The Often Overlooked
Great Evil of Sin
by DSB
“Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned,” said
David in Psalm 51:4
(note also 2 Samuel 12:13).
How could he say this? Had he not sinned against Bathsheba, Joab,
Uriah, his family, his nation, and his own body? How could David say
his sin was only against God?
If David’s sin was only against God why did so many people
suffer
as a result of it? Did not David’s “sin against
God”
include getting Bathsheba involved in adultery, drawing Joab into a
murder plot, murdering Uriah, costing the life of his child conceived
in adultery, putting his kingdom through an unnecessary coup
d’etat, and having some of his wives forced into adultery by
his
son Absalom? When one considers the impact of David’s sin on
all
these people it seems his sin was against people far more than against
God. So how could he say his sin was only against God?
David could say this because he understood that the great evil of all
sin consists in the fact that sin, at its core, is rebellion against
God – a rebellion driven by a low view of God fed by such
things
as distrust of God, anger toward God, discontentment, pride, unholy
desires, and selfishness.
True, most of our sin is felt in some way by the people around us. Yet
before anyone around us is impacted by our sin we have already rebelled
against God. Before the fruit of our sin springs forth – be
it in
thought, word or deed – we have already chosen to reject
God’s will, pridefully assumed we know better than God,
decided
that God cannot be trusted or depended on to care for us as we want to
be cared for, chosen to take matters into our own hands and do things
our way, and selfishly pushed God aside – at least for the
moment
– in order to go our own way. Make no mistake about it. Sin,
at
its core, is rebellion against God.
Sadly, it is this reality that too many of us overlook or ignore. Too
many of us foolishly refuse to connect our sin with rebellion against
God. In fact, many become offended at the insinuation they are, first
and foremost, rebelling against God or at least directing something
negative toward God when they sin. Most of us prefer to believe we are
simply and momentarily disobeying God. We tell ourselves we can
willfully sin by directing our sinful anger or ill-will or unkind words
or selfish behavior at those around us without it being a simple and
momentary statement of rebellion against God. This is not only foolish,
pride-based, deny reality type of thinking, it is spiritually
destructive thinking.
If you are one of those who finds it hard to believe you are rebelling
against God every time you sin, consider what Nathan –
speaking
as God’s prophet on God’s behalf – said
to David
about his sin (2 Samuel
12:1-12).
First, Nathan told David a story about a stolen lamb. After hearing
David’s response that such a despicable thief deserved to die
and
at the least must make restitution fourfold, Nathan told David he was
the thief. Now take careful note of Nathan’s next statement.
Nathan told David that his sin was the sin of despising the word of God
(God’s will and laws for living) and despising God himself
(vs.
9, 10).
It is possible you may be wondering what it means to despise God in
relation to sinning? And you may be wondering what despising God has to
do with rebelling against God?
The first truth to keep in mind is that we must part ways with God and
His word before going the way of sin. Though we might prefer to think
we can part from God’s way without inferring anything bad
about
God’s word or doing anything mean-spirited to God himself, it
just isn’t so. For Christians to part ways with God, we must
first find some fault with God and His word. We cannot find fault with
God and His word without judging Him. To judge Him we must exalt
ourselves above Him – which means we are looking down on Him
and
to some degree despising Him and what He says about how we are to live.
Therefore, parting ways with God and His word is never benign. It is
always a deliberate rejection of God and His word – even if
only
for a short time. This is rebellion.
This is why Nathan told David his sin was, first and foremost, the sin
of despising God and God’s word. David had rebelled against
God’s law. David had looked down on God’s provision
and
protection as unworthy and insufficient. David, in those moments and
following days, had treated the committed love relationship he had with
God as lessor in value than the value of pleasing himself. David
treated God and God’s word with contempt and disdain
(despised
God) in his pursuit of something God forbid. When we sin, we do the
same thing.
Now I understand that most of us never think this far. Fewer still are
willing to feel the horror of their sin this deeply. As already stated,
we think of our sin as mostly or only against another person, while
giving little or no consideration to what our choice to sin says about
our view of God and His word. Though we admit to being sinners, we
rarely think of ourselves as sinners who, when we sin, are sinning
because we despise God and His word. We’ll admit we are bad,
but
few of us want to admit we are rebels rebelling against God.
At this point you may be wondering why all the fuss about despising God
and His word when we sin? Here are two reasons. First, we will only go
as far in putting off sin and putting on Christ as we see the need to.
Second, the church will only be as pure and holy while on this earth as
we make it.
Therefore I urge you to resist self-deception and pride driven thinking
in relation to hidden, protected, treasured, self-excused, circumstance
justified, “I deserve it” sin. You will not deal
adequately
with your sin without adequately dealing with the impact of your sin on
your relationship to God. Responding to sin with a broken and contrite
heart will be weak at best apart from realistically grasping the
magnitude of what your sin says about how you view God and His word
– at least when you are sinning. The motivation to
flee all
known sin will be little more than a Christian ideal if you do not
carefully consider or care all that much about how your sin severely
degrades your love for God. And you will more easily allow yourself to
practice certain sins, justify sin in certain situations, or ignore the
sinfulness of sinful thoughts, words, and deeds when you entertain the
notion that your sin is not a direct assault on God.
If every time you sinned you saw your sin as rebellion against God and
yourself as a rebel despising God and His word – at least
while
sinning – you would be much more likely to go the distance in
putting off sin and putting on Christ. If we thought this way as a
church, we would be far more likely to make a worthy effort at
protecting and promoting the purity of the church.
The writer of Hebrews put this same truth in different words
–
words which in a no-nonsense way speak clearly to my heart. He said
that when we willfully continue in known sin we trample underfoot the
Son of God. We regard as unclean the blood of the covenant by which we
were sanctified. We insult the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:26-31). Are
you willing to consider that this is what you are doing to God and His
dear son, Jesus Christ when you willfully sin?
None of what has been said so far removes the need and the
responsibility to apologize and seek forgiveness from those around us
when they are impacted by our sin. The destructive consequences of our
sin on others demands no less. What is more, God requires it of us. The
point here is that our sin is not directed only or mostly at others. It
is first and foremost directed at God – which should humble
us,
break our hearts, lead us to repentance, and motivate us to make and
keep things right between God and us.
Will you give serious consideration to the reality that you are
despising God and His word each time you willfully sin? Such thinking
will serve you well in your pursuit of righteousness and intimacy with
your loving Father. It will also serve us well as a church. To this end
it is my prayer that we will cling to the truth so that when we sin we
can say with David, “Against Thee only have I
sinned.”
Revised 2013