Thursday, February 26, 2015

Lent - Day 8 (February 26)



Larger Catechism – Day 8 of Lent
Question 24: What is sin?
Answer:  Sin is not conforming to or disobeying any law God has given to direct our lives a reasoning humans.

God has a set of things (laws) that he wants us to do, or not to do.  When we do not conform to those laws we sin.  When we disobey those laws we sin.

One might ask, “How do I know what God requires of me?”  The answer is simple but many, if not most people do not like the answer.  God’s word, the Bible, tells us the things that God requires.  People who want to have sex outside of a marriage between one man and one woman do not like all of the commands that forbid such sex acts.  People who want to keep all of their money do not like the commands on giving and tithing. People who want to play all weekend do not like the commands on the having a Sabbath for the Lord.

Reading God’s word is a great way to find out what God requires of us.  Hint—ignorance is no excuse for sin.  Romans 1 & 2 tell us that God’s law is written on our hearts and has been plainly seen by people—we just choose to ignore God’s law.

Jesus came to pay the penalty for our sin.  The cost of that penalty was extremely high.  The next time we break one of God’s laws we need to realize that Jesus had to die because of that one sin.  Because of me!  Jesus’ death becomes very personal when we see how we contributed to his death sentence.  This Lent, I hope and pray that Jesus’ death becomes very personal.

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