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Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
July 30, 2012

“Has Sin been Removed from the Dictionary?”
“Hunger is no excuse for a thief to steal; When he's caught he has to pay it back, even if he has to put his whole house in hock.” – Proverbs 6:30, 31 (MSG)

Retribution: “Requital,” “Repayment,” “Recompense,” “Payback,” and the list goes on. There is of course the literal understanding of this—if you are caught stealing there is a punishment to be experienced for that—at least that is what the law says should happen. Without trying to sound too cynical here I think we have all seen that in our current justice system there a “Loopholes” that often prevent this from happening.
Beginning with verse twenty of this chapter and up to this verse, the jest of Solomon’s warnings has been to pay attention to proper instruction—holding fast to what is right, moral and good so that we would not be lured away by the “apparent beauty” of that which is not good, right and moral. In fact can we call it what it is—SIN? There…I’ve said it! The word we so often hate to hear and the one that is the largest gulf between who we are and who God is! Over thirty years ago, psychiatrist Karl Menninger penned the following words in his book Whatever Became of Sin?: "The very word, 'sin,' which seems to have disappeared, was once a proud word. It was once a strong word, an ominous and serious word. But the word went away. It has almost disappeared - the word, along with the notion. Why? Doesn't anyone sin anymore? Doesn't anyone believe in sin?" What was true then—is even more the case today. D.A. Carson, a widely recognized N.T. scholar commented a few years ago that the most frustrating part of doing evangelism on university campuses is that most students have no idea of sin. "They know how to sin well enough, but they have no idea of what constitutes sin."
Carson is right. Sin is rampant today. Couples live together prior to marriage and think nothing of it. People spread gossip without any remorse. Employees call in sick and then head to the beach for the day. I could go on, citing more examples, but I think you see my point. People know how to sin, but they do not know what sin is all about. Unfortunately, this lack of understanding about sin is having an impact upon the church. Christians today tolerate sin much more than a generation ago. In fact, there are a number of sins that we seem to gloss right over. Sure we know homosexuality is a sin and abortion is a sin - but what about envy? Gossip? Impatience? Aren't these sins as well?
Christian author Jerry Bridges recently came out with a book a few year ago which is titled, Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We tolerate. In one of his opening chapters, he states: "We see that the entire concept of sin has virtually disappeared from our American culture at large and has been softened, even within many of our churches, to accommodate modern sensibilities. Indeed, strong biblical words for sin have been excised from our vocabulary. People no longer commit adultery; they have an affair. Corporate executives do not steal; they commit fraud." Ouch!!
Since we have eliminated sin we have also eliminated the need for…are you ready for this…retribution! Think about it…if there is no sin there is no need to suffer the consequences of it. When people suffer from sinful decisions they have made instead of claiming responsibility for their actions and ask forgiveness from God and those they have committed their sins against, they turn to blame—search for excuses—or go on the Jerry Springer show and have their sins paraded as a badge of pride!
As I have stated before—there is a huge difference between sins and mistakes. We all make mistakes and things happen that are often out of our control! We make decisions that produce actions that may cause others to suffer—decisions and actions that were never intended to do that: meaning, causing others to hurt or violate God’s Law. But sin is real—but the good news is it does not have to linger in our lives. Allow me to conclude with a great verse of Scripture from the book of First John:

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.” – 1st John 1:8-10 (NIV)
Pastor J. T. Carnell
Posted to Religious by @ 3:14 pm EDT

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