Return, Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall! -Hosea 14:1
We vastly underestimate the impact of our sin. It’s a curious thing, and I think it shows the deceptive nature of sin. We have no problem recognizing it’s devastating effects when we look at the world around us, but when it comes to our own life, we seem to be uniquely blind to the ruin it brings.
Hosea refuses to speak in general terms. He says, YOUR SINS have been your downfall.
If we only believed that, we would be much more diligent to resist sin and to confess it when we do commit it!
Sin produces death. ALWAYS.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned. -Romans 5:12
Consider also this passage from James.
And sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. -James 1:15
This is an indisputable principle of scripture. We cannot violate it without coming to harm.
We often fail to take into account that sin has a gestation period. We think we can commit fornication with sin, and because we see no evidence of sins pregnancy, we tell ourselves that everything’s okay. It tasted sweet in the moment, but inevitably, sin grows and brings forth death. Our secret sin, sooner or later, is no longer a secret!
And you may be sure that your sin will find you out. -Numbers 32:23
I’m deeply impressed with how lightly we treat sin, especially when I consider how seriously Jesus dealt with it.
Unlike the modern church, Jesus had no problem telling people to stop sinning!
Why did Jesus speak so plainly to people about their sin?
It’s important to understand that when Jesus spoke to people in the Bible about their sin it was never to shame them. Jesus knew that their sin was going to bring unintended consequences into their life. He knew that their sin in one way or another was going to produce death in them. He doesn’t want to see our lives destroyed and so He tries to turn us away from our sin.
When I read the bible I see Jesus walking into the mess of people’s lives and pouring the love of God out on them. There’s no judgment, there’s no rebuke. He’s not out there shaming anybody. He finds people in bad situations and does something good for them!
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. -Acts 10:38
The Bible paints a vivid picture of the lovingkindness of God expressed in the life of Jesus.
Jesus was tender, gentle, and kind while He walked this Earth.
Jesus loves to make people’s lives better. But He also knows that even if He performs miracles for us something needs to change. Otherwise, we’ll find ourselves back in the same old mess we were in before- or maybe something worse!
Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” -John 5:14
There’s a few things that amaze me about this passage.
First- The man that Jesus healed didn’t reach out to Jesus and ask for healing. He had been laying in a disabled condition for 38 years. Jesus was walking by and noticed him, and out of the goodness of His own heart, Jesus healed the guy!
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” John 5:6
Jesus told the paralyzed man to “take up his mat and walk” and the guy was healed instantly. Thirty eight years of paralysis was suddenly gone. The guy picked up his mat and started walking around like he was never disabled!
The Pharisees got mad because they saw this man walking around carrying his mat on the Sabbath. They wanted to find out who had healed him and told him to carry his mat!
Jesus didn’t make a big deal out of it, and the guy didn’t even know who it was that had healed him.
But this is where it gets fascinating to me…
The guy is now perfectly healthy and Jesus finds him later on and says to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
Now, you would think the guy would be happy that he’s been healed of something that afflicted him for 38 years. But instead of thanking Jesus for the miracle, I think he got mad at Jesus for confronting him and telling him to stop sinning!
Whatever the guy did to become paralyzed seems to be connected with a previous sin in his life. And as soon as the guy got well it appears that he just returned to his old sin! And Jesus called him on it, and told him to stop!
I think that made the guy mad. The reason I think it made him mad is because he knew that the Pharisees were looking for Jesus because they didn’t like what Jesus did. And the first thing that this guy does after Jesus tells him to stop sinning is he runs to the Pharisees to tell them that Jesus is the one that healed him. He knew that was going to get Jesus in trouble! If he had been grateful for his healing he never would have turned Jesus over to the Pharisees. But you see, he didn’t like to be told to stop sinning! I’m sure he liked to be walking around in perfect health, but he didn’t appreciate Jesus telling him to turn away from his sin.
Do we understand that sometimes the cause of our illness, or the mess that we find ourselves in life, is directly because of a lifestyle of sin that we have chosen?
Do we understand that when Jesus tells us to stop sinning it’s because He loves us? Do we realize it’s because He doesn’t want us to fall into the same mess we were in before?
At this point I think I should restate something that I said earlier- Sin always produces death.
Even if God heals us, and delivers us, and does amazing miracles in our life, if we return to our old sin we are inviting the destruction and bondage that once held us before Jesus healed us.
Jesus tells us to stop sinning because He loves us.
The woman caught in adultery
Let’s look at another example from the Bible where Jesus tells someone to stop sinning.
You probably know the story of the woman caught in adultery. She was brought before Jesus by a group of men who were accusing her. She was publicly shamed and humiliated by them, not because they really cared about her sin, but because they wanted to trap Jesus! He had a reputation for showing mercy to people and they probably thought this was the perfect opportunity to show how Jesus fails to keep the law of Moses. They framed the situation in those terms by pointing out that the law of Moses required such a woman be stoned to death. All they had to do was get Jesus to be merciful and He would fall into their trap!
What stands out in this story to me is that Jesus didn’t seem to be very concerned that they were trying to lay a trap for Him. I think He was far more concerned with this woman whom they had humiliated.
It’s quite an amazing story because Jesus found a way to convict those who were trying to shame her, while releasing her from this humiliating scene that she found herself in.
She was totally guilty, and Jesus knew it, but He refused to enter into the accusation against her. I think He made it plain, that the greater sin was actually the hypocrisy of those who stood as her accusers. And so, Jesus graciously deals with the situation.
Turning the table on her accusers they leave with their heads hung low, and we are left with just Jesus and this woman. The first word that Jesus says to her is one of affirmation- He tells her that He doesn’t accuse her! She’s free to go with no shame hanging over her head. But not without a final word from Jesus.
He tells her to leave her life of sin.
Stop committing adultery. Don’t go back to that.
“Neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Now go and sin no more.” -John 8:11
He says it out of love; not out of accusation.
Jesus tells her to stop sinning because He’s for her, not because He’s against her.
If we understood Jesus then we would know that the reason He tells us to stop sinning is because He loves us. He knows where sin leads and he’s trying to protect us from the consequences that sin always brings.