Dear CCW family,
When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, what were they thinking? If we could have interviewed them just before their sinful action, when their desire was still unfulfilled, what would that have revealed? More importantly, what did God know about their sin — and what does he know about our sin? Thinking this through can aid our endeavors to hate sin, a critical tool for rejecting it. Just the thought that God is not only aware of the sin itself but of several other weighty inner currents, including the near and future ramifications of our sin along with the divine expenditures related to it, should help us.
For instance, he knows our motives. He knows, as the author of Hebrews says, “the thoughts and intentions of the heart” because “No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (4:12-13). Think about that. Sin is first of all about the heart. Every sin is first a motive.
And what about the cost of the sin to you, and to God? Even after a particular sin, you do not know the full cost. If Moses would have considered the cost of striking the rock instead of speaking to it when in the wilderness, he would have been able to enter Canaan with the other weary travelers. There was a cost to his disrespect of God that likely he did not even imagine. There are costs, such as loss of time, loss of self-respect, weakening of confidence in prayer, embarrassment to the cause of Christ, and many other such things. It is true that the believer is not condemned (Rom 1:8), that is, there will never be again any penal judgment against us, yet out of love the Lord disciplines his children for our good.
Some of the costs of our sins are their effects on others, such as our spouse, our family, our church, and the larger world of Christians. Our sin can also have effects on the lost as Paul explains to the Corinthians (1 Cor 15:34). In this sense, as the poet John Donne wrote, “no man is an island.”
God above all others knows the immense expense of our sin when it fell on Christ at the cross. He knows the loss of future reward and present blessing that sin has caused in believers like us. He knows the diversion from service opportunities caused by our sin. And he knows the promises he has given to deliver us from our sin, and the Spirit who was given to empower us against sin, which we did not appreciate. He knows as well how we will despise our sin one day as something we will wish we had never done.
Below is a list of “35 Reasons Not to Sin” for the sanctification, blessing, and future effectiveness of all of us who are fully forgiven children of God. Let’s meditate on these often.
[Here’s a personal, historical note from Steve:] I first sat in the old CCW office in downtown Parkville, MO, in 2007. Patty, Katie, Luke, and I had only recently moved to KC from Ohio (Lilly was born in 2008). I would go into the office on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday if I couldn’t secure a substitute teaching job for the day. I’d help out however I could — packing books, going to the P.O., moving boxes, responding to emails, taking calls, dialoguing about possible projects, whatever! Early on, I remember Jim coming from his office and saying something like, “Why don’t you write a bulletin insert?” I had never really thought about ministering through writing, but since that day, I’ve been at it, trying to improve, aiming to serve, seeking to inspire. It’s been an unexpected opportunity in my life that God has blessed through your prayers for us. Writing is not the only thing we do, but it is a major component of our ministry. Thank you for praying, and please keep it up.
With Joy,
Jim Elliff, Steve Burchett and Marco Scouvert