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Post by Cindy on Sept 26, 2015 11:02:31 GMT -5
I'd like to share with you a couple of Bible Studies that I've done that made a huge impact on me and on my life. In fact, I guess you could say that the Lord has never quite finished doing these studies with me as I always seem to learn more about them each year and I first began the studies over 5 years ago. The two main subjects I began studying tie together and are written about all through the Bible, so you can see how important they are. These are not "quick little studies, but rather are in depth studies. The first one is "The fear of the Lord".
I began to study the subject of "The fear of the Lord" after reading “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10) and “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”(Proverbs 1:7) and finally,“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:1–6) It seemed to me that this went along with what God told Israel and us, from the very beginning: “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12–13) See what I mean? After reflecting on what the verses from proverbs said, I really felt that I didn't have much of a clue what it really meant to "fear the Lord". The more I thought about it, the more I thought that this was something that seems to have been lost many, many years ago from the church. Today, instead of the fear of God, people talk and act like God was some kind of genie that would do what they want Him to do if they ask the right way or say the right words; or like God was like their buddy and He obviously would want whatever they did to make them "happy". It's very rare these days to hear anyone talk about God as though He was the creator of everything including them, and knew so much more then the wisest man to ever live, and who was so perfectly Holy, and righteous, that it makes the very best of us look like filth. I'm not saying that God doesn't love us, He does; or that He doesn't want to be close to us, He does. That's why He sent Jesus, so we could be close to Him. But that doesn't give us the right to speak to Him or think of Him as though we were equal to Him. That's exactly what Satan wanted, and what Satan tries to get us to do and has succeeded in a great deal. Many of us have unwittingly fallen into the habit of thinking of God and speaking to Him and about Him as though He was just a regular guy that happened to have a bit more power then we do. That, I'm afraid is the opposite of "the fear of the Lord".
So the first thing I did was ask the Lord to teach me "the fear of the Lord". I asked Him that daily for over a year as I studied everything in His Word that I could find about "the fear of the Lord", "the fear of God", "reverence for God" as some bible versions translate the word "fear" in some passages as "reverence", such as Colossians 3:22, Hebrews 12:28 and Revelation 11:18. After going through all of those, I then looked for any passages that spoke about wisdom, knowledge, or discernment and included those in my study. Since the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the beginning of understanding, and the beginning of knowledge, it seems imperative that we know and understand what the fear of the Lord is, and somehow attain it. I thought about how slavery was still very much a part of the world back in that time and how the slaves would fear their masters, even those who had good masters whom they loved would still fear them for they had the power of life and death and everything in between over them. I studied the verses that spoke about slaves and masters too as I wanted to get a better handle on that relationship as well. I remembered that Paul and the other apostles often referred to themselves as bond slaves to Jesus, so I thought that would be another good avenue to study the fear of the Lord from. It also occurred to me that the Lord tells us that when we sin, we're slaves to sin and in bondage to it, that He came to free us from that. So it's not like we're choosing to have a master over us, we already did. What we chose when we were saved, was to have a different master over us. (Romans 6:16; Romans 6:6; Romans 6:18) So you can see how this study evolves as time goes by.
I can tell you that there are close to 1000 scriptures (or more) concerning this in the bible, so it's obviously something that the Lord wants us to understand and know - not just with head knowledge, but with our hearts. And that's the hard part, at least it was/is for me. I found I had to ask the Lord to help me with that. I honestly felt that as horrible as slavery is, that those who had been slaves during their lifetime, actually had a much better grasp of what it means to fear the Lord and what their relationship with Him was. I thought back to the slaves that were here in America a generations ago, and how they held on so strongly to their faith and to God's Word. Truly, they were a light in a dark time. But what happened when they became free? Not immediately of course, but as time went by, they became more and more like their old masters. They lost their light, and moved away from God's Word. Oh they still went to church, but now their churches preached about liberty and being prosperous. They invented the black liberation theology which is a horrible false teaching that mixes African mythology, ideals, and tradition with the bible, and leads many straight to hell, for it's far from the truth of God's Word. They stopped being God's slave and joined the rest of the world in trying to be His equal, or so it seems to me. (and again, I'm speaking in generalities, for obviously there are some who never turned from the Lord as He always keeps a remnant for Himself) It made me sad to think of that, but also more determined then ever to find and have the fear of the Lord for myself.
