Two weeks ago, I wrote about how sin is “missing the mark,” then last week I described how sin entered this world and what immediately followed. However, it is one thing to describe what sin is and to describe how it got here, but few preachers today are addressing the weight of sin. No matter who it is, there is always a desire to sugar coat and be gentle when dealing with the weight of sin. Why is that? Because each of us are sinful people, and God’s proclamation about sin makes each and every one of us guilty. There are two angles that I will use to approach addressing the weight of sin. The first will be the horizontal component. This week, I will address what is often called natural law, that is, the natural consequences of our sin in our current life as it relates to our offenses against each other. Then next week, I’ll deal with the vertical component, describing our sin against God and specifically the ultimate consequence for sin.
God does not take sin lightly, and it’s not because He’s all talk nor because He’s petty and unstable if people don’t pray to Him. It’s because He knows what sin truly is and what it does. He knows that all sin can only eat away and destroy. Sin may seem pleasurable for a season, but it always eats away at the person, and the final result is always death. Every sin is a violation of God’s intended purpose, design, and word, and every sin has consequences. Some sins lead to death right way, and some don’t. Some are obvious, and others are not. Let’s take a quick trip through the Ten Commandments and look at commands 5-10 and some of the consequences of those types of sins.
#5 Honor your mother and father: When we dishonor our parents, we are rebelling against God too. God has given them authority over us, they know us far better than we think, and they truly want what is best for us. I’ll give one example. A young man from a good church wanted to go to the mission field. The youth pastor was all on board with it, but the youth’s unbelieving father refused to let him do it, wanting him to get a 4-year degree with a marketable skill. After going back and forth, the father finally explained why. He knew the son didn’t have the self-discipline for the mission field and that the college experience would be really helpful down the road. Had he not listened to his father, he would have gone into failure and disaster. I’ve seen what happens when people go to the mission field unprepared, and it’s bad.
#6 Do not murder: This is pretty straight forward. Taking someone’s life has some very obvious immediate consequences in the legal system. But Jesus also said if we hate someone, it is the same as murdering them. Why? Because we essentially cut them off, and it does not bode well not just for that relationship but also for others.
#7 Do not commit adultery: I’ll hit this one the deepest. Divorce is a breaking of God’s design for marriage. The full implications of this are beyond the scope of what I can write about here, but the depth of this is well beyond just a husband and wife no longer being together. It breaks a union that God initiated and it leaves permanent scars. It leaves severe emotional scars, but it does physical damage too. When a man divorces his wife and then remarries, any sexual intimacy that was carried out in the first marriage carries into the second. This is why fornication and sexual promiscuity are so frequently spoken against. Sexually transmitted diseases are a result of violating God’s purpose of marriage. Then there are the children, the most damaged people as a result of divorce. Take notice that this isn’t God reigning judgment upon that sin yet; this is just what we call natural law. God knew all these things would happen in divorce. The weight of the sin of divorce is easily recognized, but there is only one primary reason for it: the consequences and the aftermath of the sin are nearly immediately realized. With all the “big sins,” we call them “big” because the consequences are immediate. This is what Paul told Timothy about certain sins being apparent and some sins are not apparent.
#8 Do not steal: Snagging a pen off a desk. Grabbing a little candy off a shelf. Stealing money from someone’s wallet. Plagiarism. I don’t think I need to go into detail about the horizontal consequences of these.
#9 Do not lie: White lies, blatant lies, propaganda, false reporting, etc. From telling your teacher your dog ate your homework, to falsely reporting data, to fake news, it is difficult to tell the difference between the truth and the lies. While telling your mom you brushed your teeth when you didn’t doesn’t seem like anything significant, it leads to much bigger lies, that could include something like falsely reporting hospitalization rates to keep the impression of a pandemic going on.
#10 Do not covet: This means desiring that which is not yours. How many sins and decisions does one make when he goes after that which he lusts for but does not have? Being jealous over someone having the new toy can easily lead to stealing. Desiring that title you think you deserve but don’t have easily produces numerous issues and it has led to murder. Macbeth is just a story that showcases this. Absalom was a real case of this issue.
Some of these sins don’t show immediate consequences; these are the ones that have deadlier bites because we don’t recognize how it is eating us alive. The wages of sin is death – death of every kind, physically, spiritually, emotionally, morally, relationally, economically, productively, mentally, and so on. Not all sin leads to immediate death, but all sin starts the process of death. Unrepentant sin always takes the path towards death. It doesn’t matter which sin it is, the end result of any of these sins is death.
Sin is a severe and deadly thing. All I covered here was the aspect of natural law regarding sin and its consequences in this life. I didn’t come close to addressing the full weight of sin, which has eternal implications, too. I only addressed horizontal sin here, the effects of sin here on this earth and how sin violates God’s intended functions and purposes in this life. The real issue is vertical sin, our violation of God’s commands and God’s character. Once we know what sin truly is, I’ll showcase some of the counterfeit teachings on sin in our culture today and then we’ll look at God’s answer to this severe problem.
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