SIN, CONSEQUENCES AND YOUR FRIENDSHIPS

Posted on June 6, 2015 by .....

SIN, CONSEQUENCES AND YOUR FRIENDSHIPS

Numbers 32:23 “But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.”

THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN

Our nation is becoming more and more sinful; and people don’t seem to care. What happens when we sin? When we wink at sin? – There is a price to pay! Sin = actions by which people rebel against God, miss His purpose for their life and surrender to the power of evil rather than God. Sin has its roots in the inner man. Matthew 15:18-20 “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.” God will not condone sin, by His very nature He cannot do it.

When you choose to sin; you put a barrier between God and yourself. Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” Sin ruins relationships between you and others too; sin is the root cause of ruined relationships. James 4:1-2 says “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.”

FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD OR THE WORLD?

II Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”

There are only two people who know the true condition of your heart – God & you! Humans are very sinful by nature; we are constantly surrounded by sin. As Christians, we need regular spiritual checkups to monitor our spiritual conditions. Friendships with the world can lead us into sin. James 4:4 “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” There is nothing wrong with having fun in life or enjoying activities, or having interest we are passionate about and derive joy and pleasure from, just make sure this enjoyment you get is not at the expense of others and not at the expense of disobeying God.

• James 1:27 “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” A true Christian, who sincerely desires to live like the Lord, will remain true to God and “keep himself unspotted from the world.”

• Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Do not conform to this world or its enticements. Do not let yourself get molded by the sinful thinking of this world, but rather you seek to influence this world toward Christ.

• James 2:23 “And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.” Instead of trying to be friends with the world, cultivate a friendship with God. This means you need to work on your relationship with Him. Our friendship with Christ will lead us to a deeper love for Christ and the things of Christ. (I John 4:19 – We love him, because he first loved us.)

“The more we know Him, the better we love Him and the better we love Him the more we become like Him.” – Warren Wiersbe

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” I John 4:7

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” I John 5:4

Sin has consequences. Our nation is becoming more and more sinful by the day. But we do not need to become friends with this sin. We do not need to let this sin lead us from God and into a warped and sinful type of thinking. We don’t need to let the world mold our thinking to fit is sinful aspirations. Instead we need to let our minds be conformed unto Christ. We need to develop our relationships with Christ. Set out a goal to have Christ become your best friend if he is not already. We need to be seeking Him out and not the world. Instead of the world influencing us we need to seek to be a Godly witness and influence to the world. (Matthew 5:13-16 – Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.)