The Vile Experience of Sin
“Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
James 1:15 (NIV)
It’s difficult to explain to the inexperienced how ugly sin is. From the perspective of a first year university student, getting drunk is a lot of fun. Compare that point of view to an alcoholic who has ruined their life with drink, and it becomes clear how experience plays a major role in our lives.
Find someone cheating on their marriage partner and you’ll see someone oblivious to everything except their own desires. Visit them later in life, and you’ll find someone absorbed in regret at what they did to their spouse and children.
Sin is remarkably alluring to anyone who seeks it for themselves. The tragedy is that committing sin is like starting to do drugs. There’s euphoria for a time, but soon the drug will destroy your life. It’s the same with sin.
Jesus denounced three categories of sin in particular—the sin of the publican (which was sensuality), the sin of the Sadducee (which was pride), and the sin of the Pharisee (which was hypocrisy).
Jesus reserved His most vigorous denunciations for the sin of hypocrisy.
Jesus certainly spoke of other sins such as covetousness—when he called the man a fool who built up a fortune in assets and ignored God (Luke 12:16-21). He also referred to the deceitfulness of riches in Matthew 13:22 when He said, “… the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.” (NIV)
Jesus wants a people who will serve Him from the heart. He said of His generation in Matthew 15:8, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain.” (NIV)
It’s only when our hearts match our speech that we worship acceptably.
We need to examine ourselves to see if we have an open (or secret) longing for the beauties and promises of sin. The seed of sin promises all kinds of fruit, but when full grown it’s the angel of eternal death. It’s remarkably deceptive and we should always be on guard against it. We must not allow ourselves to be enticed into its trap.
“I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.“ (Psalm 101:3 NIV)
Living a life pleasing to God can (at first) be unattractive. The thought of self-denial makes many indifferent to Jesus. We’re taught (in our selfish society) to put ourselves first and all else second.
Anything we place above God is an act of sin. God will have first place in our lives or no place. Look at your own life and consider whether the Creator is with you or not. What do you find attractive? Is it possible you’re deceived?