Tag Archives: sin

March 26
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“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23, NKJV)

Perhaps the only state worse than wrong doing is wrong being.

We need to guard against becoming comfortable with a lifestyle that is contrary to God’s will and way.  This is what the Bible calls “sin.”

Oswald Chambers eloquently describes the peril of a conscience that is no longer troubled by wrong-doing: “One of the penalties of sin is our acceptance of it.  It is not only God who punishes for sin, but sin establishes itself in the sinner and takes its toll.  No struggling or praying will enable you to stop doing certain things, and the penalty of sin is that you gradually get used to it, until you finally come to the place where you no longer even realize that it is sin.”

Stay close to God through obedience to His scriptures, and through the spiritual disciplines of prayer, meditation, and gathering with other members of the family of God for worship and fellowship.  If you persist in these things, you will develop a heart that is sensitive to what pleases God — and what does not.  This is the sure path to life, peace, and joy.  – Luther

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February 10
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Ash Wednesday

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”  (Psalm 51:10, NIV)

We frequently refer to David, who wrote Psalm 51, as “a man after God’s own heart”; but David was a world-class sinner: Lying, adultery, and murder were a few of his notorious misdeeds.

Yes, David was focused like a laser beam on pleasing God — when he wasn’t distracted, that is.  But when David found himself in the wrong, he always repented of his sin and ran the path of righteousness as one runs to make up for lost time.

By way of illustration (not by imitation), it is said that we can sin like David — if we are willing to repent like David.  David’s prayer of repentance was a plea for a clean heart; a pure heart; a heart that is unalloyed in its devotion to God.

David also prayed for a steadfast spirit.  Proverbs tells us: “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” (Proverbs 16:32)  A steadfast spirit will keep us free of many of the heartaches of life.

Today, as we remember the fact that from dust we came and to dust we shall return; redeem every day for good — and give God the glory!  – Luther

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December 7
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“So then, if we do not do the good we know we should do, we are guilty of sin.”  (James 4:17, Good News Translation)

You will not find a more simple, direct, or pure definition of sin than what is written in today’s scripture verse.

This definition does not cover all sin, but it does address what we refer to as “sins of omission”: Knowing but not doing.  Following this principle, it might also be said that we sin when we have but do not share what we have with others.

James’ letter is, I think, the most practical book in the New Testament.  It addresses the common issues of our life as disciples of Jesus, and is well worth the 15 minutes or so it would take a slow reader (like myself) to cover its five, short, chapters.  Are you up for it?

James reminds us that we need not sin.  – Luther

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