Tag Archives: sin kills

Do Not Join With Sinners: Proverbs 1:8-19

Proverbs 1:8-9 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: 9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

Parents are supposed to teach their children righteousness. Righteousness defined is, Biblically, “To adhere to the standard that God has set”. The Bible says in:

Isaiah 33:22 For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us.

God created the Laws of Gravity, Motion, Energy Conservation – the Laws that make life on Planet Earth possible. This same God “loves righteousness and justice” (Psalm 33:5, ESV). His righteousness is like the mighty mountains, and His justice like the ocean depths (Psalm 36:6, NLT). Christ paid the penalty for the believer on the Cross of Calvary. Everyone who believes in Christ has been given imputed righteousness.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Through the indwelling Holy Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) we who are saved by the Grace of God are drawn to live practical righteousness: Continue reading

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The Thief Comes …

When we left Judges chapter 9 we saw the false judge Abimelech (the concubine son of Gideon or Jerubbaal) ruled (not judged, but ruled) over Israel for three years. God allowed Abimelech to slaughter all but one of the other sons of Gideon (Jotham) to set up his kingdom. After three years, everything fell apart. The men of Shechem who conspired with Abimelech to do evil were utterly destroyed, and Abimelech himself died when a woman dropped a millstone on his head (Judges 9:53; 2 Samuel 11:21). This reminded me of what Jesus said:

Mark 9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

Something interesting happens between chapters 9 and 10. The general pattern of the Book of Judges that we have seen so far is…

Israel rebels against God
God disciplines Israel with an unbelieving nation
Israel repents
God raises up a Judge to restore Israel

Failure To Repent And Pursuit Of Sin
Brings Hardening Of The Conscience

This pattern is disrupted in chapter 10. As we enter this chapter 10, we see two judges in the first FIVE verses of chapter 10:… Continue reading

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Your Sin Will Find You Out, Abimelech

Judges 9:1-3 And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother’s brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, 2 Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. 3 And his mother’s brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.

The great Prophet Moses warned us all a long time ago:

Numbers 32:23 … be sure your sin will find you out.

Sin is nothing to wink at. When Cain sinned against God by offering the wrong sacrifice, God told Cain:

Genesis 4:7 (ESV) … sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it

Because Cain would not rule over his sin by repenting, and doing as God said, he ended up murdering his brother Abel. The stepbrother of Jesus said:

James 1:14-15 (ESV) … each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

The Bible describes sin as if it is a living thing. And it is. The Apostle Paul spoke of sin inside his own life, saying “it is no longer I who do it, but IT IS SIN LIVING IN ME THAT DOES IT”. … Continue reading

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The Danger of Prayerlessness

Several years ago I heard Pastor Adrian Rogers say:

“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”

That is so very true! The Bible warns us that …

Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God gives us life as a gift from Him. Physical life is a precious gift, and spiritual life is a wondrous, miraculous gift. Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins. The Bible says:

2 Corinthians 5:21 {God the Father} made {Jesus Christ} to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Jesus Christ was and will always be within Himself SINLESS. Yet God made Him to be SIN, that we might be made RIGHTEOUS. Sin will kill you! When Jesus taught us to pray, part of that “Lord’s Prayer” says:

Matthew 6:12-13 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Saved by Grace, the Christian is supposed to daily call out to God for “our daily bread”. We are sustained not by the POWER of our hand, but by the PROVISION of our Heavenly Father. We pray for our bread. But we also pray “forgive us our debts”. We daily look at the garden of our lives, and pull out any weeds of sin by prayer. We CONFESS our sins to God. The Apostle John said:… Continue reading

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