I honestly don't think anyone can have the fear of the Lord on their own. It has to come from God, just like everything does. The great thing about God is that when we want something that is totally within His Will, He loves to give it to us. Just as obviously, the fear of the Lord is something that is His Will for those He has saved to have. So when we ask Him for it, and keep asking Him, as we study about it, He will give it to us! I can honestly say that this study has quite literally changed my heart and my life, and I know it will do the same for anyone else who studies it with the Lord.
I'll have to tell you about the other study I did that had such a big impact on me tomorrow, so stay tuned!
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Post by Cindy on Sept 29, 2015 10:18:54 GMT -5
Another study that really helped me a lot was a study about sin. When I was first saved, I thought sin was quite simple and that as long as you didn't break one of the ten commandments, that you hadn't sinned. I know many people think the same way. The problem with that is that that we're taking the commandments at face value and not digging into it to see what they're really saying. I knew that even though I didn't know what my sins were, that I must still be sinning every day. I wanted to know what my sins were so I could stop doing them. I wanted to please God and knew that I couldn't do that if I was knowingly sinning against Him. So I asked the Lord to help me learn more about sin and to reveal my sins to me so I could repent. One of the first things He did was show me that there are quite a few definitions of sin in the Bible. What I'll do here is show you some of the definitions of sin from the bible, and I'll include some of my notes about sin. It's been so long now that I don't remember where I got most of the notes from, except that they came mainly from commentaries of teachers I trust. So I won't be able to say where they're from. Once you have this though, it should get you off to a very good start of learning more about sin - what it is, what it does, and how it affects us and our relationship with the Lord. All you have to do is ask for His help, open your bible and start reading wherever He leads you. (Or if you have problems knowing where to start, just choose one of the scriptures below to start with and go from there.
“But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23) So anything that we do that isn't done from faith is a sin. This one especially opened my eyes because along with others I came to finally understand why "good people" couldn't go to heaven. I knew that no one could earn their way to heaven, but still I wondered about the people who live really good lives, but don't follow Jesus. This made me understand that God is to be the center of everything we do and say, and when He's not, then no matter how good something we've done is, it's a sin.
“The schemes of folly are sin, and men detest a mocker.” (Proverbs 24:9)
Someone who constantly thinks up evil schemes sins, or rather it's a sin when we spend time thinking up evil schemes.
“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” (James 4:17)
“All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.” (1 John 5:17)
All wrongdoing, or unrighteousness is sin.
“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4)
John’s epistle defines sin as lawlessness and lawlessness is rebellion against God. When we sin, we become defiled.
It's not simply that sin reveals itself in lawless behavior but that the very essence of sin is lawlessness. No matter what his outward action may be, a sinner’s inward attitude is one of rebellion and selfishness.
“For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.”” (1 Samuel 15:23)
Failure to give complete obedience is rebellion, and this is as bad as witchcraft or idolatry.
Sin is basically a matter of the will. For us to assert our will against God’s will is rebellion & rebellion is the root of sin.
The root of sin is selfishness—“I will” and not “Thy will.” From the time of Adam and Eve, replacing God with self has been at the root of all sin.
Every sin has pride at its root, because all sin is defiance of God. What could be more prideful than saying, “I won’t follow God’s standard”?
Sin is the deeply rooted tendency in all of us to live with self as the center of our lives rather than God.“The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God.”There’s probably no better practical synonym for the concept of sin than selfishness.
Sin isn't just doing bad things but also doing good things from a self-centered motivation.
“a sin,” consists in doing, saying, thinking, or imagining, anything that is not in perfect conformity with the mind & law of God. There are sins of omission as well as commission.
