Line in the Sand

1 John 3: 4-9 (MSG) ~ All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major disruption of God’s order. Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in him, and sin is not part of his program. No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They’ve got him all backward. So, my dear children, don’t let anyone divert you from the truth. It’s the person who acts right who is right, just as we see it lived out in our righteous Messiah. Those who make a practice of sin are straight from the Devil, the pioneer in the practice of sin. The Son of God entered the scene to abolish the Devil’s ways. People conceived and brought into life by God don’t make a practice of sin. How could they? God’s seed is deep within them, making them who they are. It’s not in the nature of the God-born to practice and parade (celebrate) sin.

We are living in a world where there is no black or white, there is no moral compass, there is only gray and do what makes you feel good. Everything is acceptable, everything is celebrated, everything is out in the open with no shame. Anyone that speaks against those things that are celebrated are called ugly names and discredited. Anyone that calls a sin a sin is considered unloving, uncompassionate and crazy enough now I’m even hearing not Christ like. We are living in a world where saying, “that is a sin” is almost criminal. Everyone wants to do whatever they want to do without anyone telling them God views it as sin. No one wants to hear that the Bible calls certain things sin and we are not to abide or knowingly practice those things. Without any apology, we can clearly read a list of sin in the Bible that everyone seems to be ignoring these days, such as; murdering innocent children, homosexuality, sex outside of marriage, cheating, stealing, lying, gluttony, laziness, greed, selfishness, etc.

We have heard the enemy's lies so much that we are starting to believe them. Lies such as, “They aren’t hurting anyone”, “It’s a woman’s body, so it’s her choice”, “Just do it, if it makes you feel good”, “Everyone and everything they want to do should be considered ok in the name of equality”. All of that would be logical and honestly correct if it weren’t for the fact that the Bible teaches us the exact opposite. We are to yield to the sovereignty of God. We are to know what the Bible teaches us is sin and avoid it with as much strength as we can possibly muster. Every time I read an article or turn on the news it hurts my heart. It hurts me to see that those in the Christian faith are watering down God’s holy word. They are buying into the lies and quoting them verbatim without apology.

I am not writing this because I think I’m on some holier than thou pedestal. I am a sinner. I sin on the regular. I am not speaking these words with judgement. I am speaking them from a place of heartache. I am broken in my soul at the complete lack of morality in our world today. There is a difference between a believer that falls into sin and someone that refuses to even call a sin, a sin. A believer knows when they fall in the mud, they get up, wipe themselves off with repentance and walk away from the mud. They may fall right back into it the next day, but they know it’s wrong and they recognize that they don’t belong in the mud. Someone that falls in the mud and continues to live in it without conviction, without remorse and with no intentions of recognizing it as mud, cannot call themselves a true believer. Why? Because God cannot abide in sin. Anyone that has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior has the Spirit of the living God inside of them. The Holy Spirit will not allow a child of God to remain in sin forever without telling them and urging them to get up. There is amazing grace, there is forgiveness, there is mercy through Jesus Christ. But the first step to receiving that is recognizing that you are a sinner. That is what is breaking my heart. We are now in a place that no one wants to accept that they are a sinner. Or they may say, “Oh yes, I’m a sinner, but God loves me anyway so I can just keep doing what I’m doing, and He’ll accept me.” That thought process is in complete contradiction to God’s word and is a very dangerous lie!!

My prayer is that we recognize the lies that are being forced upon us. I pray that those who know the truth will start standing up and saying, “No, that is a sin!” and stop bowing to the bullying public opinion. We need to call sin a sin without worrying about the consequences. Without a doubt we are close to the end, and it is our job to proclaim the truth while we are still here. I cannot and will not apologize for proclaiming God’s word with conviction.

I am drawing my line in the sand!!