“You have not as yet estimated the great burden of sin,” said the great early theologian St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury (Cur Deus Homo, i.xxi). Sadly to say this this problem was not isolated to his days of the 1100’s but is, like in most ages, and issue for out times as well. I am not speaking about this as being a problem in the world but in the church. The lack of a biblical understanding of the severity of sin is one of the reasons the church has continually encountered so many problems within itself throughout its two thousand years of life. This is evident when we read Paul’s words in I Corinthians when he rebukes the Church of Corinth for their condoning a case of incest within their own congregation. Not only did they allow this in their midst but they were even boasting of it as if it were some badge to be proud of. What a compromise we have put ourselves into. We lighten the weightiness of sin so as to not offend those who attend our churches and in the act of doing so we offend God instead and make null and void His Gospel.
If you were to ask the avid Church member that fills the pew of his local Church on Sunday morning what sin “is” you might be shocked to hear some of the answers. A typical answer might go something like this, “a sin is a moral imperfection that prevents me from being as good as I could or should be.” There is a serious lack of God-centeredness in that answer. According to the answer just given it would seem that the crime one has committed is against oneself . Yet if one were to be properly disciple in the Scriptures you would get an answer similar to this: “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God” (taken from The Baptist Catechism, Q.18). 1 John 3.4 is the basis of such an answer, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” Notice that according to this answer and the Bible that the offensiveness of sin is towards God. It is god who is offended by our sin. Sin is anything other than the absolute perfection in following the law of God. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, “Doubtless every sin is a God-provoking thing. It seems to stir Him to jealousy. As the blood of Abel cried ‘Vengeance,’ so does sin. It is the thorn in the side of justice, a stab in the heart of truth.”
What is meant when I say that there is a “softening” of sin in our day? Simply this: it is the view that sin is not taken seriously by God Himself so it shouldn’t really concern us either. This misunderstanding of the doctrine of sin can, and historically has, lead to a distortion of foundational doctrines of the Christian Faith. One must only consider a sampling of the errors of this view can produce to grasp the direness of the situation.
According to those who do not see their sins as being a weighty thing there is not danger of Hell in sight. “Hell,” they say, “was made for ‘bad people’ like murderers, despites, and the gravest of rogues. My “sins” are too petty to attract the attention of God’s wrath.” This was the type of person St Anselm was speaking to in our opening line, “You have not as yet estimated the great burden of sin.” Why has this person not properly understood the weightiness of their sin? Because they have not yet first considered the magnitude of the Holiness and Majesty of God Almighty! If one is to have a proper understanding of ones’ sin, and of all thing, one must first see properly (biblically) the God whom they are transgressing against.
A passage of Scriptures that captures this relationship of these doctrines is found in Isaiah 6.1-8. There we read of a prophet of God calling down a curse upon his own head for merely having looked at God. What would make a man of God, one of His prophet do such an extreme thing? Because he saw God! He did not see a “care bear,” a grandfatherly old man, or even some cosmic impartial being. Isaiah tells us of a God that is fearful to look upon, even for a prophet. In this passage we even see that the angels around God are covering their faces from Him. But why is God so dreadful to look at. To be honest, God is the most splendid, glorious, radiant and beautiful being in existence. And that is just the problem here. God is Holy. Not just mildly holy but in this passage of the Bible the angels cry out that God is three times holy. In His presence they declare, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" God’s holiness is not a singular attribute like His love, justice, grace, mercy, etc. No, it is not to be seen that way. It is everything about God that is holy. He is complete otherness and perfection in all His attributes and character. He is the Holy Creator and Ruler of the Universe. Isaiah’s dread was the result of seeing his sin in the light of the holiness of God. He saw that a sin committed against an infinitely holy God could only be infinitely offensive, and therefore infinitely punishable. Even his “minutest” sin was a stench in the nostrils of God. There was noting “inoffensive” about any of Isaiah’s sins, and now that he had seen God he knew it. Every aspect of his life had no been in conformity with the perfect nature of God. There is no middle ground in God’s dealing of sin. If it is not glorifying to His name then it is refuse and must be cast into Hell, away from his holy presence. God will vindicate His name against all who offend it with acts of lawless rebellion, sin. As Isaiah learned, there are no “little” sins.
We must ask a practical question at this point. How do we run this tide of thought that runs so rampant in the Church at large? We must look to the Cross. It is there we see it all. It is there that we see how serious sin is. It was there upon that tree that the Son of God, that perfect, spotless, and lovely lamb did hang, nailed and sacrificed for the weightiness of my sin and yours. It was there that a Holy Love broke through the severity of our sins and saved us from the doom that awaited. Think on this, the cost of your sin, the death of the Prince of Heaven, Jesus Christ. Can you really think of your sin as non-offensive or minor when you consider the cost Christ paid for it. “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1Pe 1:19).
Look today to the Cross. There you will see your sinfulness and you will see the great, holy love of God!
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