Glorifying Sin

          Our culture has reached a very dangerous point where God and His Word are concerned. “To whom much is given, much is required” (Lk. 12:48) is aptly applied to this country and its leadership as well as to its people. Yet, we have taken our stewardship, not only as a blessed nation, but, especially, as the chosen people of God, His church, and have squandered the treasures, opportunities, and freedoms that have been afforded to us for generations. We have looked into the face of Grace and have mockingly spit into His eye by our continuing acts of unrepentant sin and the allowance of such acts within our midst not having even a modicum of remorse or regret. Indeed, we have added to our impending doom by not only committing and refusing to restrain such transgressions, but we also glory in the performance of the defiling, making iniquity a popular feat such that many who might think twice before “jumping in” will gladly “hop on board” for the sheer thrill of being noticed, just to have a part in the growing fad. Remember, this is not only going on in the culture around us, like a well-made poison, it has slipped into the church, creating numerous victims within the ranks of the “faithful”.

            What is the cure for this malady? It is so simple that many believe it to be too simplistic. Surely, solutions must be more of a complex nature, requiring a solution that is intricate if there is a problem at all, really. Jesus provided the cure in the first word of His first sermon, “Repent” (Mk. 1:15). There must be the realization that the actions we are taking in sin, popular as they may be, are at variance with God and His Word and are thus wrong, causing us to fall far short of His glory (Rom. 3:23). Only when we confess and repent of our sin is cleansing and forgiveness accomplished, God is pleased and His displeasure is abated, our punishment is removed. In Christ, we cannot be condemned eternally for our sin (Rom. 8:1), but we can and will sure be disciplined heavily as a result. It is an example to unbelievers that we serve a holy God still. If we as the church get “taken to the woodshed” for participating in and allowing sin to go on around us, how do you think it will go for a world who has rejected the only means of true salvation in Jesus?