An initial definition of sin is “to fail to act in accordance with the will of God.”
Idolatry is thinking anything about God that isn’t true or attempting to transform Him into something He isn’t.
Sin is a fundamental relationship; it is not wrong doing, it is wrong being, deliberate and emphatic independence of God.
An unbeliever who sins is a creature sinning against his Creator.
A Christian who sins is a child sinning against his Father.
The unbeliever sins against law; the believer sins against love. The Bible exposition commentary
“But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” (James 1:6–8)
“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:8)
being doubleminded is a sin: trusting/not trusting; believing/doubting; accepting His love/pushing Him away....etc.
Having a double mind or hardened heart is a sin. James 1:6–8 describes a doubleminded person.
DOUBLE-MINDED Words used to express a lack of purity of heart or a lack of absolute trust in God. The term literally means “of two minds or souls”. It describes one who is trusting in God while also trusting in something else, such as self or the world. James encouraged those who were lacking in wisdom to ask God. The one who asks God and doubts is described in James 1:8 as an “indecisive man”. He is one who is wavering between asking God in faith and not believing God will or can answer. He may also be one who asks God yet resorts to his own wisdom instead of that which God provides. This person is described as one who was “unstable in all his ways” indicating that his entire life was lived without a complete trust in God. Later in his letter James encouraged his readers to purify their hearts (James 4:8), because they were “double-minded people.” James was calling for these Christians to make a commitment to trust in God and His ways while denying their own ways and trusting in themselves.
HARDNESS OF HEART The action or state of resistance to and rejection of the Word and will of God. Hardness of heart can be a refusal to hear the Word of God, or it can be a refusal to submit and obey the will of God. This rejection can include both the message delivered and the messenger who delivers it. “Hardening” is a process whereby a person ceases to have a conscience about an evil action that is committed or a sinful attitude that is embodied, such as pride, godlessness, hatred, lust, etc. (Heb. 3:13; 1 Tim. 4:2). Sinful habits can produce or compound this hardened condition. Hardness of heart can eventually destroy one’s sense of sin, ruling out the possibility of repentance.
A double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (Jas. 1:8); (Ps. 119:113); A Fickleness, changing your ways (Jer. 2:36); (Amos 2:15); (Matt. 11:7; Luke 7:24); (Eph. 4:14); unstable (Gen. 49:4); (Prov. 5:6); (2 Pet. 2:14); ignorant and unstable (2 Pet. 3:16); B Without root; (Matt. 13:6; Mark 4:6); (Matt. 13:21; Mark 4:17; Luke 8:13); a house or kingdom divided against itself (Matt. 12:25; Mark 3:24; Mark 3:25); (Matt. 12:26; Mark 3:26; Luke 11:18). Doubleminded people are unstable people James 1:8 , James 4:8 and unstable people eventually fall.
synonyms: vacillating 2, halting, hesitant, hesitating, indecisive, irresolute, tentative, uncertain, undecisive, wavering, insincere, double-dealing, double-faced, doublehearted, double-tongued, hypocritical, idioms of two minds
PSALM 119:113–20 Doubleminded people are unstable people (James 1:8), and unstable people eventually fall. If you put God’s Word first in your life, it will hold you up and you will not fall (Psalm 119:116–17; 2 Pet. 3:17–18; Jude 20–25). Cultivate a holy fear of the Lord and His Word (Psalm 119:120) and you will not be ashamed of your hope (Psalm 119:116). With the Word literally, “divided men,” those of a divided, doubting mind (Jam 1:8); “a double-minded man” , skeptics, or, skeptical notions as opposed to the certainty of God’s word.
Just as a person’s flesh can be branded so that it becomes hard & without feeling, so a person’s conscience can be deadened. Whenever we affirm with our lips something that we deny with our lives (whether people know it or not), we deaden our consciences just a little more. Jesus made it clear that it is not religious talk or even performing miracles that qualifies a person for heaven, but doing God’s will in everyday life Matt. 7:21–29.
there’s probably no better practical synonym for the concept of sin than selfishness.
