Why Sin is Wrong

WHY SIN IS WRONG

How often they rebelled against him ... and grieved him! (PSALM 78:40)

Here’s a good word from Dr. Jerry Bridges’ devotional: Holiness. I needed to be reminded of this truth today. How about you?

The verb mortify, or put to death, is used eleven times in the New Testament. In nine of those instances it refers to a literal putting to death of a person; each of those is in the context of an underlying hostility toward what that person stood for. For example, in Matthew 10:21: "Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death" (NIV). The hostility is not only toward the parents but also toward their authority. Likewise Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was put to death because of his bold, uncompromising witness for Jesus Christ (Acts 7).

Now apply that sense of hostility toward the sin you wish to mortify. See your sin for what it is and what it stands for - a rebellion against God, a breaking of His law, a despising of His authority, a grieving of His heart. This is where mortification actually begins, with a right attitude toward sin. It begins with the realization that sin is wrong, not because of what it does to me or my spouse or child or neighbor, but because it is an act of rebellion against the infinitely holy and majestic God who sent His Son to be the propitiation for my sins.

Think of an unusually persistent sin in your life - perhaps some secret lust that lies in your heart that only you know about. You say you cannot overcome it. Why not? Is it because you exalt your secret desire above the will of God? If we are to succeed in putting sin to death, we must realize that the sin we are dealing with is none other than a continual exalting of our desire over God's known will.

Gerald Bridges; Jerry Bridges. Holiness Day by Day: Transformational Thoughts for Your Spiritual Journey Devotional (p. 229). Kindle Edition.

Team You: We cannot live with bitterness because it will first manifest itself in our spirit, then in our emotions, and finally in our bodies. Tom Drout

Motivations: Leviticus 15-16; Proverbs 14; Matthew 27:1-26

Practice to Remember: Level 1: Ephesians 2:19; Level 2: Ephesians 2:19-22

Powered Up:  Luther and his companions were men of such mighty pleading with God, that they broke the spell of ages, and laid nations subdued at the foot of the Cross. John Knox grasped all Scotland in his strong arms of faith and his prayers terrified tyrants. Whitefield, after much bold, faithful closet pleading, went to the devil’s playground and took more than a thousand souls out of the paws of the lion in one day. D. L. Moody