Sin is common, but avoiding it is common sense

Paul said it well when he said, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). How do you handle that fact? Knowing we all sin can cause us to live more carefully because we are aware of our fallen natures. Or that knowledge can cause us to simply shrug our shoulders and say, “Oh well, everyone sins,” disregarding our sins as a normal part of life.

Sin is not a popular topic, but God’s word often deals with the subject, so we should consider it seriously. When we learn to live with an eternal perspective for our earthly lives, we can avoid a lot of sin.

For Christians, avoiding sin makes the most sense. So, how can we learn to avoid sin, especially common ones that sneak up on us?

  1. We can live with an eternal perspective for our earthly lives.

James wrote, “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14). 

James would not get high reviews for that comment. We live in the “take care of yourself first” era, and “you only have one life, live it well.” That’s the perspective of most people on earth, yet it’s the wrong way for the Christian to view life. We don’t have one life; we have one life on earth and another for all eternity. 

If we live with an earthly perspective, we will have wrong priorities for our time, our choices, and, most importantly, our values. We can invest in the “mist” that quickly vanishes or in the ocean of blessings that will last forever.

How will you spend your day today? What will you accomplish that will matter forever?

  1. We can learn to recognize sin.

One of my favorite verses in the book of James is, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17). I think James gives the best definition for sin in the Bible!

When my boys were little, I had a rule for disciplining them. When they did something wrong, I asked myself, “Did they know it was wrong?” That parenting technique came straight out of James 4:17. If I had never specifically said, “Don’t do that,” I disciplined with words. If, on the other hand, I had taught them not to do something, I disciplined them with consequences of some kind. “Whoever knows the right thing to do” and doesn’t do it, for him or her, it is a sin. It really is that simple.

We have a responsibility to learn to recognize sin and then avoid it. God gave us his word, and we need to know what the Bible says so that we can obey it. God also gave us his Son, the Word, as our living example of what a life of complete obedience looks like. Finally, God gave us his power, his Holy Spirit, so we can resist every temptation to sin. 

So why do we still sin? Even though we know the right thing to do, we sometimes choose what we want rather than what God wants for us. I’ve often wished we could see the eternal consequences of our choices because I think we would sin less often. 

Have you ever been in a store, a restaurant, or a movie and wished that person from your church hadn’t just seen you? Has someone in your Sunday School class witnessed you having a bad day in public? Are you the same person at work that you are at church or Sunday School?

Years ago, I was in a hurry at the grocery store, and my toddler son would not stop reaching for the stuff on the store shelves. I had a newborn in the cart, and my three-year-old was supposed to behave. Finally, I had enough, and I popped my oldest on the backside to make my point. He started wailing and woke the baby up, who started crying. As I glanced up, I saw the wife of one of our deacons looking at me with a stunned, deer-in-the-headlights look. The sin in the moment wasn’t the behavior of my small children. I knew what to do, they didn’t. 

For all of you who just read that and thought, “She is being too hard on herself” – thank you, but that kind of makes my point. I lost my temper with my child and didn’t have an ounce of grace for him in that moment. It was normal. It was common frustration. But it was also a lack of self-control. I could have and would have done better if I had lived with God’s strength in that moment. That son whose backside I whacked just turned 39, and I still remember feeling like I had not lived my best witness to that deacon’s wife in the grocery store. It isn’t the “big sins” that commonly trip us up. More often it’s the multitude of common sins that accumulate and become stored in our minds as acceptable that cost us the most. 

When we know the right thing to do and choose not to do it, we sin. It’s a pretty simple definition to hold onto.

  1. We can make our witness an eternal priority. 

James wrote, “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days…You have lived on the earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter” (James 5:1–5).

Animals that are about to be sold or butchered for food really enjoy the final month or two of life. They get to eat a LOT, and they get to eat the best grains and grasses. They just don’t understand that all that “good food” is preparing them for death. Everything we own on earth has a beginning and an end. James is teaching us that if we live for the sake of our earthly lives, we will miss the treasure that God wants us to have eternally. But he also said something that should be even more convicting. James said, “You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you” (James 5:6).

When we fail to live with eternal priorities, we “fatten” our personal lives with the temporary stuff that seems important but is only important temporarily. When we live with God’s eternal priorities, we make choices for the sake of our eternal treasure. We should be much more aware of the importance of our witness to others. Pursuing wrong priorities in this lifetime doesn’t just harm our lives; we are probably harming others in the process. Murdering our witness might mean we cause someone else to distrust our faith. We trust Jesus as our Savior, but we must live with Jesus as our Lord. Our words often matter eternally.

Avoiding sin is common sense

Paul was right. All of us will sin, and there is nothing, this side of heaven, that we can do about that. We can’t be perfect, but we can probably all try harder to make godliness our high priority. We expect to sin, but that doesn’t mean we should accept our sins. Instead, we are called to avoid sin with all of our hearts and with all the strength God has given us.

Avoiding sin will lead to eternal rewards for each of us and likely for many others as well. I still wish I could do those moments in the grocery store over again. That experience has served as a reminder for a lot of years now. God is so good at redeeming our mistakes and using them for our sanctification. His grace is truly amazing.

We won’t avoid every sin, but living with God’s common-sense values will help us avoid more than we realize. Why live for the mist when we can inherit his ocean of blessing?

When you are better, you do better

I’ve been taping the Bible study lectures for the book of Romans. Even after all these months of study, I read a verse that I know I have read a dozen times and learned something new. That is the miracle of God’s word. 

As Scripture says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22–23).