“a sin,” consists in doing, saying, thinking, or imagining, anything that is not in perfect conformity with the mind & law of God.
Leprosy is an illustration of sin (Isa. 1:5–6). The instructions given to the priests in Leviticus 13 help us understand the nature of sin: Sin is deeper than the skin (Lev. 13:3); it spreads (Lev. 13:8); it defiles and isolates (Lev. 13:45–46); and it is fit only for the fire (Lev. 13:52, 57). The Bible exposition commentary .
Faith in anything but His will is idolatry. Substituting your plans for His purposes is idolatry. Faith practiced solely for achieving your personal objectives, as noble as they may seem, is idolatry. Paul’s overwhelming ambition was to know and please Christ, to do everything to His glory. Stanley, C. F. (1998). Enter His gates: A daily devotional.
“Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:21)
idolatry: thinking anything about God that's not true &/or putting anything or anyone above Him or before Him in my life. It's trusting something or someone instead of only God. It's not what I say is "first" it's what my life, my actions say is first. How well do I know His Word? How much time do I spend with Him and in His Word daily, etc or do other things come before Him?
The love of pleasures and possessions is but an insidious form of idolatry, demonic in its origin and destructive in its outcome. To make possessions and pleasures the most important things in life is idolatry.
Anything becomes an idol when it keeps us away from God.
We’ve defined idols as anything that is inflated to take the position of God in our lives, anyone or anything that becomes an ultimate thing.
To keep yourself from idols is to live with a whole heart of faith in Jesus. John’s last line properly leaves us with that most basic question which God continually poses to each human heart. Has something or someone besides Christ taken title to your heart’s trust, preoccupation, loyalty, service, fear & delight? It's a question bearing on the immediate motivation for one’s behavior, thoughts, & feelings. In the Bible’s conceptualization, the motivation question is the lordship question. Who or what rules my behavior, the Lord or a substitute?
Trusting in Molech, as Ahaz did, or trusting in your own wisdom and intellect—there’s no difference in God’s eyes. It’s all idolatry.”
Paul added, “and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5). Covetousness is the sin of always wanting more, whether it be more things or more pleasures. The covetous person is never satisfied with what he has, and he is usually envious of what other people have. This is idolatry, for covetousness puts things in the place of God.
Worshiping the true God or a false substitute is the choice that everyone must make. Sadly, millions of people who wouldn’t think of bowing to a tangible image nevertheless worship useless gods of their own imaginations. Even Christians can be lured into self–love and covetousness, which are forms of idolatry (Col. 3:5). That’s why you must always guard your heart diligently.
You'll find the 10 Commandments in Deuteronomy 5:1 and Exodus 20.
Adam’s violation of all the Ten Commandments of the moral law may be set forth thus: He broke the first commandment by choosing another “god” when he followed the counsel of Satan. The second, in idolizing his palate, making a god of his belly by eating the forbidden fruit. The third, by not believing God’s threatening, in that way taking His name in vain. The fourth, by breaking the sinless rest in which he had been placed. The fifth, by thus dishonoring his Father in heaven. The sixth, by bringing death on himself and all his posterity. The seventh, by committing spiritual adultery, and preferring the creature above the Creator. The eighth, by laying hands upon that to which he had no right. The ninth, by accepting the serpent’s false witness against God. The tenth, by coveting that which God had not given to him.
In Ez 23, God describes the sin of his people as prostitution (fourteen times) and adultery (five times). Our problem is that we don’t see sin like that. If we saw our worldliness as spiritual prostitution, perhaps we would do something about it. We regard prostitution as something vile and degrading, and we would be appalled if our daughter became a prostitute—yet that is how God sees our pride, anger and gossip. Our sin should shame us but, instead, we pamper it, encourage it, feed it and generally get on very well with it. We can more than tolerate it, but God cannot tolerate it and never will tolerate it.
The most common cause of spiritual adultery is that Christians leave their first love. This is what Jesus accused the Ephesian's of in Rev. 2:4.
