Who Gets to Define Sin?

The answer to this question has to do with who your God is.  For the true believer, this has to be the Sovereign Creator God.  He is the spiritual Father of all who truly believe.  If you are not a true believer, your God is man and your father is the devil, the father of lies.

 

The first problem here is that, in the circle of professing Christians, you are likely to end up with a variety of definitions.  That is because, on the right, “externalists” have put things into the Bible text that were not there originally.  On the left, the “libertines” simply reject what the Bible does clearly define.  The first question is “Who is right?”  The answer is that only God is right, and His definitions are in the Bible text.  They were placed there by divine inspiration and are true.  They are clearly understood only when the reader approaches the text with the one biblical hermeneutic.

 

THE HAZING OF AMERICA

 

In our nation, the definition of sin and wrong has been forcibly changed.  The most egregious of sin and wickedness is now celebrated by those who control education, government, economy, entertainment, sports and, sadly, the professing church.  How did this happen?

 

In his book, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, the author, Erick Larson, records a terrible truth from the past.  It is a clear statement of where our own nation is today.

Captain Reginald Hall is described and quoted on page 350 of the book.  He visited Germany and Austria in 1934.  Ever the intelligence man, he reported his observations about the National Socialist movement to the government.  He also described his experience to a friend in America.  “All the young are in the net,” he wrote; “anyone who tried to keep out of being a Nazi is hazed till they change their mind; a form of mass cruelty which exists only in such a country.” He added, “It will sometime soon be the duty of HUMAN BEINGS to deal with a mad dog.  When that time comes, your people will have to take their share.”

By using federal education (falsely called public education), the minds of generations have blindly accepted “liberal, progressive socialism.”  It has created a nation of intellectual pagans who support everything they believe with lies.  They are expert at turning truth into lies and lies into truth.

To ensure that everyone follows their “lie pact,” anyone who disagrees has been, is, and will be “hazed.”  They are made persona non-grata, ridiculed, punished, and dismissed from the public sector.  The socialism described by Hall is the very same destructive, liberal, progressive socialism being forced on this nation.  If you want an example, all you have to do is turn on the liberal media for one day.

 

This process of making sin acceptable may begin with redefining words, but it continues with derogatory name calling.  If you have any sense of godliness, you are called homophobic, Islamophobic, etc.  Political correctness only adds to the hazing.  Change your speech, fall in line, be silent about what you believe - or else.  This plan ultimately includes legal and physical force until you submit to the wicked ideas of liberal, progressive socialism.

 

TELL ME IT ISN’T SO

 

The church in America should be first in line to speak strongly to the definition of sin that God has given us in His Word.  The liberal church has long ago turned its back on the clear statements of God.  Sadly, this has given momentum to the paganizing of America.  With a low view of scripture, this group has become complicit in the removal of God’s moral standards.

 

Mainline evangelical church leaders have simply hid in the shadow of liberalism.  For whatever motive, they hold their silence; and their pronouncements find them guilty of teaching people to sin.  It seems that if a person is very good at communicating he gets a pass on what they are communicating.  Anyone who challenges one of these popular gurus is subject to “hazing.”

 

Without any shame, the Emergent, Emerging, and now Millennial churches are on a dead run to leave God’s standard for holiness in the dust.  It is no wonder that these churches ignore or offend basic doctrines.  The way one lives always rises from what he believes.  The more you degrade the Bible and its pure doctrine, the easier it is to throw off moral and righteous constraints.  If anyone dares challenge this moral runaway, they are “hazed” with words like “legalist.”  It is no wonder that cults have found a place to hide among these movements.

 

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?

 

In the end, the biblical church must bear some fault for this.  Almost everyone you talk to, it seems, has their head in the sand.  They want no part of truth when it brings conflict and rejection.  Silence is the watchword when it comes to what is happening in our own world. Remember that “silence is not always golden; sometimes it is just plain yellow.”  Leaders tend to hide behind things like “political” and deny that we have responsibility to speak the truth on every subject, even outside the pulpit.  It is true that much of the problem is ignorance; leaders often simply don’t know.  A careful reading of Acts 20 will help with that problem.

 

Paul’s words in his two letters to pastor Timothy make all this very clear.  He was not afraid to speak the truth, no matter what the consequences.  Timothy was instructed not to cut corners, run and hide, or be silent about what God has said.  Paul made it clear that people would not listen and would reject the truth, but that did not mean this young pastor should be silent.

