There’s a passage in the New Testament where Jesus raises the bar on sin. He said it something like this: “If you even CONSIDER sinning, it’s already a sin.” That’s an example of how seriously God takes our rebellion.
Go back to the Ten Commandments. The first one is about not having any gods before Him. All the rest of the Bible is based on That One Thing. The second of the ten is about making graven images, or idols, and worshiping that. So it’s really an extension of the first, because if you have only Him to worship, you won’t need idols. All the rest connect back to the first.
Jesus said much the same thing in the Gospels. If you love Him, you’ll love your fellow human beings. If you love them, you’ll follow the commandments. So it all hinges on loving God.
If you do something like lusting after a woman (or a man, for you ladies out there), you’re not treating her with the respect she deserves as someone created in the image of God. That’s a sin, because you’re loving something or someone more than Him.
I could do another whole message on the image of God, but I won’t do that here.
So let’s go back even further - the Garden of Eden. God said Adam and Eve shouldn’t eat from the Tree of Knowledge. If they’d loved Him above themselves, they’d have followed that instruction. After all, the book of 1 John says if we love Him we’ll do as He says. If we don’t do that, we don’t love Him.
The real sin was not that they ate that fruit, but rather considering eating the fruit. “Looks good,” Eve said. “Should be okay.” They thought of eating what God said to NOT eat.
The real root of sin is the belief that God isn’t enough. “I want God-plus. God’s okay, but I want a new car, too.” It’s okay to want a new car, but when you consider taking actions outside of God’s will, that makes you a liar - you don’t want God-plus, you only want the “plus” part. You think God’s trying to keep something from you.
Regardless of “fruit” or “car,” that’s become an idol. You’re worshiping something besides God alone. You’re looking with lust in your heart, and therefore sinning against God.
The next time you’re wondering if doing something is okay or not (I’ve fielded that question), the answer is, “If you have to ask, you already know the answer.”
Do you want the car more than you want God? Look on it with lust and you already know the answer.
Do you want God . . . or “plus?”
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