Psalm 53:1 paints a dismal yet truthful picture of the sinful human race:
“They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.” (ESV)
Here we find three descriptions of our fallen condition. Three scathing indictments. If I’m reading the Bible to boost my self-esteem, I picked the wrong verse.
That second description is especially intriguing to me. Our sin is “abominable.”
What does that mean?
“Abominable” is what is detested or loathed. The NIV translates this phrase as “their ways are vile.”
It’s what God thinks of sin. He hates it. God is the God of love and he’s also the God of hate.
16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
19 a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.
Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV
Now we know how God views our sin. He abhors it.
Now we get personal. Psalm 53:1 begs the questions, “What do I think of my sin? Do I hate it?”
Apparently not. Even though is it commanded that I do so: “Hate what is evil” (Romans 12:9 NIV).
I sure wish I did. If I despised my sin the way God does, maybe I wouldn’t do it so often.
Instead, I prefer to minimize it, downplay it, deny it, rationalize it, excuse it, and blame others for it.
Oh, and hide it, ignore it, and laugh about it.
I also like to distort it. Sin is much more palatable if I use words to describe it that soften the blow of its reality. I don’t feel so guilty if I refer to it as a mistake, an oversight, a lapse of judgment, or a little white lie.
Or how about this one – a peccadillo. What’s that? Dictionaries define this as “a small, relatively unimportant offense or sin” (Oxford); “a small fault or mistake, or something that someone does wrong that is not very serious” (Cambridge); “a slight offense” (Webster’s).
If the standard of morality is the holiness of God, is there such a thing as a small sin, an unimportant iniquity, or a slight transgression?
I think not.
So lately I’ve been praying that God will enable me to see my sin the way he sees it. “O God, please teach me to hate my sin, to take it seriously, to not joke about it or marginalize it or sweep it under the rug.”
I am a serial sinner. “Wretched man that I am!” (Romans 7:24)
But thanks be to King Jesus, I’m also a saved sinner, redeemed by the grace of God, forgiven through faith in the Son of God, all because of the wrath-absorbing death of the Lamb of God.
I am grateful that I can open the Bible and read that my God is the One “who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” (Jude 24).
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