Living a life of freedom and peace requires me to rightly identify present barriers. These are not always clear and I personally need the help of loved ones to understand the leading of the Holy Spirit. One thing for sure, sin is always a barrier to the life of freedom that I long for. Dealing with this barrier calls for understanding how the death of Christ has dealt with my sin and makes peace and freedom a possibility. I cannot be afraid to directly confront my own sin.
We all desire lives of freedom and peace, but our efforts often bring the opposite. The opposite occurs because with the goal of living, we are often dying. By this, I mean that our self-efforts in gaining freedom and peace only lead to bondage and dependency. For example, to receive love, many enter relationships that end up breaking our heart in the end. In your efforts to live, are you destroying yourself? We all have the propensity to do this, so it is imperative to properly identify the problem.
To start with, we must understand that sin is the basic problem of humanity. Much is said concerning the exact nature of sin and what is exactly sinful. For centuries, Christians have attempted understand sin and have made mistakes in applying what is truly taught in Scripture. To sum up much of the Bible and historical theology it is safe to say that sin is essentially a state of being separated from God. A heart that recognizes this separation seeks mercy in the light of God’s holy nature.
Psalm 51:1-9
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Isaiah 6:5
5 And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes, have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"
The second aspect of sin that we must grasp is that sin is universal. By this this we mean that it has and does affect everyone and everything. There is not one single person who on their own has properly dealt with their own personal sin. Both King David and Paul the Apostle make this abundantly clear in their own lives and writings.
Proverbs 20:9 - Who can say, "I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin"?
Romans 3:21-24
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Being that sin is separation from God and keeps us from living the life that we are dying to live, each one of us must priorities our personal sin. Jesus makes this point in the Gospel of Luke 6:42 “How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye. You will never live a life of freedom and peace until you deal with what is causing the problem. You will also be unable to help others deal with the barriers in their own life. This passage teaches us that as we deal with our personal sin, we will be able to see clearly into the lives of those we love. For many reasons Christians, have believed that they are not to speak of the sin of other because it is “judging”. This lie has left us all personally blind and useless. This is a key reason why many Christians fail to lead anyone to a relationship with Jesus.
Finally, we as a church must take sin more serious. We cannot attempt to minimalize or ignore the sin present within us. As you finish reading this post, please take a moment to reflect upon these very powerful passages of Scripture that help us understand the seriousness of sin. May the Lord call you to repentance out of His tremendous mercy, grace, and love. And my you discover the peace and freedom that Jesus died to give you.
Genesis 4:7
7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."
Matthew 5:29-30
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
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