Calling Sin, Sin

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” – 2 Samuel 12:13

David stayed home one time in the spring when kings go off to war (2 Samuel 11:1). During this time, he lusted after another mans’ wife, who was taking a bath on her rooftop (2 Samuel 11:2-3). King David used his power to have sex with her, and got her pregnant (2 Samuel 11:4-5). To cover it all up, he had her husband killed (2 Samuel 11:14-17).

A preacher named Nathan cleverly confronted David. You can read about it in 2 Samuel 12. But, here is the thing that stands out this morning as I read this again. David, when he was flat out busted, said six words: “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Had this been anyone today, more than likely we would have only heard four words: “I made a mistake.” Others, if they liked him or her, would say, “They are only human.” Or maybe, “Nobody is perfect.”

Is there a difference? You bet there is.

A mistake is an accident. If I add 17 and 14 and get 21 instead of 31, I obviously made the mistake of not carrying the 1. I did not mean to get the wrong answer. Sin is a choice. When you become aware of God’s laws, you are responsible for obeying them. When you and I break them, we do not make a mistake . . . we sin. It is very important that you call sin by its proper name.

I believe David had 3 verses to be in the “mistake” category. As soon as he found himself lusting after Bathsheba in verse 3, he could have said, “This was a mistake! I should not have stayed home from battle. I am having thoughts I should not be having. I should be leading my men. Get my armor and take me to the fight.” Unfortunately, verse 4 says, “Then David sent messengers to get her, and he slept with her.” The line clearly gets crossed and David no longer gets to use the word “mistake.”

Somehow as the church, we have got to start calling sin, sin. I was guest preaching one time and I called sex outside of marriage exactly what it was, sexual immorality, which is sin. Well, it turns out that a single person had recently had a child outside of marriage. The family was offended with my words. They made sure that I knew that their little baby was obviously a “blessing from God” and He was obviously cool with what had happened. Sure, “mistakes” were made, but “nobody is perfect.” I just listened in disbelief. There was a refusal to admit sin.

Do not get me wrong here. I am judging nobody but myself. I never had the earthly consequence of having a child outside of marriage, but I used to be sexually immoral. I was stupid enough to actually pray to God that my girlfriend not be pregnant. I would basically ask God to bless my sinful behavior and remove the consequences of my choice that clearly violated commandment number 7. How repulsive I must have been to a Holy God. I’m glad I went to a church where the preacher called my behavior, sin. It made me eventually go to the altar and say, “God, I have sinned against you! I’m sorry! Help me!” I do believe based on a lot of what I hear today, if I prayed at all, I would have said, “Well God, I did it again. I made a mistake. I guess us guys will just be guys. After all, I’m only human. I’m glad you are still going to let me into Heaven because I did say that prayer and told you everything the preacher told me to tell you.”

All Satan has to do is get us to make sin a light thing. As soon as Eve saw the fruit as beneficial as well as “pleasing to the eyes,” he had her right where he wanted her. She no longer saw eating the fruit as sin. Adam saw that everyone else was eating it, so he ate too. When confronted, did he say, “I have sinned against the Lord?”

No. He said, “The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” (Genesis 3:11) In other words, “It’s her fault. I’m innocent here. I just made a mistake. If you really think about it God, you made the mistake by putting her here.”

I really want you to go to Heaven. Saying that you are a Christian is not good enough. Without true repentance and true conversion, you aren’t going. Evaluate your life today. What sin are you allowing in your own life? Are you using words that make it okay? Are you justifying it? Do you use words like, “everyone else does it,” “I can handle it,” “It’s not a big deal,” or “at least it isn’t hurting anybody?”

Talk to David’s little baby about how nobody gets hurt. (2 Samuel 12:18)

Tell Adam and Eve as they see their murdered son, Abel, how “Just one bite” isn’t that big of a deal. (Genesis 4:8)

Tell Jesus as He hangs on the cross receiving the sins of the world not to worry, because sin “doesn’t hurt anybody.”

Doesn’t work, does it?

The wages of sin is death. (Romans 3:23)

It still is.

Later

Adam