Whatever happened to the fear of sinning?

What does the average, or maybe we could say normal, person think about sin? Have you noticed that most people would rather listen to messages that talk about how much God loves us and wants to bless us, than how His heart is breaking over us failing Him? Some of you might be thinking, you thought this was an inspiring and encouraging column, but my response is like your mom used to say, before we eat our chocolate cake, we also need to eat our spinach. We claim we want to please God, but is this true? Our level of reverential fear of who He is reveals how much we love and respect Him.

Do we have an awareness or feel guilty when we are not displaying the character of God? For those who have made a vow to honor the covenant of Christ, are they convicted when they willingly disobey Him? One of the dangers of becoming distracted with the everyday activities of life is how seldom we examine our attitude and behavior. Being spiritually cold and calloused is how the heart and mind can grow numb to sin. Aren't we required to develop spiritual discernment? It's one thing to feel guilty about sins we commit, but we often forget about the sins of omission, where we neglect to obey His voice. We are deceived to assume that God is lenient about our rebellion, as He does not turn a blind eye to our secret games of denial.

This brings us to some interesting questions: Does God keep a running record of our sins? When we ask Him to become our Lord, does this mean all our sins, past, present, and future, are forgiven? If we need to constantly ask forgiveness, do we confess each sin specifically, or can we just take the easy way by grouping them all together as one general request? "Lord, forgive me of all my sins." Some churches emphasize private confession, where the individual explains to the priest the ultimate details of what they have done. This particular theology believes a prescription is given that will eliminate the offenses from the eternal record. Other churches embrace that Jesus is the only personal mediator between God and man, and the only Savior who can forgive us. Jesus paid for our sins with His blood at Golgotha, but does this mean that all our trespasses are automatically washed away? Or are we required to repent for each specific sin? What if we forget about certain sins?

Sin is basically defined as missing the mark, which refers to God's plan for the redeemed to live holy as He is holy. You see, God has the highest standard of purity and expects His people to see sin as intentional rebellion and disobedience. We have mentioned recently how it's common for the average person to ignore sin as something that God does not pay attention to. This is not true. We need to realize our carnal behavior breaks His heart. When was the last time our sin made us physically ill to the point of being nauseated? Why are we not afraid of sinning against Him, especially since the Bible contains terrifying stories about those who did? One example is found in Joshua chapter seven about a man named Achan. He kept some of the valuable spoils of war, after God warned Israel to not keep anything, and his disobedience resulted in Israel losing the battle, the death of 36 soldiers, and he and his entire family were executed.

In Acts chapter five, we read about Ananias and Sapphira, a husband and wife who claimed to donate the full amount of a land sale to the church. However, as they secretly held back a portion for themselves, their deception was considered by God as lying to the Holy Spirit, and they fell dead. There is not enough room to list them, but consider just a few punishments for sin including Adam and Eve, the prophets of Baal, the flood, Miriam's leprosy, Lot's wife, Herod Agrippa, Nabal, Er and Onan, Uzzah, Nadab and Abihu, Sodom, the 250 followers of Korah, and the 42 children who mocked the prophet Elisha. The point is that just because we do not see people falling dead for their sins, this does not cancel the warning that declares the wages of sin are death. "Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire" Hebrews 12:28-29.

Dr. Holland is an ordained minister, chaplain, author, and teacher. Read more about the Christian life at billyhollandministries.com.