Category Archives: Sin

MISSING THE MARK

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A word of caution from Jordan B. Peterson in his current best-seller 12 Rules for Life reminded me of something important I taught for years, but have not said much about the last few years. In Rule 10 (Be Precise in Your Speech) he warns, “Don’t ever underestimate the destructive power of sins of omission” (p. 271).

A good definition I used for sin in my “Bible Basics and Our Church” class was that sin is “missing the mark.” The image suggests shooting an arrow at a target and missing it. I always made the point that there were two ways to miss. One was missing by going past the target. The other was to miss by coming up short of the target.

When it comes to sin there are two ways to miss the mark: there are sins of commission and there are sins of omission. The root verb of the word commission is to commit—to do something God has told us not to do. The root verb of the word omission is to omit—not to do something God has asked us to do (to leave something out).

My sense is that in general the Church and Christians have overemphasized sins of commission to the neglect of sins of omission. We have majored in those things we should not do and minored in those things we should do. Some have known Christians more for what they are against than for what they are for.

I not suggesting we should quit talking about the things God has clearly instructed us not to do. With many people first coming to Christ, dealing with sins of commission would seem to be the first kind of sin to address. But soon on the heels of that, I would hope an equal emphasis would be put on sins of omission.

I’m excited to teach a Sunday evening class this fall entitled Overcoming and Replacing the Seven Deadly Sins. The focus of overcoming the seven deadly sins will be on sins of commission. The emphasis on replacing them will be primarily about sins of omission.

We all miss the mark when it comes to living as the Lord has called his followers to live. We need to deal with both sins of commission and sins of omission. And I think Peterson’s observation—“Don’t ever underestimate the destructive power of sins of omission”—is worth taking to heart.

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AT RISK?

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When I visited the local hospital emergency room last week those who cared for me put a “FALL RISK” bracelet on my arm. They did that to alert others to keep an eye on me. And the reason was that I had fallen while walking our dogs and had sustained a head injury. (The good news is that even though I sustained a concussion and a shoulder injury, everything is going to be fine.)

As I thought about it I wondered if I had had the warning bracelet on earlier if I would have been more careful and not fallen. I don’t think so because I probably wouldn’t have taken it seriously and would have tripped anyway.

It also occurred to me as I looked at my bracelet that all of us are at risk of falling. At risk of physically falling while walking, but I have in mind what is called falling by sinning.

Christians speak of the Genesis account of the sin of Adam and Eve as “the fall.” By disobeying God they fell from their state of innocence to being guilty of sin. The Bible teaches that all of us have essentially done the same thing. The Apostle Paul is clear when he writes, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

The Bible is filled with warnings and cautions about sin. One of my favorites is in I Corinthians 10:12 where Paul challenges his readers, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” It sounds like overconfidence could be a problem for some of us – both falling with regard to sin as well as physically falling while walking.

I’m not planning on wearing my FALL RISK bracelet when I return to taking my turn walking the dogs, but I do think I will be much more careful. There is no guarantee I won’t fall, but I do think it will be less likely.

Nor do I think any of us should wear a FALL RISK bracelet to remind us and others that we are susceptible to falling by sinning. But in light of our failures – and please remember all have sinned and do sin – it might be helpful for us to remind ourselves that when it comes to sin we are all at risk to fall.

Even though we all have sinned, there is good news (often called the gospel). The Bible is clear that God loves us and has provided for our forgiveness through the sacrificial death of Jesus and our faith in him (see John 3:16). Following the bad news of Romans 3:23 about everyone having sinned, in verses 24 and 25a Paul gives the good news, “and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.” That is good news, isn’t it?

I wish I hadn’t fallen while walking the dogs, but my FALL RISK bracelet provoked some important thinking on my part. Feel free to leave a comment below and/or share this post on Facebook or other social media.

THREE TAKEAWAYS FROM THE CROSS

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As we come to Good Friday and think about the cross, I want to share three truths about ourselves, about God and about Jesus from one of my favorite authors: John Stott.

