UNREPENTED SIN BREEDS DECAY

Years ago, we took some street preacher friends on an evening walk into Greenwich Village, and I caught them secretly posting a derogatory symbol in reference to gays. I confronted the leader: “What you have been posting is not going to serve any good whatsoever.” His response surprised me:

·       I know that, but 98% of what we do honors the Lord.

He acted as if he had a favorable heavenly account with the Lord, which entitled him to a bit of mischief. However, whenever we violate the Lord's will, especially when we do so knowingly, there is always a price to pay.

I began to think of God’s precise commands to the Israelites about when and how much manna to collect. They were also instructed to consume all of it on the day they collected it. However, instead of following the Lord’s exact commands, they followed their own inclinations and collected more manna than they were supposed to collect. As a result, they suffered the consequences:

·       But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. (Exodus 16:20 ESV)

They had failed the test by favoring their thinking above the Word of God. It didn’t matter how obedient they had been prior to this. They purposely violated the Word and they had to suffer the consequences. Nevertheless, their disobedience continued:

·       On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” (Exodus 16:27-29)

Thirty-eight years later, Moses reminded them of this revealing lesson:

·       “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4)

Never does God make an exception, even in view of years of good behavior, or even 98% moral perfection. Rather, He warned the prophet Ezekiel:

·       “And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins. Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. (Ezekiel 33:12-13)

This made no sense at all to the educated Israelites. They were convinced that their standing before God depended upon their earned righteousness, and that they were well-endowed with this commodity. However, Ezekiel had been entrusted with the Word to warn them they could not trust in their righteousness. Why not? Because their good deeds could never be good enough to entitle them to any blessing from God:

·       “Or who has given a gift to him [God] that he might be repaid?” (Romans 11:35; Job 41:11)

God is never indebted to us. Therefore, we can never say to Him, “I have been good for 20 years; so now I am entitle to a little fun.” Nor can we say, “Wife, I have been faithful to you for 20 years. Now I’m entitle to a fling.” Paul explained that the law had been given to humble us rather than to make us proud and self-righteous:

·       Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:19-20)

The law is supposed to teach us that we can never earn anything from God, because everything we receive from Him is a matter of His mercy. Instead, we have a tendency to compare ourselves with one another, rather than with God’s perfect standard (1 Peter 1:15). We then tell ourselves, “I am a good person compared to these others.” However, the law came to humble us and to show us that we are under condemnation (Deuteronomy 27:26). Jesus’ teachings emphasized this fact:
 

·       “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” (Matthew 5:22)

In contrast, the secular world rejects such teaching as “dirty rotten sinner religion.” However, they fail to take it to the next step – although we deserve condemnation, there is surpassing mercy in our Savior.

If we really hear what the law is saying, it should humble us and make us cry out in repentance for the mercy of God. It is only through His mercy that we can stand confidently before God. Evidently, my street-preacher friends thought that they were entitled by their good deeds to a little bit of mischief. Instead we are only entitled to one thing – death (Romans 6:23). In contrast, all of our blessings are a matter of grace. We are even instructed to thank God for our demanding spiritual labors (Philippians 2:12-13; 1 Corinthians 15:10). They are also part of His gift. When we lose sight of this, we become inclined to boast and to look down on others (Luke 18:9).

I have found that any sin that we allow to fester is like the manna which had been gathered in disobedience. Eventually, the fruits of our disobedience will putrefy and become infested with maggots. In this way, our own putrid sins chasten us. They also give us a glimpse into God’s all-wise justice (Proverbs 1:29-32), by which we condemn ourselves (John 3:17-20) through our disobedience.