The sinful nature is exceedingly destructive. Have you ever wondered why Jesus was so aggressive when it comes to sin?
He says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Matt. 5:27-29).
Was Jesus being too aggressive when it comes to “killing” sin? Of course, he wasn’t talking about literally “gouging out one’s eye”. However, he seems to get at the severity of sin. Does He know something about the nature of man that we don’t?
We all agree that we are not perfect or biblically speaking, we are sinners. The problem we have is understanding the severity of being sinners. Indeed, our sin pinned God’s only Son to the cross.
However, God has ways to get our attention on understanding the seriousness of sin. Murder, rape, thievery, or lying will get our attention. When these violations occur, we feel offended and want “justice”. Although the desire for wanting justice may be indeed warranted, we miss several points:
1. Our desire for justice against another is a picture/reminder of our position before God. We have continually offended God. If He is merciful towards us, should we not be merciful towards others? On the flip side, if you were the offender, would you not want mercy?
2. Mercy does not excuse the offender. The offender is still guilty. However, as being a fallen human, we have to protect ourselves from spiritual parasites, such as, resentment and bitterness. When we hold onto anger and is vengeful we will contract those parasites which will enslave us to those emotions/spirits. In short, we as human beings are not designed to hold onto anger. In addition, mercy is an expression of unconditional love that resembles the Father’s love for us.
3. You are just as sinful as the person who offended you. For example, Job was labeled the most righteous man in the world. However, when calamities began to happen, and his friends began to “accuse him”, it brought to the surface what’s in all of us: sin. Given the right circumstances, we can be as offensive as the person who has offended us.
This is why Jesus and the biblical writers are aggressive towards killing sin. Sin does nothing but distort, degrade, and destroy. May we take heed to there wisdom to “put to death what is earthly in us.”
As Paul wrote to the Colosse church,
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Col. 3:5-10)
