Nuggets
- God specifically forbids us to worship idols – something considered a divine being.
- There is a specific law forbidding consulting someone utilizing supernatural powers.
- Cleanness is a familiar theme in the Bible, but it is also a complex notion.
To read devotions in the Walk in the Spirit series, click the appropriate button below.
In this series, we are talking about walking in the Spirit. In the past two devotions, we have been talking about sexual and moral sins. This devotion looks at sins that destroy our relationship with God.
Let's Put It into Context
First off, we have to have a relationship with God. Mankind used to have a personal, face-to-face (whatever that entailed) relationship with God. We know that because “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze” (Gen. 3: 8 CSB). He was coming to visit.
But Adam and Eve destroyed that relationship when they let sin into their lives. “So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken” (Gen. 3: 23 CSB). He has limits to the unrighteousness He can stand.
Fortunately, God designed a plan to restore our relationship with Him. God Sent His Son Jesus to be the Redeemer of mankind. Jesus was born of a virgin, making Him 100% God and 100% man. He gave His life on the cross for us so that His blood could pay the price for our sins. Because of God’s great might and power, Jesus rose from the grave, conquering death and paying that price once and for all.
That plan is offered to us through God’s grace. “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift” (Eph. 2: 8 CSB). It is ours to accept or deny.
We may feel like our sins are too big or too bad for God to forgive. That is not true. There is only one sin that God will not forgive — and that is unbelief.
Sins Against God
There are some sins that show our unbelief in God and His power and authority. Let’s take a look.
Idolatry
An idol is, according to the Holman Bible Dictionary, a “physical or material image or form representing a reality or being considered divine and thus an object of worship.” By worshiping it, we are saying it is holy presence, in control of us, and worthy of our reverence.
God specifically forbids us to worship idols. Not only that, but the commandment gets a lot of explanation with it.
“Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ iniquity, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands” (Ex. 20: 4-6 CSB).
This is all about making God our priority. He alone deserves our love and reverence. We are to worship Him alone.
This is part of the covenant God made with the Israelites. “For the LORD had made a covenant with the descendants of Jacob and commanded them: “Do not worship any other gods or bow before them or serve them or offer sacrifices to them” (II Kgs. 17: 35 NLT).
This is really a slap to God. “For my people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves — cracked cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jer. 2: 13 CSB).
When we abandon God, that is bad enough. But we usually tell Him we not only don’t need Him, but we also don’t want Him. We are telling Him that either we are or something else is more important than Him.
I know. The cistern reference may be a bit funky for some who have always lived in town. Growing up on the farm and at the house we had cisterns. It is just a tank to store rainwater. We used it to flush toilets.
Think about digging cisterns for ourselves. That could be backup for when the well doesn’t work. It could be we just want to separate something so this is specific earmarked for something.
So, how do we equate this to God? “Oh, God isn’t going to answer this prayer, so I have to go out and do ….” “I know God isn’t going to approve of this, so I am just going to circumvent Him by ….”
Oh, yeah. We do that sometimes.
Divination
Divination was “an attempt to contact supernatural powers to determine answers to questions hidden to humans and usually involving the future” (Holman Bible Dictionary).
There were several different names they were called. The person who practiced divination was called a sorcerer. A medium was “one possessed by (Leviticus 20: 22) or consulting (Deuteronomy 18: 11) a ghost or spirit of the dead, especially for information about the future” (Holman Bible Dictionary).
There is a specific law forbidding that. “Do not defile yourselves by turning to mediums or to those who consult the spirits of the dead. I am the LORD your God” (Lev. 19: 31 NLT).
The punishment for being medium was stiff. “A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads” (Lev. 20: 27 NIV).
Here is two more verses. “This is what the Lord, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb, says:
I am the Lord, who made everything;
who stretched out the heavens by myself;
who alone spread out the earth;
who destroys the omens of the false prophets
and makes fools of diviners;
who confounds the wise
and makes their knowledge foolishness” (Isa. 44: 24-25 CSB).
Oh, wait a second. We just talked about divination. Remember Balaam? Balaam was a soothsayer who practiced divination.
Roberts stated, “But, as the art of divination was the highest point to which the heathen world had been able to attain in their pursuit of the unseen, so God condescended to meet Balaam, at that special point of spiritual culture, that He might lead him thenceforth to higher forms of truth and nobler modes of worship.”
God doesn’t want us asking anything else questions we should be asking Him. He is the One Who “… knows all things” (I Jn. 3: 20 CSB). Why wouldn’t we ask Him?
Uncleanness
Cleanness is a familiar theme in the Bible, but it is also a complex notion. Good thing for Holman’s Bible Dictionary.
It does have the physical aspect of no dirt or other defilement. This cleanliness was both personal and environmental.
But it was still more than that. “Because the mind is an integral aspect of the human personality, cleanness must also be applied to attitudes and motives that govern particular forms of behavior” (Holman Bible Dictionary). This goes into how we live.
What it boiled down to were the Israelites were holy because they were clean. They were holy because they follow God’s moral code.
I had always equated the cleanness with the ceremonial cleanness. But if we consider it as being holy, that is still very relevant to us.
Making the Connections
All sin, really, is sin against God. Sin was not in this world until Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s command.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
This desire to not follow God has just increased since Adam and Eve’s time. The worldview today tells us that we do not have to follow anyone but ourselves – our own desires, our own goals, our own morals.
There are a lot of people who are going to be in for a rude awakening. One day, hell is going to be their reality.
To read a devotion in the Hell Does Have Fury series, click on the appropriate button below.
How Do We Apply This?
It all starts with ABCDing. We need to admit our sins, believe on Jesus as Redeemer, confess God as Sovereign Lord, and demonstrate that commitment by following our job description.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
No, we won’t be perfect. We will still sin even after conversion. So, we have to keep asking God to forgive us of our sins.
Yes, God is that forgiving. Well, He did design the plan of salvation, didn’t He? He designed it long before Adam and Eve had sinned, didn’t he? Ephesians 1: 4 says so.
There is only one sin God won’t forgive. That is when we grieve the Holy Spirit. We do that by not ABCDing.
Have you asked God to forgive all of your sins? Do so today.
Sovereign God. You are the Creator of the universe. We disobeyed You because we thought we could do whatever we wanted. We wanted to control ourselves. Lord, we are so humbled that – even after that disobedience – You wanted to restore the relationship with us. You wanted that so much so that You sent Your Son to die to pay the price for those sins. Thank You, Lord. Forgive us when we continue to sin. Prepare us for the day that we will not because we will be with You in Paradise. Amen.
What do you think?
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