The Outrageousness Of Sin

The Outrageousness of Sin

Proverbs 14:34

We live in a day of tolerance. Bill Muehlenberg in his blog, CultureWatch, says, “Tolerance is all the rage today, and perhaps no other value is so trumpeted in modern Western culture than this one. It is the ultimate test of whether one is politically correct or not. But the modern notion of tolerance is devastatingly false. Unlike the original understanding of the term, in which we were expected to put up with those that we strongly disagreed with, now the word has come to mean something altogether different. Today it means to accept, embrace, endorse and coddle the ideas, beliefs, worldviews, ideologies, practices, behaviors and actions of others, no matter how much they may be repulsive to us.” Someone else has said, “The kind of behavior that once brought disgrace now brings book, movie, and television contracts." As a society, we have lost the ability to blush or to view our actions as sinful. Sadly many professed Christians have embraced this idea of tolerance and as a result have lost sight of the outrageousness of sin. Many professing Christians and church members have never truly come to grips with sin, what sin is or how God looks at it. To a degree in all our churches there are a number of people who profess to know Christ as their Lord and Savior who are clearly not faithful to Him. Their lives pretty much have remained the same after their profession of faith; with the exception that now they are identified as Christians because they are members of a church.(copied) We need to understand that sin is offensive the dedicated believer, is an insult to the Savior, and invites the wrath of God.

I. Sin offends the dedicated believer.

A. Outrage = appall, disgust, revolt, nauseate

B. Proverbs 14:34 “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”

C. Proverbs 29:27 “An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous,”

D. Revelation 2:2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil.” AMP – “you cannot tolerate evil”

E. There’s an old story about a man who tried to save the city of Sodom from destruction by warning the citizens. But the people ignored him. One day someone asked, “Why bother everyone? You can’t change them.” “Maybe I can’t,” the man replied, “but I still shout and scream to prevent them from changing me!”

Lot was a righteous man (2 Peter 2:7) who should have done some screaming. The record of his life reminds us of how our sense of moral indignation can be dulled by the world. Lot chose to dwell in cities where there was great wickedness (Gen. 13:12,13). When Sodom was invaded by hostile kings, he was captured. Even after Abraham rescued Lot, he was still drawn back to that wicked city (Gen. 19:1). And the last chapter of his story is an account of heartache and shame (Gen. 19). What a contrast—this nephew and his uncle! Abraham trusted God, prayed for the righteous, and lived a moral life. But Lot was “oppressed with the filthy conduct of the wicked” (2 Peter 2:7). Although the sin of his day bothered him, he apparently said little about it. - Our Daily Bread

F. Living in the presence of sin causes us to become desensitized to it.

A fertilized field smells awful to a person from the city, but the farmer hardly notices the odor.

G. Romans 12:9 “Abhor what is evil.”

H. The story is told of a man who sold his house for an incredible bargain with just one stipulation: he would retain ownership of one small nail protruding over the door. After several years, he wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell it. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail. If we leave even one small sin in our life Satan will hang his rotting garbage on it.

I. Sin: Will take you further than you want to go, Keep you longer then you want to stay, and, Cost you more than you want to pay. – unknown

J. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 “Abstain from all appearance of evil”

K. Ill. – Brownies with a mystery ingredient

L. Psalms 101:3 “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.”

II. Sin insults the Savior

A. Outrage = deliberate disrespect, affront, profane

B. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”