A Few Facts about Sin

We do well to acknowledge that all sin is equally wrong and makes us equally a child of hell. Satan would have us think some sins are not as bad as others, but that is not the case. Although some wrongs are more noticeable and make a larger negative impact than others, these sins do not make a person any more of a sinner in God’s eyes.

Anything more important to us than our connection with God is an idol. Thus, deliberately going against God’s will renders us an idolator on the same level of wrongness and damnation as the Israelites who openly worshipped Baal.

Satan will not let you acknowledge this truth if he can help it, for it is a significant handle of his. He is quite successful in getting folks to do “little” wrongs with the excuse that “At least it is not as corrupt as what some people are doing.” But that “little” sin gets folks in Satan’s grip just the same.

As long as we pursue things God disapproves of, we shall lead a restless and miserable life.

Is God not deeply hurt if we willfully sin, or know we have done wrong but choose to cover it up instead of admitting it and apologizing? And what about doing questionable things because “It might not be sin, and I would hate to refrain from it only to find out later that it would have been alright after all.”?

These actions and attitudes are like slapping God in the face and stating, “I don’t care about what you think!”. How He longs to gather these individuals as a hen gathers her chicks under its wings, but they would not.

Thankfully, God is willing to forgive us for slapping Him in the face and is eager to show us a better way.

I also want to share a point that Ravi Zacharias brings out concerning the effect of sin:

Someone has rightly said that the worst effect of sin is shown, not in suffering or in bodily defacement, but rather in “the dis-crowned faculties, the unworthy loves, the low ideals, the brutalized and the enslaved spirit.”

Think of that, phrase by phrase:

Dis-crowned faculties: all the brilliance and creative genius we have within humanity, and yet we stoop to such base pursuits.

Unworthy loves: practices we ought to despise, yet we stoop to such depraved pursuits (pornography, violence, hate, profanity).

Low ideals: we ought to set our vision for things that are noble, yet we spend time and effort on the ignoble.

The brutalized and enslaved spirit: We sink deeper and deeper into bad habits till we enslave ourselves. This is the worst form of slavery of which we so seldom speak. [i]

[i] Ravi Zacharias, The Logic of God, (p. 237). Zondervan, 2019.