John MacArthur has said, “The mark of a true believer is a desire to know and obey God’s Word.” I agree with that completely. I would add another hallmark of a genuine believer is that not only does the sin of the world grieve them, but that their own sin absolutely disgusts them. Do you hate sin, or is it something you begrudgingly tolerate?
Your answer says much about your relationship with Christ. We know God hates sin (Proverbs 6:16-19) and if we believe Jesus is the Lord that He is, then we must spend our days becoming as much like God as possible. He is our creator. He is our judge. If we love Him, we will hate what he hates.
One way I know I am continuing to grow spiritually is by my reaction when I sin. No longer is sin an “Oops, forgive me Jesus” experience. Every time I sin is now a gut-wrenching moment of despair. It evokes a guttural growl of frustration from somewhere deep in my soul. To know I have not only fallen short of the standard Christ set for me, but that I have engaged in thoughts, words, or deeds that are infinitely vile to my King is crushing to my soul. How can I do that to the one whom I not only love most, but who loves me more than I can ever imagine?
Jesus took the sin of the world onto Himself, all the sins of history and all the sins yet to be committed, and covered them with the literal blood of His holy body. He humbled Himself to insult, ridicule, torture, and ultimately to death, and He did it all for me and for you. How dare we make light of the sacrifice of our King by thumbing our nose at Him and going our own way? Every sin is an enormous affront to the God of glory. That’s every sin you and I commit. Every time we sin, we declare God is not who He says He is. We declare our way is better than the perfect life He plans for us. How dare we? Who do we think we are?
Sin shouldn’t just bother you; it should destroy you. It is never acceptable, and you cannot rationalize or make excuses for it. Every single sin condemns us to death. Our only hope is the forgiveness of the very one we sin against. That should strike a holy fear into each of us.
Do you hate sin? If sinning doesn’t drive you to your knees with your face buried in your hands, then you have yet to understand what loving and serving the holy God means. If you have embraced the fact Jesus is the Lord of your life, then sin must become more and more rare for you. When you slip, it should generate an unqualified horror in your mind. If it doesn’t, you need to ask God why it doesn’t. You need to evaluate if you truly love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:28-30). We know God hates sin and commands us to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). We also know if we love Him, we will obey His commands (John 14:15). So, I ask once more, do you hate sin?