Isaiah 31:4–5 Hezekiah had fortified the cities of Judah and brought water into the city so they could survive a seige, but when he finally got hold of Isaiah to find out what he should do in this crisis, Isaiah told him to do nothing: not to align himself with other countries and not to marshall his troops, but to do nothing at all. Hezekiah learned that making your own plans without consulting the Lord, even though they seemed like common sense things to do, was in fact working against God! God planned and made the present crisis long ago for His purposes. By taking Judah's defense into his own hands he was working against God. Isaiah told him to do nothing but wait and the Lord would protect Judah, and He did! Hezekiah was reminded that when we only believe in things we can see with our eyes and touch with our hands, it's idolatry. He'd made his plans thinking they were common sense things that needed to be done, without consulting the Lord, and when trouble came then He turned to the Lord and asked Him to bless one or both of the plans he'd carried out. But the Lord wants us to ask Him first, not after the fact, and to trust Him to take care of us.
By being friendly with God’s enemies we declare war against God. James names 3 enemies that we must not fraternize with if we want to be at peace with God.
The world. The whole system of things in this society of ours is anti-Christ & anti-God. A Christian gets involved with the world gradually, 1st, there is the friendship of the world. This results in being “spotted” by the world so that areas of our lives meet with the approval of the world. Friendship leads to loving the world & this makes it easy to conform to the world. The sad result is being condemned with the world our souls saved yet as by fire. Friendship with the world is compared to adultery. The believer is married to Christ & is to be faithful to Him.
By the flesh is meant the old nature that we inherited from Adam, that is prone to sin. The flesh isn't the body. The body isn't sinful; the body is neutral. The Spirit may use the body to glorify God, or the flesh may use the body to serve sin. When a sinner yields to Christ, he receives a new nature within, but the old nature is neither removed nor reformed. For this reason, there's a battle within: For the sinful nature desires what's contrary to the Spirit. They're in conflict with each other so that you don't do what you want. This is what James terms your desires that are within you. Living for the flesh means grieving the Holy Spirit who lives in us. To allow the flesh to control the mind is to lose the blessing of fellowship with God.
The devil (vv. 6–7). The world is in conflict with the Father; the flesh fights against the Holy Spirit; and the devil opposes the Son of God. Pride is Satan’s great sin, and it is one of his chief weapons in his warfare against the saint and the Saviour. God wants us to be humble; Satan wants us to be proud. God wants us to depend on His grace while the devil wants us to depend on ourselves. Satan is the author of all “do-it-yourself” spiritual enterprises. He enjoys inflating the ego and encouraging the believer to do it his own way. Man has nothing to be proud of in himself. There dwells no good thing in us Rom. 7:18; but when we trust Christ, He puts that good thing in us that makes us His children 2 Tim. 1:6, 14
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Post by Cindy on Nov 5, 2015 11:13:52 GMT -5
To continue with the study about sin and what it is and how it affects us, I wanted to share something from one of my commentaries that really hit home with me. I was studying the crucifixion and came to this portion of it:
“Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.” (Matthew 27:27–31) Listen now to a small portion of what M.S. Mills has to say about this:
The pertinent point in this narrative is that the Gentiles were equally involved in the crucifixion and humiliation of our Lord. Gentiles, like Jews, heaped their scorn and hate on Jesus; His humiliation and mocking is the joint work of the entire sinful human race. It seems to me God recorded this scene so that we believers could gain some insight into the spiritual anguish that our sins cause our Lord. Our spiritual dullness makes it difficult for us to comprehend this spiritual dimension, but this lurid scene of abuse translates a spiritual reality which easily evades us into physical terms. It is as though God says to us, “If you cannot understand what you do to Jesus spiritually when you sin, look at what sin did to Him physically, for that will give you some insight into the spiritual pain you inflict on Him when you, a believer, sin.” Mills, M. S. (1999). The Life of Christ: A Study Guide to the Gospel Record (Mt 27:27–Jn 19:3). Shortly later, at the scene of the crucifixion itself, “When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.” (Luke 23:33–34) Mills says:
