what we expose ourselves to, and what we engage with or participate in.
Lastly, we don’t just hate the evil in the world and in our lives, we “hold fast to what is good.” We give up the things of this world as we cling to Christ and the truth of God’s Word. Today, I challenge you to prayerfully and carefully reflect on your own life and your belief concerning sin. Do you have a Biblical approach to sin or are your thoughts and ideas influenced by worldliness in opposition to God? Spoiler alert: There isn’t a third option.
I leave you with Paul’s practical advice for us as true disciples of Jesus:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8 ESV, emphasis added).
