Romans 7:10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God
forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that
which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding
sinful.
The purpose of the Word is to help us see our sin for what it is and discover it is exceeding sinful. How can it be anything else? The most dangerous thing we do is avoid looking at ourselves and our feelings, our thoughts, our wrong words, and our character. Regardless of what we think about it, it is sin, exceedingly sin. This is the purpose of the Word of God. He wants our sins to appear as sins to us. That's what verse 13 says–but sin that it might appear sin. So, what does your sin look like?
We look at ourselves often. We care how we look. We put lots of efforts into it. We worry about what others think. We're self-conscious of our appearance. We all have an inner beauty; all we need to do is look at the whole being. However, within us is a sinful part that is able to sin and does sin. With as much attention as we give to our outward appearance, why are we so careless with what is within?
We show our sins off more than we realize. It seems we make great effort to hide sin, but others can see it; sometimes we're the last to know.However, your sin has the innate ability to show itself.This is why God wants us to take a good look. Don't say "IF" for it's not IF I have or IF I do or IF I will sin. Sin is sin no matter what we call it. There are lists in the Bible that give us what some of the sins are. Galatians 5 is but just one example that lists them. It begins by saying "the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;"
uncleanness, lasciviousness (lustful drive–wanting things other have)
Idolatry (putting other things before God), witchcraft, hatred
variance (disputing), emulations (jealous rivalry)
wrath ( angry retaliation), strife (fighting without fists), seditions (calculated rebellion)
heresies (twisting God's Truth into something false),
Envyings, murders
drunkenness, revellings (take pleasure in wrong) and such like
of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past
that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
There's nothing sinful about my attitude. I know I have a little problem with it, but there is nothing sinful about it. Do we see nothing as sin anymore? It's not that bad. He does it. She does it. They do it. Everybody else is doing it. Well, they are sinning as well.
It may not be good, but I have an excuse for it. I'm not a preacher, so I'm ok. The devil put that bad thought in my head. It's not actually sin. It's a weakness. I can't help it. I'm not that strong. The failure is not really a sin. We sugar coat it, but every sin we commit, every word we speak is a choice we make. Any sin in our heart is there of our own choice. Yet we say "yes it's sin; yes it's bad but it is someone else's fault. I can't help it." The devil may provoke us The world may provoke us. But nobody makes us sin. It is our choice. We have no excuse.
How do we look at them? If we seek to hide them we will not prosper. God won't have mercy. Look to those around you. You're not hiding it. The nature of sin is to show itself. Sin is like a zit. It will come to the surface. People know we're not as good and as perfect as we think we are. We fail and come short, because we SIN. Even Paul admits he has trouble; he is carnal. We must trust Jesus, not ourselves. What matters is how sin looks in the eyes of God and in the light of what His Word says. He sees what we cannot. He sees the wrong and the grip it has on us. Deep down we may want a release, bu t we won't face it.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 