Respones to Sin CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
If we can disclose your typical responses to sin, we may be able to shed enough light on it to help you break some of the bad habits you have. We’re going to look at what you do when you sin:
You Hide Yourself – Gen 3:6-10 – “he that covereth his sins shall not prosper,” [Prov 28:13] – you’ll hide when you first commit certain sins and then you’ll hide and pretend that you didn’t.
You Excuse Yourself – Gen 3:11-13 – you’ll admit that you did something but you will blame someone else or something else for it – people commonly excuse their sins by saying things like:
- I didn’t know [God’s ready for that one Rom 1:18-21]
- I can’t help it
- Everyone else is doing it
- God won’t deliver me from it [so it’s his fault]
- I didn’t mean to
You Justify Yourself – Job 32:1-2; 35:2 – you reason that you are justified in doing what you’ve done – you’ll say things like:
- There’s nothing wrong with me or with what I’m doing
- Who are you to tell me that what I’m doing is wrong
- You think I’m bad; you ought to see what he’s doing
You Deceive Yourself – 1 Jn 1:8 – you’ll admit to yourself that there’s no use fighting this sin; you’re just going to have to live with it – or you’ll go like the rest of modern Christianity and think, “God loves me and doesn’t mind what I’m doing – some will even go totally doctrinal and think, “I’m already righteous and I’m already forgiven so there’s no need to do anything about this sin because it is already done at Calvary.”
You Sacrifice for Yourself – Ps 4:4-5 – it’s kind of like penance, the habit we got into in Catholicism, confession on Saturday, Eucharist on Sunday, and business as usual on Monday – sacrifices don’t make you righteous – you are righteous and then you offer sacrifices – look at Jesus; compare Abel and Cain [Heb 11:4; 1 Jn 3:12] – compare Saul [1 Sam 15:22-23] and David [Ps 51:17-19] – look at Christians [Heb 13:15-16; 1 Pet 2:5] – so for you to do some sort of “make-up” deed for Christ to relieve your conscience until you commit that sin again is not working – Heb 10:10-14 is all that God will accept – he doesn’t want your sacrifice so that you can feel righteous; he wants your obedience.
Conclusion: You Need to Confess and Forsake Them – Prov 28:13 – to confess your sins is to admit HONESTLY before the Lord that you sinned and then you are, by God’s blood, grace, fear and love, to forsake your sin. Quit those merry-go-round habits you do and respond God’s way!