Now, therefore, fear the LORD
Insights: This issue of NOT fearing
the Lord is one of the greatest downfalls of the Church. We live in a society of easy-believism and a
carefree, live as you please attitudes.
Even within the church we live as if the answer to Paul’s question is, “Yes.” Paul wrote in his letter to the Roman’s, “What
shall we say then? Are we to continue in
sin so that grace may increase? May it
never be (6:1-2a)!” The reason we live
with such a cavalier attitude toward sin is because we really do not believe
God, a God of love and mercy, is really going to punish us for our transgressions
against Him. We have completely missed
the difference between forgiveness and consequences. 1 John 1:9 is absolutely true, “If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
So, it is true God is love and does not want to punish us for our sins
(1 John 4:8b). At the same time, however,
Exodus 34:7b is also true, “Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.” Let me give an example: An unwed couple
decides to have sex before marriage even though they know God says this is
wrong and sinful. Along the way, the
girl becomes pregnant. They go to God
and confess and repent of their sin and God does forgive them. Does God’s forgiveness remove the pregnancy
and all the consequences that come with their decision to have sex before
marriage? If we are a Believer, then Romans
8:28 gives us hope. It states, “We
know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those
who are called according to His purpose.”
In our illustration was it God’s will for the premarital sex? No.
The couple has now confessed and repented and the process of
sanctification begins. God uses the
consequences, the baby in this illustration, as a way of molding these two
people into His image. Considering this
illustration often times happens to young people, does God’s working this out
to their good mean there are only good, happy days in front of this
couple? Absolutely not, there will in
fact be more difficult days before them than God would have desired. The point today is that if we had a proper
fear of God and the consequences that accompany our sins, we would be careful to
avoid sin. Beloved, let us live life
with a proper fear of God.
Questions:
- Do you live your life as if there are no consequences
to your sin?
- Do you have proper fear of such consequences?
Prayer: Merciful Father, I thank You that You do forgive me of my
transgressions. Lord, in our
easy-believism culture, however, I often forget there are consequences to my
sin. Help, me to understand the devastating
consequences to my haphazard approach to You and sin. Amen.
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