The contrast is between man’s base action & Christ’s forgiveness; man’s utter unworthiness for this forgiveness cannot be over stressed. This is forgiveness at its most gracious level. This verse draws our attention to another deeply involved Person in this ultimate drama—the Father. Jesus’ plea, “Father, forgive them for they do not fully know what they are doing!” was the most urgent plea imaginable. Surely, nothing could provoke the Father to anger more than to humiliate, abuse, & then execute as a common criminal His spotless, sinless, beloved only Son. Only the Son could stay Him. How can we know what pain our sins put God the Father through? The story of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac helps us identify with the Father’s emotions & anguish. Gen 22:2 draws the parallel between that story & Jesus’ crucifixion by reporting God’s instruction to Abraham, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, …” & it places the setting for this sacrifice on a mountain in Moriah. The crucifixion took place outside Jerusalem’s city walls, about 500 yards from the temple, which 2 Chron 3:1 places on Mount Moriah. Surely, God had led Abraham & his beloved only son to the same spot where His beloved only Son was to die 2000 later! Why should He have chosen any other spot? I am persuaded He did this so that you & I could identify with Abraham by imagining the soul-rending anguish he endured as he prepared his son for death on the pile of wood Isaac himself had carried to the scene of his death, & thereby gain a small insight into the perfect Father’s spiritual & emotional anguish as Jesus carried His wooden cross to the scene of His death. Our relief is intense when Abraham’s upraised hand is stayed from plunging the knife into his own son’s throat. 2000 later, the setting & scene was the same, but this time there was no stay of execution. God would not do for Himself what He had done for Abraham, & He endured the anguish of seeing His beloved Son, His sinless Son, spiked through & through with the same cold steel & then slowly die; yet, paradoxically, death is the price of sin, & this Son is sinless. No wonder Jesus pleaded with the Father to forgive the human race, for we had given Him every cause to vent His pent-up wrath with His wayward, sinful creation. I cannot help but conclude that had my Savior not made this urgent plea, God would have done to mankind as the race deserved—annihilated it. Thank God, the Son intervened in our behalf, for now, through the work He did on that cross, and through the faith the Father graciously granted me, I am assured that I will be eternally with both the Father and Him (John 17:3). Mills, M. S. (1999). The Life of Christ: A Study Guide to the Gospel Record
Next during the last 3 hours of our Lord's life we read: “From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” (Matthew 27:45–46) An excerpt of what Mills says about this is: It seems particularly appropriate that the sun was darkened, for the Source of all life was dying, & all earthly life is dependent on the sun. It was as though nature could not bear to look on the death of its Creator; yet man gawked. We cannot know what happened in those 3 terrible hours of darkness from noon to 3 p.m.; (Mark (15:25) indicates Jesus had been placed on the cross at the 3rd hour - 9:00 A.M.). nature itself mourned the fate of its Creator. God has mercifully drawn a blind over the agony & horror of those last 3 hours of Jesus’ life; all we know is that Jesus was utterly alone, cut off from God the Father. We do know, therefore, that our sins tore the Trinity apart for at least those 3 hours, but the horror, pain, & cost of that tearing God alone knows. In His infinite mercy He has left us ignorant of the depths of the consequences of our sin. But we cannot escape this fact: our sins separated Christ from God; the horror of this is too formidable to contemplate. Jesus concluded enduring 3 hours of this separation with the loud, poignant cry, “My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me?” This is the only time the Gospels report Jesus using the address ‘God’; He invariably used ‘Father,’ even in His first recorded words (Luke 2:49). The OT uses ‘God’ to indicate God’s role as sovereign and judge of all humanity and ‘Lord’ for His relationship with believers; Jesus introduced the intimate title, ‘Father.’ Here Jesus could only use the sinner’s title for God, for God had become His judge as Jesus had become all sin (2 Cor 5:21). Christ’s last 4 sayings emphasize that this period of darkness was a period of divine activity; it marks God’s turning His back on Him, & His terrible struggle & torment in the face of that rejection. He represented all that is sinful & vile while on the cross, & that must have brought unspeakable agony to His sinless soul, but surely the fact that God had to turn His back on Him was His greatest suffering, one we cannot start to comprehend. Sin has unimagined force, for it was sufficient to break the eternal bond between God the Father and God the Son. Thank the Father & Jesus for their mercy, for after our vile actions separated them humanity is truly unworthy of salvation. Yet Jesus loved us through all the consequences of our sin. The Life of Christ
