Ah Friends, it’s Monday again, and we have to go back out into the sin riddled workday world. There’s nothing we can do about it, so please ensure that we’re dressed in all our battle armour, so we can withstand the evil attacks of the enemy. And we’re continuing the series on sin, after a much welcome Mother’s Day break. Yes, what I originally viewed as a one episode Bit has turned out to be much more than that. But such is the nature of the Holy Spirit; it guides you to unexpected people, places and things. Anyway, we broke off the last time where the Lord grew tired of the blood sacrifices that He’d originally instituted and finally sent His Son, Jesus to die for all people and pay the sacrificial blood price for sin once and forever. ‘For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,’ as Bruh Paul so rightly noted. And Bruh David solemnly declared: ‘Behold, I was shapen (brought forth) in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.’ (Ps.51:5) Yes my people, we were born under the sign of sin, it’s in all our genes. Thus, from the very start of our lives, we’ve fallen short of God’s standards. Though we can all improve in our own right, we can never attain to God’s standards of righteousness, if left to our own devices. That’s why the Lord devised the just and LOVING plan to save us through the righteousness of Jesus. If we believe in and follow Him, then our sins will be forgiven through His most generous and kind offer of grace, which leads to salvation and ultimately the wonderful, unsurpassable reward of eternal life. Wow! What a most gratifying plan mih people! But sadly, many people are still not accepting that magnanimous gesture that our God graciously instituted so that we can be made right with Him. Oh Friends, it’s a crying shame that so many of us, a majority of the world’s population, are still so deeply mired in the clutches of sin, and it breaks God’s heart to see us so blatantly and unconcernedly transgressing His Holy Laws. Up to this point we’ve been talking about sin in general terms, but now I want to break it down to a more particular state. Let’s look at sin as it pervades our individual, day to day lives. It’s acknowledged that there are basically two kinds of sin; those of commission, where we do what we’re not supposed to, and those of omission, where we don’t do what we should. And those can apply either in thoughts, words or deeds, meaning actions and attitudes. There’s also a list of what’s commonly termed, the seven deadly sins, made up of pride, lust, anger, covetousness, gluttony, envy and sloth. Therefore, if we journey down any of those paths, we’re on extremely shaky ground, for those are the enemy’s paths, not our God’s. He detests, abhors those negative attitudes, so when we do them, we’re blatantly disobeying Him, and unfortunately, ignorance is no excuse. Now let’s check out a few ways the Good Book describes our sinful behaviour, starting with the renowned Isaiah. He says: ‘All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.’ (Is.53:6) What a mighty pronouncement mih people, hundreds of years before Jesus came! Like mindless, foolish sheep, we’ve all strayed from the laws of God, so to satisfy His righteousness and His undying LOVE for us, He placed all our sins on His innocent Son, Jesus; caused Him to be abused for our sakes, yet we still don’t show proper gratitude. Then we have Bruh David’s famous prayer for cleansing, after he’d schemed to committ adultery with Bathsheba and have her husband Nathan killed in battle. ‘Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy LOVING kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified (found just) when thou speakest, and be clear (blameless) when thou judgest.’ (Ps.51:1-4) Bruh David seriously transgressed there, overstepped his bounds, doing only what God had the right to do. This brings us to the fearful fact that sin can have very serious repercussions, between men, and also between God and men. Wherefore Bruh Paul testified: ‘And you hath he quickened (made alive) who were dead in trespasses and sins.’ (Eph.2:1) Oh my people, it’s imperative we recognize that it’s only through God’s power, His divine grace, that we’ve been set free from our sins, reborn to a new way of life in Jesus. And Ephesians 2:2-10 points out some of the many ways the Lord’s worked that cleansing in our lives. The overwhelming conclusion then is that sin’s very destructive, and if it’s not kept in tight check, it’s liable to destroy the natural process of life, both of nature and people. However, since Bruh David admitted that we’re conceived in sin, then it’s difficult for us to transcend it, and impossible to forego it completely. And that’s exactly why the Lord provided Jesus as our eternal scapegoat. In the reassuring words of John: ‘My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye (may not) sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate (intercessor) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.’ (1 John 2:1-3) Ah Friends, after reading such glowing testimony, I can’t help commenting on the wonderful God we serve, for He’s provided this most excellent avenue for us to be made righteous through His Son, Jesus. Why aren’t more people accepting it eh? No other deity has such magnanimity towards their followers. Please, I implore us, let’s seriously concentrate on cutting down on our obvious sins, and try to uplift our righteousness with God, through Christ. It’s the only way to escape death and eternal damnation with Lucifer, which I sincerely hope we all want to avoid. Much LOVE!…sin is our mortal enemy…for righteousness to abound…it must be defeated…
SCRIP-BITS 