The stench of sin that alienates man from God and the solution thereof

Sin is perfectly defined in 1 John 3:4 as lawlessness. Therefore, every form of lawlessness is sin. The Bible has lots of verses that spell out sinful practices by name. The most commonly known forms of lawlessness are practices that are in conflict with God’s 10 commandments given to the Israelites through Moses in the book of Exodus chapter 20. The Old Testament has lots of other recorded laws that had to be observed by those who wanted to remain clean from lawlessness. Similarly, the New Testament records multiple sins including those listed in Galatians 5:19 – 21, 1 Corinthians 6:8-10 and Romans 1:29 – 31.

God stands as the ultimate law giver and He is not in a position to negotiate its conditions with anyone. His laws are written in the Holy Bible but most of all in believer’s hearts. This is according to 2 Corinthians 3:3 and Hebrews 8:10.

 

Why God bothers about sin

One may be wondering why God bothers about sin. Why is He not ignoring people in their sins and live in peace without caring? Part of the answer is found in Isaiah 65:2-5. According to this portion of scripture, verse 5 in particular, the acrid stench of sin that never goes away is annoying to God. From this verse, it is clear that God cannot ignore sin because it bothers Him. That is just the way it is.

Therefore, the man who causes such stench to God’s nostrils should be concerned and do something about it. Thanks be to the same God for providing a solution for people to stay clean from lawlessness, thus eradicating the acrid stench. Before outlining the solution that God provides, I want to point out two qualities of sin that are relevant to this article.

 

Qualities of sin

  1. Sin is naturally desirable to mankind. Sin is closely related to our bodies. According to Galatians 5:17, ‘…the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other…’. Thus our natural being pleasures in sin while the Spirit contradicts and gives a signal of discomfort through the conscious.
  2. Sin does not go away until it is dealt with. Throughout history, a person who practices any form of lawlessness/sin has a price to pay to those s/he offends. Even those who happen to get away with sin know that if they were to be discovered, they would have to pay the price in one way or the other. Unfortunately, the account of sin goes beyond the grave. If it is not dealt with while the person is alive, even after death it remains recorded for the person to give an account on it before God. Thus the ordeal of dealing with sin is unavoidable.

 

Dealing with sin

The author of sin is Satan. Satan is more powerful than man yet powerless to Jesus. As already mentioned that the flesh desires that which the spirit opposes, it therefore calls for personal discipline, self-will and God’s help to effectively deal with sin.

A case was put before Jesus by His disciples after a rich young man refused to give away all his riches to the needy as a condition to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. It became apparent to His disciples that the way it is so difficult for people to please God makes it seem impossible to make it to Heaven. Jesus’ response brought hope when He said, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’ (Matthew 19:26).  Clearly, it remains impossible to conquer sin without the help from God.

We also have examples in the Bible of people who successfully conquered sin. One of them is Moses. The Bible in Hebrews 11:24–27 tells us that Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter even when it meant he would suffer some form of affliction. His choice was to stay away from the fleeting pleasures of sin so as to make God happy, effectively not creating a stench in God’s nostrils.

I’d have to write a separate article to give details on how Noah, Abraham, David, Daniel, Paul, the Apostles, Stephen, Zacchaeus, etc. dealt successfully with sin. These Bible heroes overcame on their respective covenant time, that is, during the old and the new covenant times.

 

Applicable covenant

The new covenant where Jesus is the solution to sin applies today. This covenant superseded the first covenant, as Jesus ‘paid the price’ of people’s sin by offering his own life as a perfect sacrifice. To benefit, one must confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, then that person shall be saved (Hebrews 10:9). Further to that, such a person should acquaint himself or herself with God’s laws, ask God’s help through prayer in Jesus’s name and work at avoiding sin by all humanly possible means.

Needless to say, living a pleasing life to God is a lifelong call to believers. As already stated, the flesh would keep desiring that which is against the Spirit and therefore an effort should always be made to subject the body to what the Spirit desires.

 

Prayer of salvation

Today as we live we are called not to harden our hearts when we hear the Word of God rebuking us from lawlessness (Hebrews 3:15).  You are voluntarily invited to pray this prayer of salvation written next:

Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins and surrender my life. Wash me clean. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That he died on the cross for my sins and rose again on the third day for my Victory, I believe that in my heart and make confession with my mouth, that Jesus is my Savior and Lord.

Once you have sincerely prayed this prayer, I encourage you to go to a church that preaches salvation through Jesus and fellowship with the brethren as frequent as opportunities avails.

Be blessed.

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About Musawenkosi Dube

I'm a believer in Jesus Christ. It has been revealed to me through the study of the Word of God, teachings of other men of God and testimonies that God has given us His grace just so we can share it among ourselves in the process leading each other to God. I invite you to learn who our God is with me in this blog...be blessed!

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