“First, our sin must be extremely horrible. Nothing reveals the gravity of sin like the cross. For ultimately what sent Christ there was neither the greed of Judas, nor the envy of the priests, nor the vacillating cowardice of Pilate, but our own greed, envy, cowardice and other sins, and Christ’s resolve in love and mercy to bear their judgment and so put them away. It is impossible for us to face Christ’s cross with integrity and not feel ashamed of ourselves.

Secondly, God’s love must be wonderful beyond comprehension. God could quite justly have abandoned us to our fate. He could have left us alone to reap the fruit of our wrongdoing and to perish in our sins. It is what we deserved. But he did not. Because he loved us, he came after us in Christ. He pursued us even to the desolate anguish of the cross, where he bore our sin, guilt, judgment and death. It takes a hard and stony heart to remain unmoved by love like that. It is more than love. Its proper name is ‘grace’, which is love to the undeserving.

Thirdly, Christ’s salvation must be a free gift. He ‘purchased’ it for us at the high price of his own life-blood. So what is there left for us to pay? Nothing! Since he claimed that all was now ‘finished’, there is nothing for us to contribute. Not of course that we now have a license to sin and can always count on God’s forgiveness. On the contrary, the same cross of Christ, which is the ground of a free salvation, is also the most powerful incentive to a holy life.”

Taken from The Cross of Christ by John R.W. Stott, pp. 83 and 84; pub. by IVP, 1986.

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photo credit: babasteve <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/64749744@N00/25306637214″>Easter Week No. 1</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/”>(license)</a&gt;

 

 

ARE YOU TROUBLED?

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Last week in my reading through the Psalms I came to a phrase that really struck me. In the second part of Psalm 38:18 David states “I am troubled by my sin” (NIV). The Revised English Bible intensifies the thought with “I am troubled because of my sin” (italicize added).

When I first read the verse I thought I can identify with David. I won’t cite specifics, but there have been many times in my life when I have been deeply troubled by a specific sin in my life. But as I continued to consider the big picture it occurred to me that there are also a lot of sins in my life that ought to trouble me but don’t. Sins I don’t think of as big sins, but nevertheless are sins. So my question to you is, “Are you troubled by your sins?”

The purpose of the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit in Christians is sanctification. That big word refers to our becoming the kind of people God has saved us to be. To move forward in actually becoming holy we have to make progress in dealing with our sin; one of the ways the Holy Spirit helps us is to make us aware of our sins.

I believe it is the Holy Spirit who is behind our being troubled by our sin. I think it is a good thing if we are troubled by our sins and that we should be thankful. For a Christian not to be troubled by his or her sins would be a bad sign and perhaps indicative of indifference to sin.  

Two pieces of New Testament instruction for Christians about the Holy Spirit came to my mind as I dwelt on Psalm 38:18b. The first was Ephesians 4:30, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” What grieves the Holy Spirit? Since He is the Holy Spirit, and dwells in us, our sin (unholiness) grieves Him.

The second passage was I Thessalonians 5:19, “Do not quench the Spirit.” To quench has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit’s thirst, but rather has to do with extinguishing a fire. I have always thought of this command in terms of not “throwing a wet blanket” on or spurning the Spirit. While the Holy Spirit wants to help us become more and more what God wants us to be, we can ignore and reject His help. And the more we suppress His urgings the easier it will be to do so.

So I ask you again, “Are you troubled by your sins?” Are your sins grieving the Holy Spirit who lives in you and could He be involved in your being troubled? I think the answer is yes. And a clear biblical response to being troubled by our sins is given in I John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” When we acknowledge our sins and ask for forgiveness we need to believe God’s promise and move forward. Those sins should no longer trouble us. But we should still expect the Holy Spirit to trouble us about future sins.

What you think of this idea of being troubled by our sin? Leave a reply below and share these thoughts on social media if you think others would benefit.

Photo from Photopin Creative Commons license.