But Is It Really a Sin?

Have you ever done something that you thought was probably wrong, but then justified it and did it anyway?

Whenever you (if you're a Christian anyway) feel like you should or shouldn't do something, especially when it's a strong feeling, it's probably the Holy Spirit telling you what to do. Romans 8 describes living through the Spirit vs through sin, and says that "those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (v. 14). Galatians 5 describes how life in the Spirit and sinful nature are in conflict, and how you can tell which one a person is living by according to their fruits. The fruit of sinful nature is, of course, sin, but the fruit of the Spirit is (*cue church song) "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (v. 22-23). 

So if you are living in the Spirit, you cannot also live in sin. If you do sin, you will repent from (or turn away from and reject) that sin and work to do better. But what is considered sin? I feel like churches often talk more about how we are all sinners and teach the 10 Commandments (which if you aren't familiar with those, see Exodus 20) and that Jesus saves us from our sins (because the punishment for sin is death, but Jesus' death covers all sins of those who accept Him), but they don't explain what else in Scripture is considered sin. Don't get me wrong, these are all important to talk about, but anything that is disobedient to God is sinful. Because the Holy Spirit and sinful nature are in direct conflict, nothing that is of the Spirit can be considered sin, nor can anything sinful be of God. Because of this, we know that living out the fruits of the Spirit is good, for "against such things there is no law" (Gal. 5:23). 

However, this also means there are lists of sins to steer clear of (such as the 10 Commandments, but I'm gonna focus on some other lists today). Galatians 5 says to avoid "sexual immorality", which is anything that violates God's plan of one man and one woman being faithful to each other, especially sexually, for life. It also lists "impurity and debauchery;" (extreme indulgence in drugs, alcohol, sex, etc.) "idolatry" (when something in your life is more important than God) "and witchcraft; hatred, discord," (tension or lack of peace) "jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions," (conflict) "factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like", along with "provoking and envying each other" (v. 19-21, 26). 2 Timothy 2-3 includes what to watch out for as believers, such as "foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels" and people who are "lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them" (2:23, 3:2-5).  

What a list! And these are just a couple of places in Scripture that provide lists of sins. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus teaches about several types of sins from murder to judging others, and from adultery to divorce. When we are living in the Spirit, in God, we find ourselves wanting to do the right thing and compelled to seek forgiveness when we do the wrong one (because we're all sinners and we all stumble sometimes, but true Christ-followers get back up and stop committing those sins when they realize their downfall). 

So when you find yourself in a situation where you aren't sure whether you're really crossing the line into sin, you should probably avoid it so you don't fall down the rabbit hole into one of these explicitly listed sins. 

I've seen this happen before. I've watched people I love walking the line of what's okay and not okay, and warned them they should be careful and stop continuing down this path, but instead they gradually turned away from the fruits of the Spirit and towards selfishness, then an unforgiving heart, then rage, then adultery, drunkenness, quarrels, and loving pleasure more than God, but who still believe they're living for Him and don't acknowledge the hold that sin has on them (even when confronted about it). 

I think that's the scary part. There are so many people who claim to follow Jesus, who claim to believe in God, yet who don't live it out and still believe they are godly. If you don't repent of your sins, how can you seek forgiveness? And if you don't ask for forgiveness and grace, how do you expect to be saved? You can only be for God or against Him. There is no in-between. Anyone living in the supposed in-between is walking a dangerous line that leads away from God if you're not careful.

Lots of times it's because people don't think they're living in sin. People don't realize that gossip (spreading around information that doesn't need spread around and isn't your business to share anyway), slander (talking crap about people/ things/ places, especially behind their back), quarrels, and loving money are sins. They don't realize that holding grudges, being rude or cruel to others, or that being stingy are ungodly. That list in Galatians included "and the like" among the lists of sins, indicating that anything along similar lines to what Paul previously listed, also fall into the category of sin. Such things aren't Spirit-filled. They're not godly, so if we claim to live for God, we should be avoiding these things. 

