The Fatal Flaw: Sin

Another area central to the faith often overlooked is that of sin. It is of little, if any consequence to the victorious Christian, is it not? No! It is so essential that every Christian be made fully aware of the fundamentals of sin. Sin is not just a little dirt that every human being happens to gather due to our flawed human nature. Sin is our imperfect human nature, and also far more than that. The direness of sin is such that God will cast those tainted by sin into the lake of everlasting fire. Essentially, this comprised all of humanity save none. It is for this specific reason that Christ descended from His heavenly throne and suffered on the cross to spare us the horrors of His judgment.

As established in a previous article 'The Love-centric Gospel', our God is a Holy God who absolutely cannot abide in the presence of unholiness. In the eyes of God, all sin is abominable regardless of its magnitude. Before God, all of man's goodness and purity of heart are but filthy rags. The only remedy for this uncleanliness is to be washed by the blood of the Lamb. Although the judgment meted out by God as witnessed in the Old Covenant may seem harsh, but it serves to reflect the severity of sin.

As the blood of Christ was not yet spilled at that point of time, the sins of the people were usually met with swift retribution if they refused to repent. As indicated in Exodus, God threatened to leave the Israelites and allow them to enter the Promised Land without His presence due to their sinful ways. It is also important to note that God did not intend to withdraw His presence from them simply because of their sinful ways; if He accompanied them He would have consumed them in His judgment of their sins.

“Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people” Exodus 33:3

A quick study on the seven churches of Revelations addressed by Jesus Christ will reveal that five of them were rebuked by the Lord for their sinful ways. While He did acknowledge their positive aspects (except the Laodicean church), He never once permitted their good works or traits to outweigh or justify their sins. Instead, He warned them to repent immediately or face impending judgment.

The analogy of “a white paper with a small blot is still clean on the overall” and its variations that have been making inroads in churches border on heresy. It may appeal to human logic, but it is precisely that; fallen earthly wisdom. Rather, know that His righteousness will immediately consume any impurities before Him! Under the Old Covenant, physical purity was an absolute necessity for anyone seeking God, be it the priesthood or layman. The seemingly stringent rules as found in the Mosaic Law only serve to reflect God’s abhorrence towards sin; the Law handed down to Moses was intended to keep the people away from impurities.

On the other hand, the blood of the Lamb of God represents the ultimate triumph over sin. Where the Law failed, the blood of the Lamb redeemed. Nevertheless, the transition from the Old to the New Covenant in no way indicates that God’s nature has changed. He is still a Holy and Righteous God and His revulsion against sin remains unchanged. It is for this specific reason that we have to be covered by the blood of the Lamb prior to entry into heaven. The Lamb of God is the perfect sacrifice which has turned away the Father’s wrath and instead brought abounding grace. Even so, the grace of God should never be abused as underlined by the apostle Paul. Abusing God’s grace reflects one’s lack of true repentance.

Yet another reality blurred among Christians is the watering down of God's judgment. The belief among Christians that sin is little more than a moral imperfection found in every human being does little to reflect its severity. In truth, sin is a direct rebellion against the Almighty. However, most Christians who are far too coddled by a love-centered gospel find it hard to reconcile the concept of judgment and hell with a loving and righteous God. This erroneous view arises because people are for the most part unaware of the severity of sin in God's eyes and God's Holy nature.

The grace that His sacrifice brought around is no excuse to view sin as a minor problem! In fact, many Christians have been deceived into assuming that a little sin is perfectly fine. Even the “little” sins are not to be overlooked for the apostle Paul likens sin to leaven. It does not take much leaven to affect the entire loaf and similarly even the most “insignificant” of sins can wreck havoc in your life, both physically and spiritually. It will leave the Christian in a defeated and wretched state of existence if left unchecked.

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 1 John 3:4

Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. 1 Corinthians 5:6,7

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. James 1:14,15

Abstain from every form of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:22

It is at this point where the love of God steps in. Standing before Him, all of us are like filthy and diseased degenerates, from the most hardened of criminals to the purest of hearts. Why then would a Holy God of Righteousness tolerate the persistent presence of filth? The answer is love; instead of consigning the whole world to a fiery death He chose instead to send His only Son to suffer and die for the sins of the world. This is the beauty of salvation, that God redeemed mankind from sin and restored to them the glory lost when Adam fell. Christians ought to celebrate this ‘agape’ love, not the sort of vague ‘celestial lover’ romantic love that churches so often preach nowadays.

The true gospel of Christ preaches that which people NEED to hear, not stuff that they WANT to hear. The real intent of the gospel is to convict people of their sinful nature and bring them to repentance. The Gospel of Christ ultimately reconciles man to God. If you feel the stirring of warm and cuddly feelings upon receiving the gospel instead of sheer conviction, you must be either sinless or rejoicing at His abundant love for others or are receiving a false gospel. Since the former is pretty unlikely unless you happen to go by the name of Jesus Christ, then you are simply having your itching ears tickled by a perverted gospel.

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Acts 2:37-40

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Luke 3:7-9

A few side questions to ponder on; is it possible that an altar call, issued at the end of an adrenaline-laced and blood curdling screaming “Christian” concert (and other such entertainment gimmicks), is capable of informing people of the severity of sin? With hearts pumping wildly from all the hype, is there sufficient somberness in their hearts to be convicted of their sinful nature? Likewise, would you consider an admission of repentance elicited from someone in the midst of a drunken stupor as genuine?