What Is Our Reaction To Sin?
by Chris Simmons
Sin has been, is, and always will be prevalent in the world men live in. The question always has been and always will be, what will our reaction be to the sin in the world?
The prophet Ezekiel was told by God in Ezekiel 9:4 to note those who “sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” Do “we sigh and groan” over sin today? The same Hebrew word for “sigh” is also used in Proverbs 29:2 where it refers to a citizenry who “groan” when a wicked man is ruling. It is also in Exodus 2:23 to refer to the reaction of the Israelites to their oppression in bondage. The Hebrew word for “groan” means to shriek, lament, or cry. Do we show lamentation over the sin, first in our own lives and second in the world around us? Does sin really bother us anymore? Is our soul ever “tormented” (II Peter 2:7-8) as Lot’s was while he lived in the midst of sin in Sodom and Gomorrah? Even if we don’t participate, the temptation is to become apathetic to sin in its various manifestations.
When is the last time we ever felt any sense of anger or indignation over sin? We read in Psalms 119:52-53, “I have remembered Thine ordinances from of old, O Lord, and comfort myself. Burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked, who forsake Thy law.” Not that we are to be ugly about it or to forsake our responsibility to “correct those who are in opposition” with “gentleness” (II Timothy 2:21) and love (I Corinthians 13:1-3; Ephesians 4:15), but our passion for truth and righteousness (as defined by God) should cause an occasional feeling of “burning indignation” over the sin either in our own lives or that of those in the world around us.
Do we ever feel any sadness over the plague of sin of those in the world? We read in James 4:9 of the reaction we are to have to sin, “Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom.” Our media and society promotes a response to sin of comedy and humor. Sin is the source of the vast majority of what people laugh at today. Have we been so affected by the world to the point that we find no occasion for mourning in the sin that is all around us? We read in Jeremiah 13:17, “But if you will not listen to it, My soul will sob in secret for such pride; and my eyes will bitterly weep and flow down with tears, because the flock of the Lord has been taken captive.” David said in Psalms 119:136, “My eyes shed streams of water, because they do not keep Thy law.” Sin is not funny at all but miserably sad.
It’s not that sin that is openly committed before others today wasn’t committed in generations gone by. It’s just that the sense of shame and embarrassment that should accompany sin is no longer there. Have we also lost our sense of shame? In response to the unlawful marriages that the Israelites had entered into, Ezra said in Ezra 9:5-6, “But at the evening offering I arose from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I fell on my knees and stretched out my hands to the Lord my God; and I said, ‘O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to Thee, my God, for our iniquities have risen above our heads, and our guilt has grown even to the heavens.’” Jeremiah, speaking of Judah’s sin, referred to it as a “shameful thing” and said in Jeremiah 3:25, “Let us lie down in our shame, and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, since our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.” Unfortunately, Jeremiah’s call for the people to be ashamed over their sins went unheeded. God said in Jeremiah 6:15, “‘Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; they did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be cast down,’ says the Lord.” We ought to be gravely concerned for our souls if we no longer are embarrassed by sin. Or do we take pride in how open-minded we are in terms of our tolerance for what God has said is sinful? In I Corinthians 5, Paul rebukes the brethren in Corinth for their arrogance and their lack of shame and mourning for the brother in their midst who was living in fornication (verses 1-2).
In contrast to all these reactions, Paul teaches us in II Corinthians 7:11 that our reaction to sin is to be defined by godly sorrow, vindication, indignation, fear, longing, zeal, and the avenging of wrong. We ought to “sigh and groan.” We should feel a sense of both sadness and indignation. We should be characterized by attitudes of shame and embarrassment. But more than anything, sin should cause us to turn to the gospel and, when truth should pierce our hearts, cause us to turn in repentance and obedience to the will of God (Acts 2:37-38).