There's so many people nowadays who hold the mindset that "Jesus loves me despite my sins", which by itself is true, but then they take it a step further to mean "so I'm saved". Honey, no. Jesus loves everybody, but that doesn't mean everybody's saved. Only those who repent, believe, and live it out are saved. If you don't believe, you won't be saved. If you believe but don't repent, what good is your belief? (You know who else believes but doesn't repent? Demons. Satan. Need I go on?) Repentance is vital to walking with Christ! Jesus will ultimately forgive all sins of those who follow Him, but that's not an excuse to keep sinning! If you believe but keep sinning, you're living in sin, not in Christ! Did you catch the part in 2 Timothy about how we should "have nothing to do with" the people living with "a form of godliness but denying its power"? There are people who seem godly on the outside, but who are actually living sinful lives. Romans 1 (v. 29-30) warns that such people "have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful..." and the list goes on to say they know better, but they still do these things and encourage others to join them! They know they shouldn't be jealous, or slander others, or be arrogant, or get drunk, or love money, or any of these others things, but they do them anyway and invite others to do the same. Watch out for such people. 

My husband and I once caught people, who we dearly love and looked up to for a long time, in sin. We'd warned them in advance that we were worried about the path they were on. We tried confronting them in love, but they convinced us that if we told anyone what had happened we would ruin lives and relationships. So, we didn't tell anyone, and ended up ostracizing ourselves from an entire group of people by keeping their sins a secret. It took a while to realize that this wasn't the godly response on our part, but once we finally stopped believing their lies and starting listening to the truth, we repented of our own sins (of lying for them by not telling anyone what had happened when we were asked) and started being honest. Not to the extent that we just told everyone about these sins (because we didn't want to gossip about it), but only told the people who needed to know and were honest when people asked about it. Deuteronomy repeatedly says to expel the evil and wicked from among you, and these people were doing evil, wicked things with no remorse or repentance, while also teaching in church. This is NOT what godly leadership looks like, and my husband felt God's call to voice our concerns about their sins to other church leadership, so they could (and we hoped they would) act accordingly in knowledge (and hopefully wisdom). The hypocrisy that these individuals exhibited pushed several people to question and even turn away from their faith, and my heart breaks for those who are still under their teaching.

So if you're walking the line between sin and not-sin, tread carefully stop it. It's not worth it, and you can end up doing a lot more damage than you think, even to the point where you're knee-deep in sin and still think you're righteously standing on the rock of Christ, which I think is the worst deception of all. For some people, they know their sins and it's obvious, and when they repent they are clearly turning away from the life they used to life. For others, they think they're in the right, but in reality, they're living in ungodliness and refuse to acknowledge it. Confess your sins and turn away from them. Don't live that kind of life anymore. Instead, live a life filled with the fruits of the Spirit. Be kind (not hateful). Be loving (not cruel). Be gentle (not violent). Be generous (not selfish). Be patient (not rash/reckless). Be faithful (not adulterous or envious). Be good (not evil). You can't have it both ways. You can't serve both God and sinful nature. You have to pick one. You have to choose, so choose the way that leads to life. Choose Jesus. Choose to live in the Spirit. And in the end? You will receive your reward in eternity. So, what do you choose?

 

Note: If you want to live this kind of life, it's really easy to start (though not easy to continue, I'll warn you right now). To begin, just confess your sins, ask God for forgiveness, and decide to start living for Jesus. Accept Him as your Lord and Savior. He died to save you. You just have to believe in Him, accept His grace, and repent of your sins and never go back (this being the hardest part and will likely be a challenge for the rest of your life, but I promise you it's worth it because the reward is eternal life with God, free of pain and hardship). 

Also note: If you know a fellow believers who's walking this line or living in sin, gently and lovingly confront them about it and do what you can to help them be free of their sins. If they won't listen (to you or the church or anybody else), then keep praying for them but "have nothing to do with them", according to God's Word. At that point, you've done your part, and they will have to face the cost of their sins in due time. But put your trust in the Lord, because He can restore sinners and bring them back to Him.