Tag: sin

Featured

October 11 2023 – Hebrews 3 – The Danger of a Hardened Heart

Reading through the Bible, we see many warnings about wandering from the faith. They are in both the Old and New Testaments. In Hebrews 3, we see a warning about wandering from the faith from the Old Testament example of the Israelites that were led through the wilderness for forty years.

Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, And saw My works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with this generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they did not know My ways’; As I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ” Hebrews3:7–11NASB1995

I have said on many occasions that allowing sin to remain in our lives is dangerous. The Holy Spirit continually shows us the sin in our lives that is separating us from God. We either deal with the sin and continue in right relation with God or we choose to keep the sin and ignore the Holy Spirit. That is how we harden our hearts against God.

It is a slippery slope when we choose not to deal with sin because it allows other sins to take root in our lives. Once this begins to happen, we accelerate the hardening of our heart against God. It becomes more and more difficult to hear God speaking to us. This puts us in a dangerous condition where we can actually deny our faith in God.

The author of Hebrews gives us clear warning and we would do well to, not only listen but examine our lives to see if we are cherishing sin over God.

“Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end…” Hebrews3:12–14NASB1995

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for the incredible sacrifice you made to make me right with God! Help me to listen to your Spirit and continually confess and turn from sins that harden my heart against you. Amen.

January 30 2023 – Hebrews 7 – Atonement for Our Sins

I am no expert on Old Testament law, but as I understand the instructions in Leviticus, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest was to go before God and first make sacrifices for his own sins, then make sacrifices for the people. Unless you had a special need to go before God, (and there were lots of special needs… vows, to prove you had been cleansed for a skin issue, etc.) you were okay with God. However, that was a perpetual, year after year event. Every year sacrifices had to be made on the Day of Atonement to remove the sins of the High Priest and the people of Israel.

The concept of resurrection from the dead wasn’t as completely developed in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament. The Israelites were having their sins removed on the Day of Atonement so they could be right with God in the here and now without much thought for the afterlife. In the New Testament the reality of resurrection is realized. We understand that sin needs to be atoned for so that we are right with God in the here and now and in the world to come.

In Hebrews 7, Jesus, as our great High Priest is being compared to those priests in the Old Testament sacrificial system. There needed to be many of them because they sacrificed every day, year after year, and eventually they all died out. “The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews7:23–25NASB1995  Because Jesus lives forever, he is able to save forever all who put their faith in him.

The Old Testament sacrificial system, was an imperfect foreshadowing of the perfect that was to come. “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.” Hebrews7:26–27NASB1995  Jesus died to do away with, sin “once for all when He offered up Himself.”

Our sins… past, present, and future… have been completely atoned for thanks to our great, High Priest, Jesus our Christ!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your perfect Son to save me from the curse and penalty of sin. Thank you that Jesus’ perfect work of atonement covers all my sin and saves me forever. Help me to share this good news with those still trying to atone for their own sins. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

January 3, 2023 – Leviticus 5, – Unintentional Sin

Leviticus 4, Matthew 4, 1 Thessalonians 2

We all sin. Sometimes we do that intentionally. We think about it. We know full well the thing we have committed ourselves to do and are doing is a sin, yet we do it anyway.

There are other times when we sin unintentionally. We didn’t plan to. We didn’t think about it. Without even realizing it, we sin.

In reading Leviticus 5, we realize several things. First, everyone sins unintentionally. Second, although we didn’t mean to do this or that, unintentional sin is still serious. It can hurt you, others, or your relationship with God. Lastly, unintentional sin, even though it was unintentional, still needs to be recognized and repented of. “…when anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned.” Leviticus5:5NIV

Even though we all sin, and sometimes unintentionally,  we cannot take sin lightly. We cannot make excuses for it and ignore it. When we realize what has happened, we have to recognize it and repent of it.

Prayer:

Lord, Thank you for the blood of Jesus that covers my sin! Help me to be careful not to sin, and when I realize that I have sinned, help me to confess and repent of it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

December 13, 2022 – Exodus 24 – Confirmed With Blood

Exodus 24, John 5, Galatians 1

There are some churches these days that deemphasize the blood of Jesus. They don’t want to offend people with songs like Nothing But the Blood and the Old Rugged Cross. They believe that most people don’t understand about those things and so those churches are afraid blood talk will run them off. Sometimes, even well seasoned Christians wonder why Jesus had to shed blood to redeem us.

Just because we don’t understand something, doesn‘t mean we can discount it. There are many things in Scripture that we don’t understand and that is inevitable because we are finite and God is infinite. We cannot completely understand God because of our human limitations.

