Sin is... Denial, Lying; First John

May the mumbling commence!

Yesterday, we underscored that sin is lawlessness.  And lawlessness is the opposite of obedience to the law of God.  The lawlessness of sin separates us from God.  We cannot abide in God when we sin.

So, if we ignore sin, then it will go away, right?  Yeah, let’s hide the sin so no one else can see it.  Then, let’s stick our heads in the sand.  Let’s live in denial.  Then we can embrace and abide in our God, right?

Not so fast!  Read from First John chapter one (from the New Jerusalem Bible):

This is what we have heard from him and are declaring to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.  If we say that we share in God's life while we are living in darkness, we are lying, because we are not living the truth.  But if we live in light, as he is in light, we have a share in another's life, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 

If we say, 'We have no sin,' we are deceiving ourselves, and truth has no place in us; if we acknowledge our sins, he is trustworthy and upright, so that he will forgive our sins and will cleanse us from all evil.  If we say, 'We have never sinned,' we make him a liar, and his word has no place in us. (Verses 5-10)

Oops!  Denial is not the way.  Denial is lying, and lying is another dimension of sin.

Sin is lawlessness.  Sin is lying…

And we can fool some of the people all the time.  We can fool all of the people some of the time.  But, we will never fool all of the people all of the time.  And we can fool ourselves much better than we would like to admit.

But remember this: You will never fool God.  God is light.  In Him, there is no darkness at all.  And God’s light will illuminate our sin even in the midst of the darkest night, thousands of miles underground or undersea.

So, do NOT deny.  Do NOT lie.  Admit where you have sinned.  Admit where we have sinned.

To admit our sinfulness is to take the first step in the healing process so that God will forgive our sins.  To admit to sin is to painfully acknowledge the wisdom of God.

To deny our sinfulness is to call God a liar.  And God’s Word will find no place to live in our lives.  There will be a perceived famine of God’s presence in our lives.

What is sin?  Sin is lawlessness and lying – lying to others, to ourselves, and to God.  Lying or denial is a futile attempt.

Let us rest in the light of God.  Let us rest in the trustworthiness and uprightness of our Lord.  There is no safer place to be.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out