What is sin? What comes to your mind? Would you call yourself a sinner? If so, could you name three specific sins you committed today? Are there sinful actions or attitudes in your life recently? While many believe sin exists and would reluctantly acknowledge that we sin we are often slow to list the specific sins we are struggling with at the moment. Let’s ask another question and that is why do we struggle with sin?
In Psalm 32, David uses three words to describe his offense against God. He calls it transgression, sin and iniquity. Remember the psalms are poems and a poet is very intentional in word choice. David is not trying to avoid a redundant use of the word sin as he uses these three different words. He is trying to teach us a lesson.
The word transgression has a meaning of rebellion. It is open, undefiled rebellion against God. David simply did not want to obey God. He rejected God’s authority, command and leadership in his life and chose lust, adultery and murder instead.
The word sin has a meaning of disobeying the law of God. David was a student of God’s Word and he knew the commands of God. Yet, in his sinfulness he disregarded those commands and chose to do what he pleased. His desires became his law.
The final word, iniquity, has a sense of knowing deep down what is right and doing the opposite. We might understand this by thinking of times we went against our own common sense. God has stamped certain laws in the human heart and there is a universal understanding that certain actions are simply wrong. Ultimately, we disobey God when we reject these things we know to be right.
So what is sin? It is rebellion against God, rejecting what He commands and doing what we please. In essence, it is making us the god of our lives. We want to be king, lord and ruler. Sin is how we carry this out.
But there is hope. God promises forgiveness to those that seek it. Psalm 32 is not about sin only. It is also about forgiveness and the joy of obedience. David says the burdening weight of his disobedience was lifted off of him when he repented. He says God replaced it with comfort and rest. Not only those, but freedom from guilt and shame as well. Want to know this hope and peace? Surrender your rebellion, embrace Christ and find the rest He freely gives.
Showing posts with label Sin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sin. Show all posts
Monday, August 16, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
What Kind of Planner Are You?
James 4:13-17 (ESV)
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
From this short passage, John MacArthur pulls out three points in his commentary on the book of James. He says we see people that ignore God’s will, deny God’s will and disobey God’s will. Those are interesting thoughts because we can all find ourselves in there somewhere. This passage is about business plans, but rest assured you're in there. Across the full span of our lives, we're all in there somewhere.
Are You Ignoring God’s Will?
How often are we guilty of making our plans without consulting God’s Word or even thinking them through this with Godly people we know? It seems that many times people don’t look for God’s help until they are in such deep trouble they are sinking fast. Sometimes we are in so deep that it is too late to escape the consequences of these poor choices. Put simply, it is our arrogance that causes us to live this way.
Are You Denying God’s Will?
Everything we do in life is done intentionally. Whether it is the building of a family business or being lazy and doing nothing, all of our actions require thought and decision. When we deny God’s will it is the act of not only ignoring God’s will, but of us believing there is a better way. And that better way, at least in theory, usually ends up being our way. Parents get upset when children transform a simple project into a hazardous disaster because they didn’t seek guidance. How many disasters have we created in our lives because we thought we knew best and were too arrogant to seek God’s help?
Are You Disobeying God’s Will?
The passage ends with a third option. It speaks to those that have studied and researched what God would have them do in a situation and they simply choose not to do it. Unfortunately, we all have been guilty of this. In a given day there are probably several things that we know are the right things to do and we don’t do it. There a thousand reasons and excuses for this behavior ranging from the task being too hard to me being too tired. Regardless, the Bible says that when we know God’s will and how we should act, when we fail to do so we sin.
Instead, You Ought To…
So, what do you do? How do you right these wrongs? James says, “Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” We should submit our plans to the Lord. We should ask for His help and guidance and we should study His Word to see if our plans will help us live lives that please Him. Are the choices we are considering consistent with God’s Word? What is the ultimate focus of our decisions? Do we desire to honor God, to help others or to exalt ourselves? Through studying God’s Word and spending time in prayer we will come to know our motives. But knowing isn’t enough. We must act faithfully and consistently with what God shows us is right.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
From this short passage, John MacArthur pulls out three points in his commentary on the book of James. He says we see people that ignore God’s will, deny God’s will and disobey God’s will. Those are interesting thoughts because we can all find ourselves in there somewhere. This passage is about business plans, but rest assured you're in there. Across the full span of our lives, we're all in there somewhere.
Are You Ignoring God’s Will?
How often are we guilty of making our plans without consulting God’s Word or even thinking them through this with Godly people we know? It seems that many times people don’t look for God’s help until they are in such deep trouble they are sinking fast. Sometimes we are in so deep that it is too late to escape the consequences of these poor choices. Put simply, it is our arrogance that causes us to live this way.
Are You Denying God’s Will?
Everything we do in life is done intentionally. Whether it is the building of a family business or being lazy and doing nothing, all of our actions require thought and decision. When we deny God’s will it is the act of not only ignoring God’s will, but of us believing there is a better way. And that better way, at least in theory, usually ends up being our way. Parents get upset when children transform a simple project into a hazardous disaster because they didn’t seek guidance. How many disasters have we created in our lives because we thought we knew best and were too arrogant to seek God’s help?
Are You Disobeying God’s Will?
The passage ends with a third option. It speaks to those that have studied and researched what God would have them do in a situation and they simply choose not to do it. Unfortunately, we all have been guilty of this. In a given day there are probably several things that we know are the right things to do and we don’t do it. There a thousand reasons and excuses for this behavior ranging from the task being too hard to me being too tired. Regardless, the Bible says that when we know God’s will and how we should act, when we fail to do so we sin.
Instead, You Ought To…
So, what do you do? How do you right these wrongs? James says, “Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” We should submit our plans to the Lord. We should ask for His help and guidance and we should study His Word to see if our plans will help us live lives that please Him. Are the choices we are considering consistent with God’s Word? What is the ultimate focus of our decisions? Do we desire to honor God, to help others or to exalt ourselves? Through studying God’s Word and spending time in prayer we will come to know our motives. But knowing isn’t enough. We must act faithfully and consistently with what God shows us is right.
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