 

It appears that the silence of those who have the truth in this country has cost us deeply. Religious and theological games are very expensive.  If we had preached the gospel fearlessly, taught sound doctrine with passion, and clearly defined the holiness of God and His instruction in the Word, things might have been different.

 

THAT’S NOT A CHURCH

 

You will have to wait for the February, 2017, Shepherd’s Staff for this, but we don’t expect much from those who aren’t really churches.  They really don’t disappoint us, but the real churches are those we look to for truth and sacrificial effort to do battle and define the wickedness of this hour.  These pastors will give an account in due time.  (Hebrews 13:17)

 

 

Shepherd's Staff is prepared by Clay Nuttall, D. Min.

 

A communication service of Shepherd's Basic Care, for those committed to the authority and sufficiency of the Bible.  Shepherd's Basic Care is a ministry of information and encouragement to pastors, missionaries, and churches.  Write for information using the e-mail address shepherdstaff2@juno.com or Shepherd's Staff.

Words Have Meaning

STOP IT; KNOCK IT OFF! Stop supporting evil, that is. We may not have meant to do it, but when our words give credence to wickedness, we need to stop using them. Let me give you an example. Why do intelligent, spiritual persons use the term “same-sex marriage?” There is no such thing. The only marriage that exists is the one that God instituted and which He controls. The term “same-sex marriage” is a lie. Every time it is used, it gives credibility to something that God has judged and condemned. To give encouragement to anything so heinous is an offence to a Holy God.

The offence grows more egregious when politically correct Evangelicals try to defend the use of nice words to describe bad things. It is moral insanity to argue that we must say nice things about sin in order not to offend sinners. To ignore sin of any kind is not being a “friend of sinners.” No one ever comes to Christ for salvation without first dealing with his or her sin. Those who practice “sloppy agape” argue that we all sin and that we need to deal with gossip, etc., before we deal with sodomy. We do need to deal with all our sin, but covering the sin of others is particularly offensive. The biblical doctrine of God’s holiness has all but disappeared in today’s culture-driven church, and God has written “Ichabod” over all those churches. The Word of God is nothing more than a fetish in the emerging/emergent church, and it continues to find ways to ignore the plain, clear teaching of scripture. When sin is a forbidden teaching, it provides a hothouse for the very thing that God commands us to forsake.

SWEARING

When I was a small child, the word “darn” would get a bar of soap put into my mouth, and I had to bite down on it. “Christianity astray” would consider that to be cruel punishment, but today’s practice of letting Christian teens run free with foul mouths is real cruelty. Those who love to defend sin would say my mother was a legalist. What they do not know is that my mother was a spiritual giant beside those spiritual pigmies who misuse the word “legalism.” It appears that the majority of people who use the term have no idea what it means. To them it is just another way to make man comfortable about sin.

Normally people would limit swearing to “taking the Lord’s name in vain.” Even that has become acceptable verbiage among professing Christians. Posts on social media as a habit include vulgar words and gutter talk. The sad thing is that no one says anything about it. This is not just a teen thing; adults who ought to know better spit out crude and vile words in their posts as well. They would be wise not to claim relationship to Christ, since unsaved people see no difference between their conversations and those of any worldling. Who needs a Christianity that sounds like a conversation from the damned?

MURDER

This is the month that the abortion holocaust is remembered. Even now we have become numb to the brutal way unborn children are being dismembered every day. The silence in the midst of this terrible practice reminds us of the reason why people were silent while the Nazis slaughtered thousands of people daily. Fear was the main reason for a lack of response, but most of the Germans felt that there was nothing they could do. After all, it was the government, and so it was legal. In our guilt, we’ve had to find nice words for the killing of babies in the womb, so the real word “murder” is unacceptable.

Let me remind you that a thing is not legal if God has condemned it. Then why do professed believers line up to defend heinous practices? If we obey God and speak clearly to identify such evil, those who claim Christ line up to defend the crime. To speak strongly about some pseudo-law is viewed as being anti-government; but to side with the others and use nice words about evil is in fact anti-God.

It is no wonder that a holy God is obligated to judge any nation that embraces the murder of children. It is mind-boggling to know that people who claim to be Christians side with those who hate God. Words have meaning, and words need to reflect the view of a God who hates and always judges all sin.

