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“Speaking Out Against
Sin”
by Marilyn LaStrape
What is sin? Sin is to pass beyond the limits set by God, to
miss the mark, to cross a boundary, to be guilty of hostility
toward God. “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and
sin is lawlessness.” (I John. 3:4 NKJV) Lawlessness is the
deliberate defiance of the known will of God. Sin is the
rejection of the law, or will of God and the substitution of the
will of self. “To him that knows to do good and does not do it,
to him it is sin.” (James 4:17)
In Matthew 14:1-12, we have the account of the murder of John
the Baptist. Why was he murdered? John had spoken out against
the sin of adultery. “For Herod had laid hold of John and bound
him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother
Philip’s wife. For John had said it is not lawful for you to
have her.” (vs. 3-4) Do folks become our enemies because we
tell them the truth? Paul asked the church that question in
Galatians 4:16.
John had definitely become Herod’s enemy when he told him the
truth. When Herod’s birthday was celebrated, he told the
daughter of Herodias that she could have whatever she asked
because she had danced before them and pleased them. Her mother
took advantage of the opportunity, and told her to ask for
John’s head on a platter, and John was beheaded in prison.
John the Baptist had a clear understanding of His God and he was
not concerned with marketing strategies, being user friendly,
being politically correct, or culturally diverse. He did not
have any thoughts running through his mind like, (to borrow a
phrase from one of our preachers in the brotherhood), “I really
do want to tell Herod about this adulterous situation he’s in,
how do I make this sound like good news? Maybe I’ll tell him
about alternative lifestyles.” John spoke out against sin
with boldness, conviction, and no hesitation!
Jesus had the same “problem” that John had -- the whole time He
was here. Somebody was always trying to tell Him how He had
offended the elders, and scribes, and Pharisees when He spoke
out against sin. In Matthew chapter 23, He takes the hide off
these very folks as He spoke very directly to them about their
pride, their arrogance, their self-righteousness, their
hypocrisy, their being judgmental, and their legalistic attitude
toward others. After calling them serpents and a brood of
vipers, He asked them this most penetrating question: “How
can you escape the condemnation of hell?” Is that direct
enough? Our Lord always spoke out against sin with
boldness, conviction, and no hesitation!
In Galatians 1:11-21, Paul withstands Peter “to his face for he
was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he
would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and
separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.”
The Bible says, “And the rest of the Jews also played the
hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with
their hypocrisy.” Then Paul said, “But when I saw that they
were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said
to Peter before them all, if you, being a Jew, live in the
manner of Gentiles and not as Jews, why do you compel Gentiles
to live as Jews?” Do we have that kind of spiritual backbone –
to withstand a brother or sister to their face? Paul faced
Peter, Barnabas, and the rest of the Jews because they all were
playing the hypocrite. This definition is not in Webster, but
it surely fits this situation -- a hypocrite is a person
pretending to be something that he has no intentions of ever
becoming! Paul spoke out against sin with boldness,
conviction, and no hesitation!
We must as faithful followers of Christ must speak out against
sin that has begun to manifest itself in the church in ways now
that were the exceptions in years gone by. In some parts of the
country and in some congregations, virtually anything,
everything, and everybody is tolerated. Following are a few
examples of this ungodly behavior of people in the world that
some members of the church have begun to embrace.
LIVING TOGETHER – People in the world say, “Our relationship is
purely platonic.” “I’m just trying to pay my rent.”
Where in the Bible does it say that it’s alright to live with
somebody for these two so-called reasons or a thousand others
just like them? What has happened when these so-called platonic
relationships end up producing babies? The Bible says, “Marriage
is honorable among all and the bed undefiled, but fornicators
and adulterers God will judge.” (Hebrews 13:4)
HAVING BABIES OUT OF WEDLOCK – People in the world say, “It’s
alright to have a baby if you want to have a baby, and you can
afford to have a baby, you don’t need to get married if you
don’t want to.” Where is the scriptural reference for that?
The Bible says, “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man
does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality
sins against his own body.” (I Corinthians 6:18)
LYING & CURSING – People in the world say, “It all depends on
the situation you are in.” Where is the Biblical validation for
that? The Bible says, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out
of your mouth, but only what is good for necessary edification,
that it may impart grace to the hearers.” (Ephesians 4:29) What
would happen in the church if everybody started obeying that
command?
STEALING & CHEATING - People in the world say, “It’s alright to
cheat on your income taxes, the government takes too much of my
money anyway.” People in the world say, “It’s alright to come
to work late and leave early, and fix your timesheet to show
that you worked an 8-hour day -- you are not getting paid enough
anyway!” What version of the Bible are we reading that allows
that? The Bible says, “Let him who stole steal no longer,
but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good,
that he may have something to give him who has need.”
(Ephesians 4:28) Our service on the job is “not with eye
service, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the
will of God from the heart, with good will doing service, as to
the Lord, and not to men.” (Ephesians 6:6)
INDECENT DRESS –People in the world say, “It looks good, it’s
comfortable, I like it, it was on sale and I couldn’t pass it
up, I know it’s too small, but I will lose the extra pounds,”
and on and on we go! What interpretation of scripture is that?
The biggest lies told are the ones that we tell ourselves.
Self-deception is the worst kind of deception because nobody can
tell us anything! Immodesty is anything that unduly reveals the
figure of the wearer – if it’s too tight, too short, too low
cut, too high cut, or too thin the word of Christ is not
dwelling in that woman richly! The Bible says, “In like manner
also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with
propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or
pearls or costly clothing, but which is proper for women
professing godliness, with good works. (I Timothy 2:9-10)
These and
hundreds of other worldly practices are a violation of the will
of God for our lives because the church is the bride of Christ.
We need to understand that we can either accept or reject God’s
word on these subjects or any others that scripture addresses,
but there is no changing of that Word. Sin that we thought was
supposed to have been a delightful servant turns out to be a
horrifying master! How is it that we understand Acts 2:38 as an
imperative command, but somehow, some of these other scriptural
references do not carry as much authority? When we say, “I know
that’s what God’s word says, but don’t you think…” When we say
“I know what God’s word says,” we are exactly where God
wants us to be, everything from “but don’t you think…,”
takes us away from God’s will for our lives!
Have we been
born of God? If we have, then this is the promise: “We know
that whoever is born of God does not sin, but he who has been
born of God guards himself and the wicked one does not touch
him.” (I John. 5:18)
This article is copyrighted by the author. All Rights Reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted without permission of the author.
©Copyright 2003
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