MacArthur has this to say about it: The darkness was God’s sign of judgment against mankind for the gross sin of rejecting and murdering His beloved Son. It is also a sign of God’s reaction to sin as a whole. Darkness is a graphic portrayal of the cross as the focal point of God’s wrath, a place of His immense judgment, where sin was poured out on His Son Jesus, our Savior. This twofold object lesson ought to be a constant, fresh reminder to us of how seriously God views sin and how vital it was that the Lord Jesus die on our behalf.His cry from the cross could be restated this way: “My God, My God, with whom I have had eternal, unbroken fellowship, why have You deserted Me?” Against that backdrop of uninterrupted intimacy, Jesus’ being forsaken by God becomes an even more crushing experience for Him. Sin did what nothing else had done or could do—it caused Christ’s separation from His Heavenly Father. Jesus’ separation does not in any sense mean He stopped being God or the Son. It does mean that for a while Jesus ceased to know intimate fellowship with the Father, similar to how a child might for a time cease to have fellowship with his human father. Our fallen minds, are unable to grasp all the significance of this verse. But as our Lord experienced anguish over the separation sin caused, we ought to grieve over how our sins break off the fellowship God wants to have with us. Pray that God would give you the discernment to see the seriousness of sin and the motivation to repent of and shun any besetting sin in your life. Strength for today.
Lastly, I meant to share with you the list of sins that I made up. It does not list every single sin there is, that would be impossible! What I tried to do was list sins as I thought of them and as the Lord showed them to me in His Word. I didn't make the list all at one time, it was done over a long period as the Lord was teaching me, which is also how I did the notes I made about what sin was. You're welcome to copy my list and add to it. I like to go over it every once in a while just to make sure that I haven't fallen into some sin unawares, or forgotten that something was sinful. More often it's not really that we forget, as much as that some are simply so well ingrained in us that it's very easy to fall back into them without realizing it. So that's what I try to prevent by going over the list once in a while. The sins aren't in any particular order or anything, and all can be verified by scripture. There is no such thing as a "bad sin" and a "little sin". The wages for even what we might erroneously think of as a small sin is still death. If you see one that startles you and you find yourself wanting to deny that it's a sin at all, please know that is your flesh and not God's Spirit. Don't run away from it. Instead, take it to the Lord, talk to Him and have Him show you in His Word where you can find this sin and what He says about it. Our flesh never wants to give up it's sins and Satan certainly doesn't want us to find out what they are, so it's quite normal for us to rebel when we first discover that many of the things we commonly do are sin. Just because it's "normal" however, doesn't mean that it's a good reaction or that we should allow ourselves to get away with it. Remember, Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, to crucify the flesh (Galatians 5:24; which is painful!) and to follow Him. We are not called to continue living the way we always did before we were saved.
SINS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Pride: ability pride; verbal or bragging pride;
Self righteousness,
Self savior; trying to save myself or others usually by attempting to manipulate people or situations instead of trusting Jesus to take care of the situation.
Self centered instead of God centered;
Self justification (vindicating myself);
Self reliant;
Self indulgent;
Self serving;
Self seeking;
Self-interest-putting myself, my needs & wants, before others;
Self sufficiency,
Self realization—my claim to my right to myself, and/or to rule my own life; self-realization— I am my own god;
Self pity;
Selfishness;
Stubbornness;
Not loving sacrificially;
Putting your own desires or needs before another's
Putting others down;
Slandering someone;
Gossiping,
Keeping a list of how I've been wronged in my mind (or even on paper!)- in other words, not "forgetting" the way God forgets our sins. I need to remember to take those thoughts captive
Unforgivness;
Being vengeful or thinking vengeful thoughts;
Holding a grudge;
Running away from someone instead of forgiving and/or being forgiven and patching up the problem.
