Respectable Sins: Ch 3. The Malignancy of Sin

“The very word, sin, which seems to have disappeared, was once a proud word. It was once a strong word, an ominous and serious word … But the word went away. It has almost disappeared – the word, along with the notion. Why? Doesn’t anyone sin anymore? Doesn’t anyone believe in sin?” 

– Karl Menniger

  

Cancer is a dreaded word that none of us like to hear. Another term used for cancer is malignancy which medically describes a “tumor of potentially unlimited growth that expands locally into adjoining tissue by invasion and systemically by metastasizing into other areas of the body”. Sin is cancer. It is a spiritual and moral malignancy. Some forms of cancer grow undetected until they reach a terminal stage and likewise sin – especially the “acceptable” sins – can exist in our lives, undetected and dangerous.  

The acceptable sins - such as complaining, gossiping, impatience– are deceiving. These sins are subtle and have me thinking they aren’t so bad or even worse, not sins at all.  This leads me to live in unconscious denial of these sins!

The reality is I don’t live in a spiritual island. What I do and how I act affects my life and the people around me therefore...

Tolerating acceptable sins is as dangerous as to tolerate cancer in my body!

Now the question is, how does MY sin affect God?

Sin grieves God's heart. I'm not just rebelling against God's sovereign authority -  I'm going against my heavenly father.  When I sin, I'm not only turning my back on God's law but God himself!

"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were slated for the day of redemption." 

- Ephesians 4:30

Yet, we still do it right in front of Him.

"O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 

You know when I sit down and when I rise up; 

you discern my thoughts from afar. 

You search out my path and my lying down 

and are acquainted with all my ways. 

Even before a word is on my tongue, 

behold, O Lord, you know it altogether." 

- Psalm 139:1-4

"Even before a word is on my tongue..." God knows what I am going to saw before I even say it.  He knows my every sinful and evil deed before I commit it. Yet, I still do it right in front of Him. 

I know that my sins are forgiven because of the blood Christ shed on Calvary. That doesn't mean I should presume on God's grace and tolerate my sinful habits. That very sin that I tolerate is the sin that nailed Christ to the cross. God does not tolerate such sin.

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the inquiry of us all."

 - Isaiah 53:6

I don't know about you but I want to fall on my knees before God in repentance over the sins that I so effortlessly tolerate in my life. I'm excited to dig deeper into this study and learn the remedy for sin.