In Exodus 24, Moses is ratifying the covenant between God and the people. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Exodus24:7–8NIV

There is no in-depth explanation in the Old Testament as to why God required blood to ratify a covenant. If you want to look at another example of a blood covenant, check out the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 15.

In the New Testament we hear these words of Jesus as he gathered to celebrate the Passover with his disciples. While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew26:26–28NIV

Covenants ratified by blood were serious. We don’t completely understand why God required blood, but we do know one thing from the example of the covenants God made with the Israelites in Exodus 24, with Abraham in Genesis 15, and in all of his other covenants. God is faithful and keeps the promises he makes in his covenants. That is Good News for us! Our sins, though many, were forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ that was poured out for us!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, there are many things about the faith that I do not understand, but I am thankful to know one thing for sure! The blood of Jesus washed away all of my sins. Thank you Jesus for shedding your blood to ransom and redeem a sinner like me! Amen.

November 11, 2022 – Each of Us Will Give an Accounting to God

Genesis 42, Mark 14, Romans 14

In Romans 14, the Apostle Paul must be addressing questions about dietary restrictions and the observance of special days. He says the Romans should be careful, whether they eat or don’t eat certain things, not to judge one another. The same is true about special days. Whether they observe them or not, don’t judge one another. He also says, not to do anything to cause a brother or sister to stumble.

The idea or command, if you take Jesus saying in Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” as a command is prevalent throughout the Bible. Paul spends some time exploring it with the Romans. “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.” Romans14:4NIV We are not responsible for someone else’s actions or what we would deem sinful. Paul wants the Romans to understand that everyone will answer to God one day.

“You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’ ” So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.” Romans14:10–12NIV

I can still hear my mother or a teacher saying to me when I tattled on my brother or someone else, “you worry about yourself, I will worry about them.” We need to be concerned about our own lives and our pursuit of holiness. We will answer to God for how well we did. However, we will not be asked to answer for others. Therefore, we should be concerned about our sins, and let God be concerned with theirs’.

Paul also says, “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.” Romans14:13NIV  I have always understood this to mean not to eat if you were around a non eater or vice versa. In light of all he is saying about judging others, maybe our judgmental attitudes also become stumbling blocks for others. Maybe if we were less concerned about what we perceive to be the sins of others, fewer people would be labeling us Christians as hypocrites.

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for your Spirit that is at work in me to help me recognize my own sinfulness as I pursue holiness. Help me to become Christlike and holy. Lord, help me to be careful not to become a stumbling block to the faith of another with a caustic, judgmental attitude. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

October 30, 2022 – Your Sins Are Forgiven

Genesis 30, Mark 2, Romans 2

In Mark chapter 2 some friends take a paralyzed man to Jesus. There was a huge crowd gathered around the house were Jesus was, so the men couldn’t get their friend to him. These guys were problem solvers. They didn’t let the massive crowd stop them. They went up on the roof and dug a hole to lower the man down in front of Jesus. It impressed him.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Mark2:5NIV That statement, of course, caused a stir with the religious leaders. Jesus verified his authority to forgive sins by healing the man. The crowd was amazed and everyone praised God.

What is interesting to consider, is Jesus’ statement “Son, your sins are forgiven.” What did Jesus mean by that? Your sins against God are forgiven? Your sins against anyone up to that point are forgiven? I think Jesus meant something far more comprehensive than that.

I believe Jesus meant he was doing away with sin with his death on the cross, so he could forgive everyone’s sins. Jesus could have been meaning all sins because in Psalms 51:4 it says all sins are against God.“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.” Therefore, as God incarnate, Jesus sacrificial death, covered all sins, because all sin is against God.

However, he could have just meant that his death on the cross was going to cover all sins against God and all the sins we commit against each other. Either way, I believe Jesus meant all of the man’s sins were forgiven… past, present, future… those against God, and against his fellow man.

Consider this warning in the Gospel of Matthew from Jesus, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew6:14–15NIV

I believe Jesus’ death on the cross gave him the authority to forgive all sins, ours against God and ours against each other. Maybe God won’t forgive us when we won’t forgive others because our refusal to forgive others is really a refusal to see Christ’s full offering for all sins.

Others don’t have to pay for their sins against you, because Christ died once for all. See Christ’s full offering for sin. Forgive others so God will forgive you!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank you for coming at just the right time to pay the price for all sin! Help me to embrace the complete work you did on the cross in forgiving my sins, and all the sins of every person in the world. Lord, help me to remember that others don’t have to do anything for me to forgive them because your death also covered their sins against me. Amen.