The Seriousness of Sin

Dr. Ron Gaff, IGSL Executive Director

Numbers 32:23

From Genesis to Revelation and the books in between, the Bible echoes the seriousness of sin. In Genesis, one man’s sin led to the death of all men. In the gospels, one man’s death led to the payment for all of man’s sin. And in Revelation, every man’s sin will be accounted. Every man will be accountable for every sin and everything in between. Now, I have a tougher question. On a scale of 1 to 5, how serious does a typical Christian in your country take sin?

In Ephesians 2, the body of Christ is in danger. The local church is in danger. IGSL is in danger. And many of us in this room is in danger. You know why? Sin kills! It kills, steals, and destroys. Always.

Watch video



Watch The Seriousness of Sin on youtube.

Now here are the Steps to Taking Sin Seriously

  1. Fear Your God – The story of the “Great Catch” tells us that Peter fell to his knees. But the great number of fish did not make Peter fall to his knees. Fear did. It’s the fear of the Holy God! That’s why he said, “Get away from me! I’m a sinful man.”Jesus saw his fear and He said, “Don’t be afraid!” We know that love is the essence of our relationship, but fear is an essential part of it. We need the fear of GOD because God is not taking sin lightly. Do you see Him as your judge and not just your Savior? Because if you do, you will be broken. God is Holy and He will not let one sin in our life without being accounted for His own way.
  2. Face Your Sinfulness – There’s a big difference between confessing our sins and confessing our sinfulness. Ephesians 4:22 says, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires.” There is an ongoing corruption of the old self that you cannot stop. We can put off the old self but we can’t stop it from being corrupted. This is our problem because the desires continue to get us in this world. We can’t help that! But we we need to confess mountains of sin that reach up to heaven that despise God’s word and Christ’ sacrifice. We need to face and see sin in a whole different way. When you see sin in every word, thought, motive, or neglect, how can we stand before a Holy God? God reveals the depths of our hearts.
  3. Stop Sinning and Hiding – I believe many of you out there are in sin and you are miserable! If you want to get out of it, you need to follow God’s word to get out of it. You need to partner and be filled with the Holy Spirit to stop sinning. Stop hiding. Expose that sin! Everything exposed by the light becomes visible; everything that’s illuminated becomes light. If you’re hiding it, you’re in darkness. You’re in trouble. But when you stop sinning and hiding, God’s light will begin to shine on you. It’s time to be honest.

In what areas of your life are you sinning? Ask God to reveal them to you. Confess sinfulness in your life and ask for God’s forgiveness.