Sin is not just the foolish mistakes you have made or the way you have brought trouble to your life or that to others. When you confess your sin, you are admitting that you have lifted yourself up against God. You are acknowledging that you have refused to listen when He has spoken to you to in His Word. You have turned away from the very purpose and meaning of things. You have rebelled against the King of kings and have attempted to overthrow His reign. You have been hard-hearted, stubborn, polluted, defiled guilty, and worthy of punishment.
In short, you have hated God. John Owen (1616-1683) reminded us that since sin is “enmity against God” (Rom. 8:7), every sin is hatred toward the Lord and rebellion against His authority. Whether or not we are believers, the least degree of sin is hostility against God, just as “every drop of poison is poison, and will infect, every spark of fire is fire, and will burn.” Think of it: the smallest motion of sin in your heart is a criminal act of hostility to God.
Adapted from Reformed Systematic Theology, Volume 2: Man and Christ by Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley
No comments:
Post a Comment