Sin is a Relationship

Sin is a Relationship

"Against you, you only have I sinned." Psalm 51:4

This week I read a verse from Psalm 78 that really stuck in my heart: "In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe." Psalm 78:32

This passage is telling the story of the children Israel and traces their rebelliousness despite the goodness and faithfulness of God in their lives. David pens this powerfully inditing phrase: IN SPITE OF ALL THIS, THEY STILL SINNED!

We don't hear much today from the pulpit about sin. In our Christian culture we have changed the names of the the "sin" words from Scripture to make them more culturally correct and more palatable to our ears. Like we have done with other words in our English language to make them more politically correct, we have beautified the tough words of Scripture so that they are not as harsh.

We are so much like the children of Israel. I am so much like them. Even in the times of blessing and seeing God at work, I still find myself sinning. How can I be so stupid?

Paul Tripp addresses this issue in his book WHITER THAN SNOW -- Meditations on Sin and Mercy (Crossway):

The desire to be like God rather than serve God lies at the bottom of every sin that anyone has ever committed. Sin isn't first rooted in a philosophical debate of the appropriateness or healthiness of a certain ethic. No, sin is rooted in my unwillingness to find joy in living my life under the authority of, and for the glory of Another! Sin is rooted in my desire to live for ME. It's driven by my propensity to indulge my every feeling, satisfy my every desire, and meet my every need ...

What David understands from his confession (see today's verse) is that sin is an act of relationship, or better stated, a violation of the one relationship that's to be the shaping factor of everything I do or say. EVERY sin is vertical, no matter how thunderous the horizontal implications of sin are. It's God, for whom and through whom we were created to live, whose boundaries we step over, because we don't love him the way that we should.

Because sine is about breaking the relationship, restoration of relationship is the only hope for us in our struggle with sin. It's only because God is willing to love us in a way we refuse to love him that he have any hope of defeating sin.

Sin is a relationship, and it takes relationship to deliver us from sin. Christ was willing to experience the rejection that our rebellion deserves so that we could have the relationship with God that's our only hope as we grapple with the selfishness of sin.

Has God been pouring out His blessing on you and your family, ministry, job? Despite His goodness and blessing, do you find yourself in the cycle of sin? Let today's devotional penetrate your heart. Be reminded today that sin IS a relationship! Think about it. -- Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 9; Isaiah 32-33; Colossians 1

Great Quote: Nothing else ought to render us more active or cheerful in doing good than the hope of the future resurrection ... believers ought always to have their eyes fixed on it, that they may not grow weary in the right course. -- John Calvin