GOD HATES ALL SIN

These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imagination, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord. (Proverbs 6:16-19)

If God hates all sins and prescribes capital punishment for some, why do some people spend so much time opposing what God has said? Why such effort to prove God wrong? Holiness is meant to be an affront to those who love sin. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. (I Corinthians 1:18)

It appears that some folks don’t want to offend those who sin, but they don’t mind offending God. We need to be careful about deliberate personal offence to others. There is far too much meanness in our own circles, but it isn’t mean to make sin clear to the sinner. The truth is that real meanness is failing to tell the truth about sin, thus letting people plunge into hell or stand empty-handed at the Judgment Seat. It is dreadful to allow people to feel good here about sin and then let them discover in eternity that you really didn’t care.

JUDGING

It would help if people would take time to study the entire Bible on any subject, but then perhaps they don’t really want to know what God has said. One of the favorite mantras used by today’s “sin protectors” is to say that what God has said about sin is “judging.” It is obvious that they don’t want someone else asking questions about the sin in their own lives. Another defense is “love,” but love does not hide the truth from people. If there is danger, the loving person will say so. If that attack doesn’t work, then any old proof text will do. “Judge not lest ye be judged” is a favorite parley. Ignorance of Scripture is little different from deliberately denying what is the “plain, clear statement of the Bible text.” Remember this: a proof text without a context is a pretext.

Words do have meaning, and that meaning had better be what God has said and not what you have inserted into the text!


Shepherd’s Staff is prepared by Clay Nuttall, D. Min.

A communication service of Shepherd’s Basic Care, for those committed to the authority and sufficiency of the Bible. Shepherd’s Basic Care is a ministry of information and encouragement to pastors, missionaries, and churches. Write for information using the e-mail address shepherdstaff2@juno.com or Shepherdstaff

You and Sin! by Dr. Rick Flanders

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (First John 2:1-2) 

Notice very carefully what John is saying to us (born-again Christians addressed as “little children”) in the First Epistle of John, chapter 2, in the first two verses. He is telling us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit how we should deal with sin. But take note of what he is actually saying! We can understand what he means by the context.

The first great issue men must settle in their dealings with God is the issue of sin. It is the first great issue of our salvation, and also the first great issue in revival. And the Apostle John tells us plainly how to deal with it.

1. Everybody has sinned (First John 1:10). The last verse of the first chapter makes this very clear: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” Let nobody claim innocence. Later on, his small book gives us the clearest definition of sin in the Bible. Chapter 3, verse 4 says, “Sin is the transgression of the law.” To sin is to break God’s law, and we all have done it. Deliberately and repeatedly we have done what God told us not to do and have failed to do what He said we should do. The Bible contains many divine laws throughout, but the places where men usually look for them are in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7). A thoughtful study of these chapters will bring anyone to the conclusion that he has broken God’s law and is justly condemned. If we all got what just we deserved when we die, it would be Hell. 

2. Sin ruins happiness (First John 1:1-7). John was the youngest of the twelve apostles of Jesus, and he did his inspired writing when he was an old man. He tells us at the beginning why he wrote the circular letter called First Epistle of John. It was “that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” The apostles told people about the coming of God’s Son so that they could experience with them the fellowship Christians can have with the Persons of the Holy Trinity! Salvation is a wonderful thing! By the Spirit, we can have fellowship with the Father and the Son. This fact is not only wonderful, but also very important. John writes, “These things write we unto you that your joy may be full.” Fellowship with God is the source of joy. We cannot be happy, really happy, unless we are walking in fellowship with God. Now “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.” Nobody can have fellowship with a perfectly holy God while he is engaging in sin. When “we walk in the light, as he is in the light” we can enjoy fellowship with Him. In other words, obedience to the law of God allows fellowship with the God Who is Light. Disobedience to His law (sin) prohibits such fellowship and ruins our chances of real happiness.

3. Everybody sins (First John 1:8). The sad truth is that everybody sins, even after they become Christians. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Salvation does some wonderful things for us, but it does not prevent us from sinning. Twice the sixth chapter of Romans says that believers in Christ are “free from sin” (verses 18 and 22) but it does not say that we are free of sin. Jesus said, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:34-37). The chains of sin are broken when a sinner turns to Christ for his salvation, but in fact he does still sin. He is in fact emancipated from bondage to sin, but he can still sin voluntarily. We still have our sinful human nature even after we have been saved, and we all do sin.

