3 Little Lies: About Sin

It's been a while since I last posted. Between the holidays and other family craziness, my life's been a little swamped. But now it's time to get back in and try to finish this series.

So as we all know by now, Satan excels at lying. He tells us lies about lots of different things and people, including God and himself. Last time I posted, it was about the lies he tells us when we're dealing with pain.

Another area he like to tell a lot of lies about is sin (yes, we're finally going to look at this area. No more delays).

If I'm honest with you, I struggled not only writing this post, but also in deciding whether I should still post it after so long. Should I continue this series? Should I move on? Am I being one of those people pointing to dust specks when I'm carrying around a 2x4 in my spiritual eye (Matthew 7:1-6)? But after praying, I decided this was important to talk about, that even though this post will be riddled with errors (because I'm sinful and human as well), it's important to talk about. Sin is very real, and it's probably one of the easiest areas for Satan to get to us in.


1. It doesn't exist

"But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. ~ Romans 3:21-26, NIV

You can see this philosophy all through our culture today, only this "wolf in sheep's clothing" goes by the name "tolerance."

More and more, we're told that if we think someone's lifestyle is wrong, that we're "intolerant" of them.

You're "homophobic" if you think homosexuality is wrong.

You're "against women's rights" if you think abortion is wrong.

You're "innocent," "gullible," or a "stickler" if you think lying includes so-called "white" lies.

You're "a prude" if you don't want to watch or read sexually explicit movies, TV shows, books, and magazines.

You're "mean" if you don't want to let someone cheat off your test or copy your homework.

These lies are fallen for even among "Christian" circles. These churches usually teach more of a "prosperity gospel," where the emphasis is more on "letting go of your self reliance" than it is "turning away from your sin."

This lie is dangerous, because without realizing our sin, it is impossible to realize our need of a Savior. And without a Savior, we remain trapped in our sins, separated from God.


2. "I'm saved so I can sin all I want."

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." ~ Romans 6:1-4, NKJV

If believing sin doesn't exist is the most dangerous of these lies, this one is a close second. And sadly, it's even more common among in our churches.

Of course, I don't think I've ever heard anyone actually say this, at least not using words. I've seen a lot of people say this through their actions, including myself.

Months ago, I went to a food tasting for my sister's wedding, and while in line to get sodas for my dad and I, a man who was after me in line started standing to the side of me, almost as if he planned to try to squeeze me out. When I got back to the table with the drinks (after not having any issues at all with line cutting), I told my dad and now brother-in-law about it, joking that I'd almost gotten into a fight (I'd even been giving the guy the sideways stink eye). They both smiled a little, but I hope they realized what I later did.

I was willing to get into a fight over a spot in line. And I saw nothing wrong with it.

I feel like that takes the petty sin cake right there.

After all, there's a difference between politely insisting that someone not cut the line and getting ready to scream at them.

But I fell for this lie hard that day. I also proceeded to criticize the way the establishment held this free event, even down to the spelling errors in their papers. At the time, I thought I was just being observant, but now I realize I was just complaining.

We need to be careful not to let this myth take hold in our minds. We've been saved through grace, and do not need to worry about earning our salvation (which we never could anyway). But that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep a tight reign on ourselves to make sure we don't let our guard against temptation relax because we are safe from hell.


3. "The end justifies the means"

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry." ~ 1 Samuel 15:22-23a, NIV

Most of us have heard this story before. God through Samuel instructs Saul to destroy the Amalekites and everything belonging to them. None of them are to live, and none of their things, animals, etc. are to be kept. Everything of theirs is to be wiped out.

But Saul decides that he knows better than God. He decides that, if he sacrifices some to God, it's not so bad that he took animals when God ordered him to destroy them. Indeed, it's a good thing.

The verses above are what God's response through Samuel was to Saul's decision that "the end justifies the means."

And although I don't think I've ever heard a Christian say it, a lot of our actions show we believe it.

Dating a guy who's not a Christian in order to "get him saved," when the Bible says we shouldn't marry unbelievers (so we really shouldn't be dating them).

Bombing Planned Parenthood clinics because they practice abortion.

Beating up gays and calling them names because they live a homosexual lifestyle.

Refusing to recognize the leaders God has allowed over us because they weren't who we voted for (God must have known we all would struggle with this, to inspire Paul to write Romans 13:1-7. And wow, I would have struggled with the guys they had in charge back then).

Don't get me wrong. I fully believe that abortion is murder, and that homosexuality is a sinful perversion of a beautiful gift God gave us for marriage. And I'm well aware that the leaders of not only the U.S.A. but many other countries as well are not exactly wonderful people. But how on earth does that justify destroying (and possibly injuring or even killing people) by bombing the clinics? How can we say that it's okay to injure and insult people who are trapped in sin? What is our excuse when God tells us to obey our leaders?*

The only people I can remember Jesus calling names in the entire New Testament were the religious leaders, who if they were really so godly would've recognized who He was. The only people I can remember the Bible mentioning Jesus raising a hand to were the money changers, who filled the gentile court of the temple with merchandise so the people couldn't come to worship. Jesus ate with sinners, regularly healed adulterers, and taught those who the religious leaders of the day wouldn't raise a finger to help.

The "pharisees" of today are those bombing clinics, those beating up and killing people in sin, those who curse their leaders instead of praying for them, all while claiming the Name of Jesus. Jesus would've reached out to those people, taught them, loved them, and helped them to stop.


I confess, this post wasn't easy to write. And all of these lies are something I still struggle with at times (Satan will always find the angle that you least expect him to come at). But it doesn't change the facts. These lies are all dangerous, and we need to be very careful to guard against them.

Next week (hopefully, haha) we'll finish up this series for now taking a look at three lies Satan wants you to believe about yourself.


*Of course, this is unless they tell us something that clearly goes against God's Word. There's enough examples in the Bible for us to determine that.