Not seeking forgiveness from those I've wronged or hurt;
Bringing up another persons sin again after you've forgiven them;
Not seeking the person to forgive them or be forgiven by them immediately, waiting, or putting it off instead, or expecting them to come to you.
Not being willing to be reconciled to someone who has hurt you or who you have hurt.
Being resentful;
Bitterness;
Not responding to others in love when upset or angry;
Hateful thoughts toward others or self;
Being unwilling to admit my sin against someone else and against God;
Being rude or disrespectful;
Ingratitude;
conceit;
Criticism;
Being judgmental,
Complaining, grumbling;
Discontent;
Jealousy; envy;
Greed; wanting more;
Living beyond my means;
Not paying my debts on time;
Not giving toward the Kingdom with my money, time, and material possessions etc;
Not being a good steward of the money/things God's given me;
Not being content with what I have;
Helping but only "some" instead of sacrificially as He tells us to;
Manipulating people/situations to get my way,
Arrogance;
Worry;
Being fearful;
Depression;
Vanity;
Abortion;
Murder; (remember, thinking hateful thoughts is the same as murder Matthew 5:21–22)
Swearing, cursing,
Crude jokes, words, or behavior; (even in teasing);
Lying;
impatient;
Worldliness ;
Boasting;
Looking for the bad in others instead of the good;
Not submitting to my husband;
Not submitting to those in authority;
Not obeying immediately;
Not obeying the laws of our country including the speed limit;
Being lazy;
Not taking my "bad" thoughts captive and replacing them with His Truth;
Causing another to sin or stumble or to continue in sin by something I've done or said or not done or said, even if it wasn't a sin for me;
Immodest in word, deed, or dress;
Sexual sins of thought, word or deed;
Viewing pornography of any kind;
Blaming God;
Any way of thinking/speaking as though He doesn't have the right to do whatever He wants to with me and my life;
Dabbling in the occult, witchcraft, new age, astrology, horoscopes, eastern religions etc.;
Not speaking the Truth in love when a loved one is living in sin;
Not witnessing when the opportunity is there;
Not learning to defend the faith and rightly divide God's Word;
Forgetting God's my provision and not my job or disability check
Forgetting that God gave me my talents, intellect etc and so thinking that “I” did something good on my own; I've nothing to brag about that He didn't give me;
Not taking care of my family; (emotionally, physically, materially, and spiritually)
Doing anything that others might think is a sin even if it's not;
Being doubleminded: trusting/not trusting; believing/doubting; accepting His love/pushing Him away....etc.
Not studying the Bible every day with Him;
Not praying; not staying in constant communion with Him;
Not reflecting on His Word during the day;
Putting anything or anyone including self before God and His Word;
Not seeking the Lord first
Not trusting the Lord;
Not remembering all He's done for me;
Not seeing Him in His creation;
Rebellion;
Idolatry;
Unbelief that characterizes all sin;
Not hating a sin.
The subject of sin is a very heavy one, not one that's easy to think about, but it's something that's very, very necessary for us to reflect on regularly. Knowing what we did and what we do to our God every single time we sin, helps us choose to abide in Christ and crucify our sin nature using and relying on the power of our Lord to do so. Knowing all of this helps us see ourselves as we really are and not through the rose colored glasses of "self esteem" that the world wants us to use. Knowing this also helps us live as Jesus commands us to, by forgiving others the way the Lord forgave us. How can we possibly withhold forgiveness from anyone no matter what they did or said, knowing all we've been forgiven for ourselves?
I wrote a little more about this subject in an article called, Sin is more then just the 10 Commandments if you'd like to see it.
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