Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

sin

Sin

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Almost all our sins will fall into two categories. We sin because we are trying to make ourselves equal with God, or by refusing to be who God created us to be. Either way, we spend our days in rebellion, as both forms of sin deny God is who He says He is. When we make everything about us, we place ourselves on God’s throne.

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We deny the sufficiency of Christ and fall into sin when our desires overrule our surrender and our wants become needs (James 4:1-3). This has been the story of mankind since the Garden of Eden as our pride and selfishness usurp God’s authority and drive a wedge between us and our Creator (Genesis 3:4-6; Romans 1:21-23).

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God’s Kindness

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The only reason we are not instantly obliterated is because of God’s kindness, patience, and restraint. All this is to lead us to recognize the weight of our sin and to repent of it (Romans 2:4). God wants none of us to perish, so He extends incredible mercy to us (2 Peter 3:9). Any sin against a holy God is worthy of our death (Romans 6:23). We can’t live a single day without sinning, and as a result, we must recognize that our disobedience warrants our death every single day of our lives (James 2:10).

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If not for the sacrificial death of Christ, none of us could survive. Our physical life is dependent on God’s merciful forgiveness (Lamentations 3:22-23), and our spiritual life is only possible because Jesus rose from the grave (1 Corinthians 15:17). In every way, our lives depend on God’s kindness and provision.

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We Love Sin

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Did you ever wonder why the world hates Christianity, and by extension, Christ so much? The world doesn’t care if you’re a Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu, but a Christian? That’s unacceptable. Years ago, Matthew Henry wrote, “Christ is hated because sin is loved.” Deep down, we all know that’s true. We love sin (John 3:19). Even those of us who follow Christ and reject sin know that our affection for it never goes away (Romans 7:15-20).

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Our natural desire from birth is to sin, to follow the patterns of this world, and to resist anything that would restrict our freedom to pursue sin (Ephesians 2:1-3). I’m uncomfortable with even the thought that I might love sin, and it’s difficult to write it in such a public place. But if we didn’t love sin, we would not struggle to follow the commands of God (Romans 7:21-24).

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Every Sin

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Did you ever wonder why there is such little detail given about what Jesus endured on His way to the cross (Matthew 27:27-31; Mark 15:16-20; John 19:1-3)? Hollywood productions spend a lot of time focusing on the abuse being heaped upon Jesus, but the Bible almost glosses over the torturous details. The specifics we do have should be enough to sicken any decent human being. Perhaps the reason the Spirit did not lead the Biblical writers to provide more details is that the physical pain was nothing compared to the pain of enduring the sins of the world (Isaiah 53:4-6).

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If the point of the story was the horrific murder of a good man, then I’m certain we wouldn’t still be talking about it two centuries later. But a man who willingly takes on the sin every human has ever or will ever commit to save those very sinners from eternal damnation? That’s a story worth telling over and over again (1 Peter 2:24).

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Crossing the Line

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When I was younger, I remember a popular question asked in youth groups was, “How far can I go?” How far was too far, and when were we crossing the line into sin? I think we ask the same questions as adults. When does the joke go too far? How far should we push our political agenda before it overtakes our spiritual commitment? When do movie scenes or song lyrics go too far? As married people, when does being friendly cross the line into flirtatious?

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In so many areas of our lives, it seems we are determined to push right up to the edge of sin, but back off before crossing the line. Where is that proverbial and perhaps mythical line? Is there an actual line or is it just in our heads? Finally, shouldn’t Christians be far more concerned with fleeing from temptation than with how close they can get to “the line”?

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