The Defilement of Sin
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The Defilement of Sin
2Co 6:14 Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?
2Co 6:15 What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?
2Co 6:16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
2Co 6:17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.
2Co 6:18 And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.”
Therefore:
2Co 7:1 Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.
The above verse says that because God has promised to welcome us, and to be a Father to us, we are to cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit, and because of our love and respect for Him we are to have holiness as the priority of our life.
Let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit.
The Apostle Paul is saying that a lifestyle of chronic sinfulness leads to an inward pollution. Sinfulness is never beneficial but always brings one lower than they were created to be. Chronic sinfulness is much more than bad behavior, it is a fatal sickness of the soul. It reflects a malignant willingness to ignore the good and embrace the evil. Our created purpose is to reflect the goodness and love of God. The scripture says we are to be "imitators" of God, meaning we are to honor Him by conforming our behavior to His behavior. The person who is willing to ignore the goodness of God as a pattern for their own life has abandoned their created purpose. Jeremiah the prophet says the person who turns away from following the Lord becomes spiritually sick. The measure of our soul is not what we say, think, or feel about ourselves, it is not what the culture says, but the real test of who we are is answered by the question - are we willing to turn from those things that dishonor the Lord and give ourselves to a lifestyle that honors Him? This is the real test! Our behavior does not lie but shows who and what we love the most.
Sin is deceptive and sings it beguiling song to all who will listen. It assures us that our behavior will in no way result in an inward defilement, that if we just follow our own path, we will find the good life. In reality, sin gives only emptiness, only guilt, only hopelessness, and then opens our life to all kinds of emotional and spiritual baggage. If we willingly give ourselves to sin, then we become its servant. Romans 6:16 is very clear - it says that we become servants to whom we obey, whether of sin that leads to death or of righteousness that leads to holiness. If we willingly give ourselves to sin, then it will own us by making our heart unresponsive to the Spirit of God.
Those who enter into a life of willful sin have to ignore their own conscience. Initially, our conscience is tender and sensitive. If offended it will speak loudly, but if we habitually ignore our conscience, then its voice becomes increasingly distant, and eventually silent; a man/woman without a working conscience has indeed lost the meaning of being "made in the image of God".
Our purpose is to love, enjoy, and reflect the goodness of God. We should fear sin for it will take from us the very reason of our existence. It will enslave us, abuse us, and then leave us in a very deep, dark, hole. As one man said, "sin will take you farther than you ever wanted to go, it will keep you longer than you ever wanted to stay, and it will cost you more than you ever wanted to pay!" Feeling guilt over sin is a blessing and should never be ignored. The Scripture speaks of two roads in life. A narrow road that leads to eternal life and a broad road that leads to eternal destruction. The person who feels no guilt, but sins with enthusiasm, tragically has joined the crowd on the broad road.
A life given to human appetite will not produce a godly, wholesome, individual. Human appetite, which the scriptures call "fleshly lust" will never produces a happy and wholesome individual. Fleshly lusts cannot produce a life of genuine virtue because they prioritize "me and what I want." A self-centered way of living is the problem. Human appetite does not produce a wholesome and fulfilling life but an empty and shallow life. Those things that fill a person with genuine goodness come from God alone but if we reject what He has to say then we experience the emptiness of a godless life. Only God can give the strength and wholeness, on the inside, that makes one big enough to escape himself. An empty and unfulfilled person falls into the kind of thinking and behavior that opens the door to depression, anxiety, fear, and all kinds of unhappiness.
Human appetite is the soil that produces a life of sin. Human appetite never makes a better person, and it never produces anything of lasting value but always leaves one discouraged and unfulfilled. If we allow ourselves to be ruled by human appetite, then sin will sit on the throne of our life, and it rather than God will determine the kind of person we become. The scriptures warn us - if we give ourselves to sin it will stain (defile, corrupt) our body and spirit. The defilement of sin is real and if we willingly give ourselves to sinful living, we really will not become the person God has created us to be.
Once a person enters a life of willful and habitual sin, they no longer are the same person. How is it that a person becomes cold and uncaring toward God? The scriptures teach there is a direct link between wicked behavior and one's mental/emotional/spiritual condition. The scripture says the wicked seek peace but never find it. What a powerful truth - there is no peace for the wicked, it cannot be found! The bible says anger does not work the righteousness of God; no righteousness no peace! The bible is filled with examples of bad behavior leading to a ruined life. We all have watched as a young person, once filled with optimism and energy, who enters the party lifestyle with all its associated behaviors, begins their downward spiral into a person we never knew. How many have received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizo-affective or some other disorder subsequent to their regular use of street drugs. How many find themselves needing anti-depressants following even a single night of sexual sin. The scriptures warn us, sin can and will destroy you. It is cruel, it shows no mercy, and it will empty you of the good that is in you.
