| (Copyright 2022) by James McBride (United Kingdom) |
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| Some folk harbor the notion that if you are a ‘Christian’ you will never sin—a position countered by the apostle John: ‘…If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us’ (I John 1:8). The misconception may stem from the fact that when we do sin—and confess it to God, with repentance (v.9)— that sin is covered, obliterated, ‘…as far as the east is from the west’—and only by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. But how does sin arise? ‘The devil made me do it’ cry some. But what do the Scriptures tell us? ‘…out of the heart come forth reasonings, evil things, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, blasphemies. These things are the things defiling the man’ (Matthew 15:20). (Note: Jesus lists these sins in the order of the ten commandments! cf I John 3:4)) As wrote Jeremiah (ch 17:9):’…The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?’. On the other hand, the righteous person has laid up in his memory store the wholesome teachings of the Creator: ‘…The good man out of the good treasure of the heart puts forth good things. And the evil man out of the evil treasure puts forth evil things. The things which come out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and these defile the man’ (ch 12:34-35). We must choose wisely what we ‘feed’ on: ‘garbage in, garbage out’. Polluted Inheritance Every human being has inherited from Adam a moral downward tendency: ‘…the carnal [normal] mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be’ (Romans 8:7). It is the universal ‘law of entropy: ‘…lack of order or predictability; a gradual decline into disorder. Our first parents were created as perfect beings, mature and with freedom of choice—for the consequences of which they were responsible. By our inherited nature we choose our own path— with consequences: ‘…there is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death’ (Proverbs 12). As wrote the apostle Paul: ‘…the wages of sin is death’ (Romans 6:23). We have a choice: if we truly love [i.e. serve] God we will hate evil [all unrighteousness] (Psalm 97:10). Deadly Influences As Ezekiel (ch 18) points out we each have personal responsibility for our own behaviour no matter what our background. We throughout our life face differing challenges, summed up by the apostle John as ‘the world’: ‘…the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.’ (I John 2:15-56). We don’t face judgment for our back story but for what we do with what we have and are. That ‘world’ (i.e. all its inhabitants) is one that has been deceived by the Devil (Revelation 12:9). Throughout history he has manipulated mankind through ‘influencers’ who in every field of human thought have dreamed up philosophy’s contrary to the will of God—in education, entertainment, business, economics, psychology, human health and in religion. Such people are sure to be far removed from righteousness, from the perfect will of our Creator as He reveals Himself. The devil and his cohort of sinful spirits have over the millennia honed their skill to manipulate, to deceive, to bamboozle the human race. Not content with their God-appointed role of serving mankind they continue to covet the forbidden role of Sonship with the Father (Hebrews 1:5). But by actively applying God’s guidance in the Scriptures, we can avert these ‘fiery darts of the wicked one’ fired through the world and its godless influencers and institutions. Our sin stems from ‘the world, the flesh, and the devil’. How we respond is our choice. ———————————————————————————————————- See James McBride’s other articles at: McBride, James – Church of God, Bismarck (church-of-god-bismarck.org) Reprinted with permission from: The Churches of God Outreach Ministries http://www.cgom.org/ ———————————————————————————————————- |
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