What is Sinful?
John 15:18-16:4a
Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
John 15:18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. 20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 “But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. 22 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 “He who hates Me hates My Father also. 24 “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. 25 “But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’
John 15:26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, 27 and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
John 16:1 “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. 2 “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone cwho kills you to think that he is offering service to God. 3 “These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. 4 “But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.
Jesus offers his disciples a lot of important information in his words. It was important for the disciples to know that because they were going to stay a part of his teaching that the world was going to hate them. That conclusion had to come from the pressure that the religious authorities were placing upon Jesus. He knew that even after his death that the religious leaders would try to eliminate all remnants of his teachings.
When a prophet told Jerusalem's leaders they were disobeying God, they were killed and erased from history. It is difficult to maintain power over people who believe that the leaders are exploiting them. Therefore, the religious leadership in Jerusalem in Jesus’ day had to remove him and eliminate all traces of his teachings. That meant that Jesus’ disciples had to be silenced. Unfortunately, the best way to silence a person is by killing him or her. That happened.
Fortunately for us, the Gospel was not destroyed. An odd thing happened. The Gospel spread and it spread faster as the persecutions got more intense. That is counterintuitive, however, it shows that when something or someone is doing the work of the LORD, they become unstoppable. Jesus continues to live with us if we are preaching and following his word! The blessings of heaven and earth are available to all the disciples of Jesus. We must read the Gospels and seek the original meaning of Jesus told us about the Kingdom of Heaven versus the Kingdom of Earth.
First thing that Jesus told his disciples was that they had relinquished their claims in the kingdom of earth in favor of the Kingdom of God. Their need and concern about material things ended, and they were to seek their spiritual life. The Earth is the only place where both materialism and spirituality exist. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit was sent to us to bridge the two. The Kingdom of God was not just in Heaven but also on Earth. Those people who wanted to experience and be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven are welcomed in with open arms.
There is one key point for the admission into the Kingdom of God and that is to have a faith in Jesus. This means living by the words and actions of Jesus. We should celebrate that Jesus lived amongst us and gave us the simplified formula: love God and love neighbor. What exactly does this do for us?
Let me explain it. How do we know that something said or done is sinful? The easy answer is to find a law in the Bible that forbids it. Martin Luther said if the Bible says it is a sin, then don’t do it! If the Bible says it's ok to do, then do it. If the Bible is silent on the subject, then don’t do it. Wow, that sounds simple. I wish it was that way. When we read this section of John’s Gospel, it is difficult to unpack what Jesus was telling us. How do we know what sin is? I feel like I just made a circular argument.
Let’s say that if there is something that you want to do ask yourself if it violates the two great commandments of Jesus. Does it violate loving God? Does it violate loving your neighbor? If the action is yes to either of these questions, then it is sinful. We don’t need a law against everything that is sinful. Such a book would be larger than the largest library in Heaven and would grow exponentially constantly.
Be careful because they're a few items in the Bible that are sinful but may not violate the two great commandments. Perhaps if we examined these items one at a time, we may find that they violate the two great commandments.
Let’s turn for a moment to some things that are happening in our society today. There are a lot of things happening that are clearly in violation of the two great commandments. However, today’s society has decided to accept them as acceptable. This shows that our society is turning away from the LORD. When sinful actions are being reclassified as acceptable then one must ask why?
Perhaps there is another way to deal with these areas that are not biblical but acceptable by society. Jesus addressed these items in this section of John’s Gospel. There are two kingdoms: the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Earth. Jesus advised that some people in Earth's kingdom may act in a way that goes against the Bible and its two great commandments. He asks us: what are you going to do when this happens?
It is difficult to change a society’s ways, but you can change your own. If you accept a societal norm as acceptable but it is not acceptable by the Bible, then you have declared that you are a citizen of the kingdom of Earth. If you decide the norm is sinful and you avoid it as much as possible, then you are declaring your citizenship in the Kingdom of God. There are plenty of societal norms that violate the Bible. As an individual, it is not possible to change it. Even groups of people try to change the norms, and some succeed and many do not.
The answer to this problem is to acknowledge your citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven and do not do these sinful things. Another aspect of the Kingdom of Heaven is to accept the LORD’s forgiveness for any sins that you may have committed. I hope you agree it is possible to write laws about every aspect of life. That is why I argue that examining an action against the two great commandments is the best way to determine whether something is sinful. However, when a person is young, their thinking is sometimes not clear. Also, as adult sinful acts happen. Repent the sin, ask Jesus for forgiveness, then accept the biblical fact that you will be forgiven. Just don’t do that sin again and you will be fine.
Jesus said that you are not thrown out of the Kingdom of Heaven because you sin. What will revoke membership is not acknowledging sin and not requesting forgiveness. So, in prayer, request forgiveness, make any restitutions necessary, and know that you are a member of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus accepts us who do this.
In conclusion, love the LORD, love Jesus, and love the Holy Spirit.