I talked with a man who had a one-time sexual encounter with a transvestite. He said during their encounter a pain came into his head, and it never left. For years he has taken all kinds of psycho-active meds in an attempt to rid himself of his mental pain. He lives in a house but lives like a homeless person. He has never married, about half his house is uninhabitable, he has no heat, his clothes are old and dirty, everything he owns is broken and rotten. One looks at his life and shakes their head. Is there an answer for him, yes! Will he listen, no! Is he willing to turn from his raunchy porn habit, no! Is he willing to call upon Christ for deliverance, no! Is he willing to find a good church, and good friends who will help him recover himself, no! Proverbs 7 speaks of sexual sin, and flat-out states that many who enter a promiscuous lifestyle never recover! The New Testament also warns us, 1Cor. 6:18 tells us to flee sexual sin! If we are wise, we will listen.
People who enter into sexual sin open their mind to demonic oppression. Sexual sin joins the person, in an unholy way, to the spiritual condition of their sexual partner. Unholy sexual activity brings one into contact with whatever spirit is in their sexual partner. Believe me, the person who sleeps around does not know the ultimate physical or spiritual cost of their behavior. Promiscuous living does not end well but puts one on a sure path to lose themselves. God's way of intimacy is marriage, and if done right, will become the healthiest, most wholesome, most healing relationship this side of heaven!
Sin changes our brain chemistry. It changes our thoughts and our emotions which all are parts of our physical body. Our thoughts and emotions are physical in that they exist as an electro-chemical process. Sinful living changes our brain chemistry by changing the content and focus of our thoughts. Rather than thinking good and wholesome thoughts, which leads to good brain chemistry, sinfulness leads us away from wholesome thoughts and into a dark emotional world.
A few years ago, a co-worker, whose 18 year old daughter was severely depressed, asked that I pray for her daughter. Also, my co-worker informed me that her daughter was not married but living with her boyfriend. I thought to myself, “to whom do you want me to pray”? Do you want me to pray to the God of the Bible, the One who says, sexual behavior outside of marriage is sin? Or, the God who says, "the wicked cry for peace but there is no peace for the wicked"? Should I pray that God give her peace even while she chooses to remain in her sin? I didn’t say what I was thinking. But I did say perhaps her depression was related to her living arrangement with her boyfriend, (I thought to myself, being in an ungodly relationship with one's boyfriend should make us depressed). I told her that if her daughter moved back home, she may feel better. There was no doubt in my mind her depression was another example of the negative emotional effects of sinful living. Sin always exacts a price, it never brings peace, and never leaves one better than it finds them. My co-worker, with whom I had enjoyed a good relationship, never again spoke to me. It was not my intent to offend her but to help her daughter from decisions that had the potential to negatively affect her entire life! Unholy sexual relationships are never, never, good for us! It is amazing to me, how one can ask God for help, and then not listen to what He says! God says if we live with our ears closed to Him, and if after many warnings we're unwilling to turn, then when we cry for help, our unwillingness to hear Him will close His ears to us! The quickest way to get help from God is to repent and begin listening to Him!
What is the answer for sin's defilement of our heart and mind? The answer is repentance, meaning one must confess and then turn from their sins! Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sin will not prosper, but whoso confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
The grace of God will never overlook sin because like snake venom sin is physically fatal, a sinful lifestyle is 100% fatal to the soul. If the Lord God overlooked sin, then He would be in complete agreement with the serpent who introduced sin into the human race. 1John 1:5 says there is no sin in Christ, "in Him is Light and in Him is no darkness at all" meaning if we are going to be in fellowship with Jesus, we cannot bring willful sin into our relationship with Him. Also, if Jesus did not break the bondage of sin over His people, they would not be able to love Him; chronic, unconfessed sin and love for God are incompatible. We cannot love God and continue a life of willful sin. 1John 2:3-5 tells us the evidence of real love for God is believing and then doing what He says!
How do we stop sinning? The transforming work of the Holy Spirit and the renewing of our mind by the Word of God empowers the Christian to stop sinning. We know sin can be overcome because the heart and soul of the Gospel is the defeat of sin. Jesus said anyone who lived in their sinfulness were of the devil, meaning they have the same spirit and live in agreement with him. Jesus goes on to say He came to destroy the works of the devil, who sinned from the beginning. From this we know the work of Jesus is to deliver those who put their faith in Him from the power of the devil and from the power of sin. There is no such thing as a born-again Christian who cannot stop sinning! We are not saying the Christian can walk in sinless perfection, but we are saying that the Christian is no longer bound by sin. Because Jesus gives a new heart and a new Spirit, we can stop the dark behavior and start living a godly and wholesome lifestyle. Jesus by His death, burial, and resurrection defeated sin for every person who puts their faith in Him. Romans 6:14 states that because we are under grace and not law, sin will not have dominion (rule) over us. Also, Colossians 1:13 says that the person who comes to Christ is delivered out of the Kingdom of Darkness and into the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. If we are delivered from the Kingdom of Darkness that means we are delivered from the power of sin. We have no excuse to continue a life of sinful disobedience. The person of faith is given great and precious promises that they might partake in the divine nature and be done, once and for all, with a life of sin and its destructive effects. Being adopted into the family of God is like coming home to a loving Father who assures us that whatever we need for life and godliness, He will abundantly supply. This is very, very, good news!
God bless you
Jim
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