1 J0hn 3:4-6
There was a recent TV advert that described a chocolate dessert as being so good that it was sinful. I assume that they didn’t meant that it was poisoned or that you would be arrested for eating it but that it was a self-indulgent temptation. However, the fact that they used sin as a positive description shows how differently people understand the word. What is sin?
A lot of the time I think of sin as being something unloving or selfish. However, that can be incredibly situational and may ultimately leave me as the authority on what is sinful or not. However sin is not subjective. In this passage we are told that sin is lawlessness. It is when we want to define our own morality outside of God and live in a way that he does not condone. This is why he says that if we know God then we will not sin. God’s commands are the boundaries that exist to create a safe, healthy and fair world where everyone can flourish. Laws are essential in every flourishing community.
Sin is when we break God’s commands and seek to rule the world without Him. We choose to ignore or twist what he commands, so that we can live our own vision of the future. The consequences of breaking them are that we get to reap the fruit of lawlessness.
Reflect
- How do you feel about the idea that God has laws that we must follow?
- Does your heart long to please God or circumvent Him?
- What is the fruit of lawlessness?
Respond
Reflect on whether there are any areas that you are living in a way that you know God does not approve of. What is the cost of that choice? What would it look like to change?
