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This question is not intended to imply that sin has ceased to exist. Sin has been in the world since man’s disobedience in the garden of Eden, and will be so until time is declared no more. The thrust of this article is to show how so many take certain sins, give them another name, as though they can minimize the severity of them. We will note eleven specific examples.

1) Stealing is no longer stealing, it is kleptomania. The claim is made that this kind of person cannot control themselves. And so we tend to overlook them and feel sorry for them.

To steal is to take what belongs to another without consent. Jesus teaches a thief comes to “steal, kill and destroy” (John 10:10). Read what Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus. “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth” (Eph. 4:28). Look at the penalty for stealing under the law of Moses. “And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death” (Exod. 21:16). “If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you” (Deut. 24:7).

2) Adultery is no longer adultery, it’s an extramarital affair. Adultery is unfaithfulness to the marriage bed. “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Heb. 13:4). Read the words of Christ. “Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery” (Matt. 19:9; cf. Mark 10:11-12). “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matt. 5:28).

3) Fornication is no longer fornication, it’s simply dating or a living arrangement. It’s thought to be normal and without shame. Like adultery, it’s based on a weak argument of experimentation. However, the world’s standard does not make it right with God. God’s teaching on the purity of the sexual relationship between a husband and wife within the bounds of scriptural holy matrimony is sacred and timeless (cf. Matt. 19:6). Yet, too many people of the world do not consider it as such. They look on it as something that is open and free. In other words, engage in it as often and with whomever you please. This illicit activity will not only bring deadly diseases, but shame and disgrace upon you, the community and the whole nation. Study Proverbs 5:3-8, 6:20-29,32-33, 7:5-27. We are to abstain from fornication (Acts. 15:20). “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body” (I Cor. 6:18). “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints” (Eph. 5:3). Fornication is sinful every time — “...the body is not for fornication” (I Cor. 6:13; cf. 5:1).

4) Gambling is no longer gambling , it’s simply gaming. It’s no longer a sin to many, but has become an investment in the future. To be sure, there are some risks we take every day of our lives. On the road, we run the risk of being hit by another driver, but that is a far cry from gambling. But, gambling is a sinful risk. If we “play for money or other stakes”, we commit the sin of gambling. It is the desire for others to lose while we win. It depends on other’s loss. Notice these scriptures. “Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men” (Rom. 12:17). “Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes” (Haggai 1:6). “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (I Cor. 10:31). “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil” (I Thess. 5:21-22). Is gambling a good thing to hold on to? If a person gambles, is that abstaining from the appearance of evil?

5) Lying is no longer lying, it is to misspeak--simply telling a falsehood, freedom of expression. Freedom of speech does not give one the liberty to lie. Even in expressing our views, it must be done in the right manner. What does God say about lying? “Lying lips are abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 12.22). “A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish” (Prov. 19:5,9). “But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (II Cor. 4:2).

6) Homosexuality is no longer an unimaginable perversion, it is simply an alternate lifestyle. Those who honor the God-given institution of marriage to be exclusively between one woman and one man are considered hate mongers. The faithful of the Lord are in grave danger of harm and/or imprisonment (in some places) for speaking out against it. And if it comes to that, so be it! God does not see it as alternate lifestyle. The Law of Moses condemned this grievous sin. “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them” (Lev. 20:29). God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of it (Gen. 19). Where do you think the word sodomy came from? “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned [them] with an overthrow, making [them] an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly” (II Peter 2:6). “But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:29). “And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet” (Rom. 1:27).

(To be continued…)

Richard Carlson, Seek the Old Paths, May 2013

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