Dead to Sin but Alive To God

“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life IN Jesus Christ, our Lord.” Romans 6:11-13, 23

Have you noticed what our current society does with the issue of “sin”. People don’t like to be told they are “sinning”…. It makes them feel bad, guilty, ashamed (as if that’s a bad thing). So, what is the solution? Stop the sinning? Not according to the world. Instead of following God’s rules for living, Man simply re-defines it, sugar coats it, white washes it to look like something else. We have begun a fast descent down a slippery slope in this day and age because we have moved from a plumb-line point of absolute truth to a situational rule of human mentality. Have you ever sat through a philosophy class, and the teacher asked you those silly scenarios like: “Is stealing always wrong? What if it’s a mother with a starving child? What if the person needs to steal a car so that they can drive their dying family member to the emergency room?” The motivation behind these questions is to get you to consider that perhaps “ extenuating circumstances” can justify abandoning or redefining the “law” enabling you to break the rules guilt-free, instead of helping you find a solution within God’s provision. For the mother with the starving child… how about helping them find support from a local food bank, church or government program? For the person with the need to go to the hospital, why not call 911 and get assistance through the low income family plans available at the hospital? Man’s attempt to redefine sin is actually an illustration of what sin really is- deception. If people can convince themselves that things that once were identified as “sin” really aren’t that bad or not their fault, but something else, then they can walk around participating in “sin” without the guilt or fear of consequences. Television and media promote this, the judicial system protects this, the schools “re-educate” our next generations, sadly some churches promote this… and we as Bible believing Christians sit by and find ourselves like the proverbial frog-in-the-kettle… slowly boiling our consciences to death. Do you want Examples? In our modern times, we have begun to refer to the following “sins” with new more welcoming and politically acceptable terminology:

Homosexuality- alternative lifestyle- someone is “born” that way
Alcoholism- Disease
Gambling/Lotteries- possibility to meet a financial need
Euthanasia (mercy killing)- an act of love
Abortion- a woman’s right, “Pro-Choice”
Lust- love
Pornography- art
Lying- misspeaking
Dishonesty- shrewdness
Car-theft- joy riding
Cursing/obscenity- emphatic speech/freedom of speech or expression
Murder- justified due to victim of previous atrocities

This list is endless ….. but remember, just because people attempt to conceal or redefine sin so that they don’t feel bad about continuing to live in it, it doesn’t change the fact that IT IS STILL SIN in God’s Eyes. Proverbs 28:13 says, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” It is bad enough to deny what Scripture teaches and how sin is defined according to GOD’s perspective, but if we continue to allow people to dismiss, redefine, justify and tolerate sin as not really that serious then something much more insidious is slowly taking place: the devil is slowly eroding away our faith and convincing man that there is no need for the Son of God to bear our sin and the Biblical doctrine of salvation is vanishing away even in our Christian society where social topics are being preached from the pulpit rather than the reality of an eternity in hell (a real place) separated from God forever. It started at the very beginning when God had made it clear that Adam and Eve were not to eat of the one tree in the Garden, and yet as Eve considered the fruit, the serpent contradicted God’s directive and assured her that she would not die…. AND the devil is still whispering in the ears of those who are listening: “You will not die”, after God has clearly told you that the wages of sin is death….

People of God, when are we going to wake up and realize that Sin is still Sin in God’s Eyes, no matter what our society tries to redefine it as. His Word clearly defines sin, it gives you many lists of things we are told to avoid and not allow to be within our lifestyles, our attitudes, or our homes.

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.” Colossians 3:5-6

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21

What is sin? Do we even know these days???

Sin is basically your wishes and desires over God’s, or another way to look at it is: Sin is putting yourself above all others even God. Sin is simply rebellion against God and disobedience to the laws of God. When God gave us His rules to live by, they were given to us to protect us, to help us live healthy, productive lives in fellowship with one another and with Him. Just like being a parent, we have rules for our children so that they will grow and live safely. A parent would not allow their child to play in the street because there are dangers there, cars drive there and the child is too small to understand that at first, but needs to obey that rule for his own safety and well being. If that child doesn’t want to follow the rule, and wants to chase his ball out into the street, disastrous outcomes will occur. The child needs to trust his parent to know what’s best for him. God’s laws are also like the rules for driving a car… if we didn’t have laws to govern our driving activities, there would be chaos on the streets and highways of our world, not only for us but all others on the road at the same time as us. What if people suddenly decided to ignore all the stop signs at intersections…. Or wanted to drive on the wrong side of the freeway… if you don’t think that would be a challenge, try driving in a foreign country where there are NO stop signs or signals at intersections (and people DO drive on the wrong side of the road!)…. You literally take your life into your own hands when you get behind the wheel of a car and attempt to drive anywhere in such circumstances…. The same is true with our choosing to sin…. When we decide that we know better than God what is best for our lives, and we make our own rules and ignore God’s directives…. then sooner or later, we will head into intersections with no protection or understanding of the outcome.

Brothers and sisters, we need to make a decision: Are we going to continue rebelling against the laws of God? Are we going to continue “renaming” sin so that God’s grace may abound… Paul says, “May it never be!” Are we going to believe what the world/devil says about sin, or are we going to follow God’s definition of sin? God hates sin, there are consequences to a life of sin and God makes that very clear in His Word, sin separates us from a holy God, but He has made provision for forgiveness through Jesus Christ, His only Son. When are we going to realize that our actions deeply hurt God’s heart and that we need to REPENT (turn and go a different direction)! “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9 Halleluiah, we are saved by grace, not by works, not by ourselves but only through the power of the Cross, but we have a responsibility to live a life that is pleasing unto the Lord. Let’s stop redefining sin, and start following God’s guidelines and living victoriously for Christ in ALL areas of our lives so we can be the examples to the world of what Christians should be… dead to sin, but alive to God!

Sister, Lahoma

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