Sins That Most Christians Get Away With

Sins That Most Christians Get Away With

Have you ever met a "holy thou art holy" person that did and said everything right, but always seem to worry about everything? Somehow, that person forgot that worrying is a sin, but they continue to because it's not a big deal to them. That's it! Most Christians rather acknowledge the "big sins" and avoid the lesser or smaller ones, but they're all the same, SIN.  Luke 13:24 said, “Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." Jesus defined strive as: to endeavor with strenuous zeal, strife, to obtain something. In other words, even the smaller sins count as sin.

Here it is: sins that most Christians get away with...

1. LYING-The Bible is clear that lying is a sin and is displeasing to God. The first sin in this world involved a lie told to Eve. The Ten Commandments given to Moses includes “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). In the early church, Ananias and Sapphira lied regarding a donation in order to make themselves look more generous than they really were. Peter’s rebuke is stern: “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?” God’s judgment was sterner: the couple died as a result of their sin of lying.

Colossians 3:9 says, “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.” Lying is listed in 1 Timothy 1:9-11 as something practiced by the lawless. Furthermore, liars will be among those judged in the end (Revelation 21:8). In contrast, God never lies (Titus 1:2). He is the source of truth. “It is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18).

Jesus called Himself the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), and He expects those who follow Him to be people of truth. The truth is to be expressed in love (Ephesians 4:15), offering hope to those seeking redemption from the lies of the world.

2. WORRYING- Most worry or anxiety is a failure to trust God and His goodness or to believe what He told us. For example, the Sermon on the Mount records Jesus’ admonition to His followers to trust God to take care of them and not worry (for example, Matthew 6:25). Psalms 55:22 puts it like this:“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.”

And 1 Peter 5:6-8 makes it even more explicit:“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

In other words, our worry leads us astray and allows Satan a foothold into our lives. Since “sin” is, at its core, “missing the mark” that God has set for us, then worrying is not living up to God’s standard. Jesus made the mark clear here, and our sin is failing to believe that God will care for us, even though He promised to do so. Of course, we all fall short of this mark and allow ourselves to worry. And you’ll find quite a bit of worry in the Psalms and in the actions of Jesus’ followers. That’s why we have to be even more grateful that God sent Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins, including our lack of trust in Him.

3. FEAR-Because we live in times that are increasingly uncertain and perilous, fear is a reality all will face at some time. A sobering consideration is that fear appears in a list in Revelation 21:8 describing those who will be cast into the Lake of Fire: "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (emphasis ours throughout).

As bad as murderers, the sexually immoral, and sorcerers are, note that God puts first, at the head of the line, the cowardly and unbelieving. The Bible in Basic English renders these first few words as, "But those who are full of fear and without faith. . . ." So, why are they at the beginning of the list in Revelation 21:8? And, of the two, why is fear first? The New Living Translation (NLT) provides an answer to that question by rendering the verse's opening words as, "But cowards who turn away from me. . . ." 

In fear, cowards run from the battle, showing disloyalty to their sovereign. In the spiritual realm, they put their self-interest above everything, including God. Fear violates the first commandment by not giving God the preeminence it demands.

4. UNFORGIVENESS-The Bible has quite a bit to say about forgiveness and unforgiveness. Perhaps the most well-known teaching on unforgiveness is Jesus’ parable of the unmerciful servant, recorded in Matthew 18:21-35. In the parable, a king forgives an enormously large debt (basically one that could never be repaid) of one of his servants. Later, however, that same servant refuses to forgive the small debt of another man. The king hears about this and rescinds his prior forgiveness. Jesus concludes by saying, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart” (Matthew 18:35). Other passages tell us that we will be forgiven as we forgive (see Matthew 6:14; 7:2; and Luke 6:37, for example). 

Do not be confused here; God’s forgiveness is not based on our works. Forgiveness and salvation are founded completely in the person of God and by Jesus’ redeeming work on the cross. However, our actions demonstrate our faith and the extent to which we understand God’s grace (see James 2:14-26 and Luke 7:47). We are completely unworthy, yet Jesus chose to pay the price for our sins and to give us forgiveness (Romans 5:8). When we truly grasp the greatness of God’s gift to us, we will pass the gift along. We have been given grace and should give grace to others in return. In the parable, we are appalled at the servant who would not forgive a minor debt after having been forgiven his unpayable debt. Yet, when we are unforgiving, we act just as the servant in the parable.

Unforgiveness also robs us of the full life God intends for us. Rather than promote justice, our unforgiveness festers into bitterness. Hebrews 12:14-15 warns, “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root rises up to cause trouble and defile many.” Similarly, 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 warns that unforgiveness can be an opening for Satan to derail us.

5. CHEATING-So what does God say about cheating? In the Ten Commandments he said, "You shall not steal" (Deuteronomy 5:19). And cheating is stealing—usually, it's stealing someone else's work.In the New Testament, we're told to "put off falsehood" (Ephesians 4:25). Simply put: Don't lie. And cheating is lying; you're turning in work you're falsely claiming as your own. 

But one of the Bible's strongest warnings against cheating can be found in Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament. The first chapter of Malachi says God was disappointed in the priests because they were cheating on the job. How did they cheat? God had made it clear that all sacrifices to him had to be made with perfect animals. But these priests were cheating by sacrificing imperfect animals. (It's one thing to think you can get away with pulling a fast one on your teacher. But on God? What were they thinking