The Sin of Omission

Last week at my homeschool group, I remember going into the mom's room, and meeting this gentleman who was in there getting ready for a presentation. I had finished what I was doing and right before I left the room I hear something and looked back at where he was, and saw that he had spilled a small cup of water. I walked out of the building and started to enter another building when I stopped...and stood for a little while. I thought 'I should help him. He doesn't know where any paper towels. I don't even know where some paper towels are.' I stood there for about ten seconds, debating if I should go back and help. I didn't. And I fell bad about not helping him.

Yesterday in our bible reading in James 4, the last verse in the chapter, the last verse, made me think about what happened. Verse 17 says, "So whoever knows what is right and does NOT do it, for him it is sin. This is called the sin of omission, the things you don't do that you know you should. We need to be careful about this type of sin, because it is very sneaky. We need to look out for it.

For His Son's Glory,
-Kole

The first and second Adam

Romans 5:12 "Therefore just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned."

So what is this saying? That Adam failed pitifully. God meant for everything to be perfect, but because this man sinned...all have sinned. And unless somebody else lived a perfect life, we will all go to hell, thanks Adam. Good news: There was a second Adam, and who is this second Adam?

Romans 5:18, 21 "Therefore as one trespass lead to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to Justification and life for all men... So that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life for all men, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

So this is saying: Adam failed, but Christ was righteous! And because He was righteous, He made the way to heaven! (not "make it possible" He "made the way"). And God didn't leave us like that: Not only did He make a way to heaven, but He drags us into Heaven!

All for the glory of God,
~Kade

Sin is Contageous

This morning, my family listened to a sermon from the Shepherds Conference, 2007. It was on Numbers 5. I found that interesting, because we don't normally hear sermons on Numbers (well, I don't).

Oh, and also, Numbers 5 is what the OT Church reading is going to be tomorrow, so that's why we listened to it--preparation for the reading.

The first part of the chapter talks about keeping people with leprosy or bodily discharges or who have been defiled by touching a dead person "outside the camp." This was to prevent these sicknesses (or potential sicknesses) from spreading in the camp (as you know, they didn't just whip out the antibiotics in that time period).

The second part of the chapter is all about a test for a suspected adultrous woman.

The sermon I listened to said that it wasn't just coincidence that God allowed these two laws to be placed together.

Just as God wanted to protect His people from the contageous outward diseases, God wanted to keep the deadly, intensely infectious and agressive "sin disease" from spreading in the camp of Israel.

For application, we should treat sin as God treats it--as a contageous disease. Just as I avoid touching people or things that I think could be or that I know is infected with a sickness (eg. dirty public bathroom surfaces, used tissues, the nursing home with a "stomach virus," etc)--in this very way I should avoid sin. God wants His people to avoid sin, because it is contageous.

We don't have the option of quaranteening all the sin, so we have to avoid it to the best of our abilities and pray that we would not be tempted beyond our limits (see I Corinthians 10:13).

Luke

Purity

As I have often struggled to keep my mind pure from ungodly emotions and thoughts, I realized that sin is a three-step process. It begins with the desire, in the heart. That desire, however small, eventually forms thoughts in the mind. If those thoughts are entertained, the sin in the mind will break out in a physical action. This can be with any sin—anger, for example.

I realize this, as I constantly have to fight immoral thoughts. I cannot entertain these ungodly thoughts, for that would not only be a sin in itself, but it would also lead to an outward action. My problem lies in my heart. When, by God’s grace, I can suppress these evil thoughts, I often have the desire in the heart that lingers. It is not enough to shove the thoughts out of your mind—you must destroy the desire that is in the heart, or it will come back.

Yes, you must fight the action of sin. But you must also fight the thought of the action of sin. And, most importantly, you must fight the desire for the thought of the action of sin.

So, again, I challenge you, as I work on this myself, to fight sin with God’s help, all the way to the root—the desire in our hearts.

Luke

Idolatry Today?

Hey, this is Luke!

On Sunday, my dad talked about Christians and contentment. He spoke about how pride goes hand-in-hand with covetousness, which is also idolatry. Wednesday, Chris spoke about I Samuel 8, and how the nation of Israel demanded a king. They wanted to be like the other nations. They were wrong not only in the desire to be like the surrounding nations, but they also committed the sin of covetousness and idolatry. They wanted to replace God, their true King, with a man-king.

The main thing that comes to mind when I think of idolatry is “bowing before a statue.” As you already know, idolatry can take many forms—any time you put something before God, replacing God, as He should be first in your life, is also idolatry. Idolatry is nearly the same thing as covetousness, also—desiring something other than God, in an inappropriate way (desiring something more than you desire God).

With this definition, I am sure all of us, especially myself, can be found guilty of the sin of idolatry, just like the nation of Israel. We all can find ourselves desiring something more than we desire God.

But God has given us a very simple solution.

Count your blessings.

When you recognize the gifts God has given you, especially His salvation if you are a believer, you will be completely satisfied in Him. By definition, when you are satisfied, you will desire nothing else—God will be first in your life, and you will cease to covet and cease to commit idolatry. So, that’s my challenge to you this week—count your blessings, and have self-control over your sinful, covetous flesh.

In Christ,

Luke Godfrey