WHEN SIN BECOMES YOUR FRIEND - PART 2

This was first published in January 2014.  Part 1 was posted yesterday.

Recently, discussing a grievous situation with a close friend, I was reminded of the oft repeated saying, “Sin always takes you further than you ever thought you would go and you end up in places you never thought you would be.”  My friend went on to comment, “I think they have fallen in love with sin and I've seen people do that and when they do, they have no conscious whatsoever.”  The next morning, in a semi-conscious state, I heard these words spoken to my spirit, “When sin becomes your friend.”  The words continued to trouble me during devotions and throughout the day as I began to ponder, “How does the friendship begin?”  “What affect does it have?”  “What are the outward manifestations of such a friendship?”  “Where does the friendship take you and how does it end?”

Genesis 2:16-17 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall SURELY DIE.”

James 1:1-15 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, BRINGS FORTH DEATH.

Searching the Word of God, we find that the end of sin is death but what happens between the First Embrace and the Final Kiss?

SIN SEPARATES - Sin is a jealous friend and demands your full attention.

Although Adam and Eve were not immediately struck dead because of their disobedience, they experienced immediate separation.  The Bible tells us the first thing they realized is that “they were naked.”  Up to this point they were in constant fellowship and clothed in the Glory of God.  Sin immediately separated them from the Glory and Holiness of God.  No longer would they enjoy the familiar daily fellowship with the Creator; no longer would they stroll through the beautiful garden, tending and enjoying its bounty.  Sin had destroyed the innocence and purity and they were cast out of their home and separated from the intimacy of God’s presence. 

Like his parents, Cain did not immediately die for his transgressions but he, too, faced the consequence of separation.  Genesis 4 tells us that Cain “went out from the presence of the Lord.  He became a fugitive and a vagabond.”  

When Sin becomes your friend, it will separate you from close fellowship with God and it will separate you from those who love God and love you.

SIN IS A BETRAYER

  It may begin as a mild flirtation; you pick up the sin, stroke it a few times, then lay it down and move on until you answer its next call.  Soon, however, sin will make its demands and you will become more entangled until you will betray those you love so that sin’s demands can be fulfilled.

 King David didn’t set out to sin; it was just a mild flirtation of the eyes; he lingered a little too long and “desire was conceived.”  It was a sin to bring Bathsheba to his bed, knowing that she was another man’s wife.  But the demand of sin was not satisfied with adultery.  When Bathsheba became pregnant, it was a sin to try to cover it up and pass it off as another man’s child.  But the demand of sin was not satisfied with lying.  Sin became a betrayer.  David betrayed a trusted man of valor in his Army, first by lying with his wife, impregnating her and finally having him murdered.  Sin’s final demand was death. 

When Sin becomes your friend, it may not demand that you become a murderer, but make no mistake, sin will demand betrayal.  It will cause you to betray those things that are pure and lovely, it may demand a cover-up and it will cause you to betray those who love you the most. Sin will hold your hand as you give the “Kiss of Betrayal” because Sin is a Betrayer.

SIN WILL CHANGE YOU.  Proverbs 6:27 Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned?  

Do not fool yourself into believing that you will not be affected by sin. You are NOT strong enough to take the “fire of sin” into your life and not be burned.   Sin will change you; it will change your behavior, your way of thinking, and even change your way of speaking.

 We find Peter, warming himself by the fire, when he is accused of being a follower of Jesus.  This is the same Peter who had walked, talked and dined with Jesus.  He had witnessed the miracles, walked on the water and even followed Him into the garden to pray.  It is the Peter that vowed he would never betray his Lord. Yet, when faced with a trial, a beating and death because of an association, sin changed him into a person he thought he would never become.  After being pointed out as a friend of Jesus, three times, Peter decided to settle the situation once and for all; he changed his speech.  Mark 14:71 Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!”

Friendship with sin will take you places you never thought you would go and they won’t seem so bad.  Your speech will turn from things that are pure and lovely to those things which are base and gutter-like.   When sin becomes your friend, evil will seem good and good will seem evil because Sin will change you!!

When Sin becomes your friend, the end result is death but the good news is the friendship can be broken.  It does not have to become a “lifelong” partnership.  

Romans 5:19  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

God already had a plan in place before the first sin.    The plan was JESUS.  He was the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”  Death does NOT have to be the final sentence; through Jesus Christ we can have eternal life.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You can become a “Friend of God.”