If God’s word ever grows boring or stale to you, it isn’t his word that is the issue! How can one book hold perfect wisdom for every human life? Yet, the Bible is that book. 

I was teaching Romans 11 to the camera. That is considered one of the most difficult chapters to interpret in the entire New Testament. I would add my “amen” to that statement. What was Paul trying to tell the people in Rome, people he had never met—but somehow knew?  

Last week, I taught a passage and had a thought I don’t remember ever learning before. When that happens, I pay attention because it probably wasn’t my thought. So, I will share it with all of you, praying God can use it in your life as well. 

PAUL’S UNDERSTANDING OF HUMILITY 

Chapters 9 through 11 are sometimes referred to in commentaries as Paul’s parenthesis. These three chapters come out of the blue, mostly for the purpose of speaking to the Jewish Christians in the church. These Christians had grown up knowing about God, learning his word, and following his ways. When these Jewish people realized Jesus was the promised Messiah, they continued to walk with God in his New Covenant promises. 

Enter the pagans, a.k.a. the Gentiles, who knew almost nothing, but wanted to learn and wanted to belong. 

Every church Paul helped to establish and raise up struggled with the problems that arose because of the superior attitudes of the Jewish people toward their Gentile brothers and sisters. They thought they were better because they knew better. And Paul, over and over again, taught them they only thought they knew better. Their attitude was damaging their witness and the witness of the church. 

Paul’s parenthesis is directed toward that way of thinking. The Jewish nation grew up believing they were a blessed, educated, devoted group of people. They were—until they became an arrogant, self-righteous, pious group of people. They did know more about God, but they needed to remember what had always been the downfall of their people. 

The Jewish people believed themselves to be “blessed” and therefore superior to others. They made their sacrifices, paid their offerings, and left the temple feeling like all was well. And God, through his prophets, told them they were not right with God. Paul, through his “parenthesis” in Romans, tries to do the same. 

Paul understood humility more than most. He learned it on the road to Damascus and throughout his work as a missionary. But, chapter 7 of the book of Romans is Paul’s confession. He wrote about knowing what to do and then not doing it. Paul understood that, regardless of knowledge, pedigree, or success, he was a “wretched” man. He was hopelessly a sinner, apart from the saving grace of God. 

So Paul praised God and continued to try. 

MY “WORD” FROM GOD’S WORD 

Paul closes his “parenthesis” in Romans with a doxology. I had always read those words as Paul’s words of praise. For the first time, as I got ready to teach, I came to a new understanding of those verses. Paul was quoting Job and Isaiah in his doxology when he said: 

“Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
‘For who has known the mind of the Lord,
Or who has been his counselor?’
‘Or who has given a gift to him
That he might be repaid?’
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be glory forever. Amen.”
(Romans 11:33–36) 

I considered Paul’s words, and then I considered where Paul had learned those words. Job is considered by most to be the most ancient book in the Bible. Isaiah is listed first among the Major Prophets and contains the best description of the coming Messiah in the Old Testament.  

Paul used the best examples from the Jewish faith he knew to make his point. Most of God’s people have always thought more highly of themselves than they should. Most of God’s prophets understood that was their biggest problem with the Lord. 

My word from God was simple and straightforward. If Job, Isaiah, and Paul had to address the issue with their people, preachers and teachers today need to do the same. If you sign up to watch the Bible studies this fall, you will probably notice I struggled at the end of that taping. I’m struggling now as I type. 

DO WE THINK TOO HIGHLY OF OURSELVES? 

God’s people have always felt a sense of “superiority” in the world. Doesn’t it stand to reason we would struggle with that same sin? 

But, how do we seek to live a holy life and avoid the “holier than thou” condemnation of others? 

If you are like me, it is simply to act a little “less holy” on occasion. We usually would rather be part of the crowd than left out of it. 

All the while, we know God’s message has always been the same: “Be holy because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). Moses taught those words, and so did the Apostle Peter and many others. That fact alone means it is truth for all generations. 

WHAT IS PAUL’S SOLUTION FOR ARROGANCE? 

Paul’s solution is found in his words to the church in Rome: compare yourself to God. 

  • When did you last think God’s word “got it wrong”?
  • When did you last think God was too hard on someone?
  • When did you last wish for a sinner’s punishment rather than his or her salvation?
  • When did you last pray and tell God what you thought needed to happen?
  • When did you last feel like something shouldn’t have happened because you didn’t deserve it?
  • When did you last think you were more important to the church than someone else?

IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN TRUE, AND IT ALWAYS WILL BE 

The prophets, the apostles, and even Jesus called out the greatest sin among God’s people. It’s always been arrogance. If something in Scripture has always been true, it is still true today. If we humble ourselves today, we will still need to humble ourselves tomorrow. How do we do that? 

Consider who God is and who we never will be, this side of heaven. Consider Paul’s struggle to do better but still fail. Consider the Pharisees’ knowledge and dedication, then consider their sins.  

Give yourself a break because, in Scripture, we sinners are in some great company. But, let’s not give ourselves permission to sin the next time. 

I don’t know most of you but, on the truth of God’s word, I can say that most of you, like me, struggle with arrogance. If it is Satan’s sharpest tool in his box of temptations, why would he get rid of it?  

Let’s allow God to cast his unsearchable shadow over our lives so we never forget just how small we are in comparison to him. Let’s pray for his humility to fill our lives and our attitudes. When you blow it, remember that his mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22–23). Pray for his forgiveness and the wisdom and strength to do better next time.  

Because, when we are better, we will do better. 

That is how Christians will change the world.  

Amen?