4. Everybody must deal with his sins (First John 1:9). Since sin ruins happiness and we all sin, we all must deal with our sins in the right way in order to find happiness. Sinners must get forgiveness from God, which is available only through Jesus Christ. First we must gain legal forgiveness so that we don’t go to Hell. This is the once-for-all cancellation of all our sins (past, present, and future) that happens when a sinner turns to Christ for the salvation of his soul. Read about this forgiveness in Ephesians 1:7-14. It is also promised in other scriptures, such as John 3:14-18 and Romans 3:10-26. When you trust in Christ for your salvation, the penalty for your sins is cancelled by Jesus through His sacrifice on the Cross, and the justice of God no longer has anything against you. You are justified in His sight. It is absolute and total legal forgiveness. Once you have this, you will need practical forgiveness regularly. When you sin after you are saved, you do not need to be saved again. There is no more condemnation for believers in Jesus Christ (John 5:24). But they still have a problem with the fact that God is holy, and they still sin. A holy God, even though He is now our Father and will not condemn us to Hell for our sins, cannot have anything to do with us in a practical way as long as we are persisting in deliberate disobedience. So we must get practical forgiveness. This is promised to us if we confess our sins. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The night before He died at Calvary, the Lord Jesus used His washing of the disciples’ feet to teach them the necessity of being cleansed regularly from sins. “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me,” He told Peter when he objected to the Lord washing his feet. Peter then responded by saying, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.” The Lord answered that those who have bathed do not need a bath when they enter the house, just a foot-washing. “He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit” (John 13:1-11). When we have had the bath of salvation we still need the regular cleansing only Jesus can give. When we have confessed our sins, He will “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” so that we are “clean every whit.” To enjoy full and free fellowship with God, we must be saved, and then we must be diligent about confessing our sins. A good example of thorough contrition for thorough cleansing is found in Psalm 51. We all simply must deal with our sins.

5. Christians ought not to sin (First John 2:1-11). What does First John 2:1-2 say to believers in Christ about sin? It says that we should not sin. “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.” Then he says, “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” The message is that we ought not to sin, with the fact of Christ’s advocacy before the Father assuring of us of our salvation even when we do sin. The message is not that a Christian should not be concerned about his sins because his salvation is secure. The message is that we ought not to sin, even with the confidence that when we do sin, we will not be lost. Like insurance, our security is presented as important in an emergency, but it does not encourage us to create the emergency! The intention of the believer should be not to sin. This message is taught again throughout the First Epistle of John, beginning in this second chapter. In verse 6 we read that one who says “he abideth in him [Christ] ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” We are told here, and again in 3:16 and 4:11, that we “ought” to live righteous lives as Christians. Now the word “ought” is an interesting word, and an important word in First John. It does not mean “will.” Those who interpret First John to say that real Christians will live righteous lives, and that those who fail to do so are not really saved, misunderstand the whole book. The theme of this epistle is how to maintain fellowship with God (chapter 1, verses 1 through 7). God is Light (chapter 1, verse 5) and God is Love (chapter 4, verse 8). Those who walk with God must walk in the Light (chapter 1, verses 6-7) and walk in Love (chapter 2, verse 10). But believers will not do this automatically. They “ought” to live this way, but the word “ought” carries with it some doubt as to whether the person “will” do what he “ought” to do. First John was not written to give us the secret for determining if a person is “really saved” or not. The apostle uses drastic contrasts to prove and demonstrate that fellowship with God is impossible without harmony with His Light and Love (as in chapter 2, verse 15, and chapter 3, verse 9), but he does not question the salvation of his readers (see chapter 2, verses 12 through 14). The concept in the word “ought” is that of moral obligation but not of certain action. Although “ought” does not mean “will,” it does imply “can.” We never say that someone “ought” to do something he cannot do. And First John does teach (as does the entire New Testament) that Christians can live lives of love and light. The power to do it is wrapped up in the phrase “abide in him” (see First John 2:6, 2:27, 2:28, and 3:6). The phrase comes from John 15, where Jesus instructs His disciples in living the abundant Christian life with the metaphor of a vine and the branches. If we will abide in Him, we will live a life of victory, understanding, peace, effective prayer, and fruitfulness, according to the Lord Jesus. The life of abiding in Christ is the life of faith and absolute submission. Since we can overcome our flesh and sin by faith, we ought to do it. Sin is harmful and we ought not to do it.

The mindset that Christianity amounts to a system for living in sin contradicts the Bible in many places. May believers in Jesus Christ reckon themselves dead to sin, renounce sin as an option, and look to God for victory over its power.
Dr. Rick Flanders Revival Ministries