Sin. That's right I said the "s" word.

You know, I’ve been thinking (haha).

I’ve been thinking about the fact that we don’t talk about sin so much anymore. I mean, we don’t use the word sin. I’m thinking the reason we don’t call sin — sin, is we don’t want to offend anyone.

And yet sin is an offense to God.

So then, isn’t what we’re really saying when we don’t call sin — sin, that we should not offend each other but it's okay that we are offending God?

But what if calling sin — sin, is the most loving thing we can do?

I mean our sin is why Jesus went to the cross. So then, sin is no small thing because the penalty of sin is physical and spiritual death. Please bare with me a few more minutes as I process my thoughts with my fingers!

Because we are eternal beings we will either live forever in the presence of God or forever excluded from His presence. God says in His Word that because of our sin, we are His enemy and further, we are helpless to do anything about it. From that first sin in the garden, there was a substitutionary death. An animal would die in their place. Animal sacrifices would continue until the death of Jesus. His blood was shed on our behalf. He died in our place saving us from not only the penalty of sin but the power of sin over our lives and eventually, the presence of sin.

Question: Why would we ever take sin lightly, stop talking about sin, or argue over what is sin? Truth? Because we like our sin and not naming it and claiming it allows us to justify it. You know it’s true. We’ve all been there.

Jesus, in his final Words to his disciples (and to us too) prays that God will make them/us holy by the truth (John 17). In other words, Jesus is asking God to set us apart in our thinking and behavior from the world. Then, Jesus goes on to say how we are set apart…changed in our thinking and behavior. He says, God’s Word is truth. At that time God’s Word was the entirety of the Old Testament.

Have you ever read the first 5 books of the Old Testament? Leviticus? Well, it’s chocked full of what being holy — being set apart from the world — acts and looks like. Honestly, it’s a very, very high and impossible standard. But for Jesus.

Jesus, in Matthew 5, says He didn’t come to abolish the law (the first 5 books of the Old Testament) but to fulfill it. This means that everything written in the Old Testament is forever the standard for holiness. Add to it the behaviors mentioned in the New Testament and there, clearly laid out, is the answer to “what is sin?” If you take the time to read, you’ll eventually throw up your hands and cry out – impossible! You’ll also realize you are doomed. But for Jesus.

Sweet Jesus, come to die in our place saving us from the penalty, power and some day the presence of sin.

Sin is serious. All, any sin is serious. There is no one sin that is better or worse than the other. Before the throne of God sin is sin and we are all equal in our sin. This is why we must show each other great compassion and understanding. That’s why naming it and claiming it is so important. That’s why talking about sin, teaching on sin, turning from our sin is so very important. These actions are not meant to offend but to do as Jesus says…make holy by the truth, God’s Word is truth.

Speaking truth about sin (from the whole counsel of God’s Word) is an act of love.