Sin: Beyond the Commandments

I’m going to venture into an area that will probably make you uncomfortable. How do I know that? Because it made me very uncomfortable just pondering this subject...but I felt it needed to be addressed in my own life and I share it with you now.

We have all grown up in different circumstances, had different parenting, have different church experiences...and approach life with our own uniqueness. That said, there is an inherent knowing of right and wrong regardless of what morals, ethics or formal teachings we’ve encountered.

Many of us regard the Ten Commandments as the foundational platform for our behavior. Some may dismiss them as “guidelines” yet many keep them as core values and then go way beyond them to include many of the traits and teachings found throughout Scripture.

There are many Biblical words of wisdom, advice and experiences to be found...but there is one passage of Scripture that shook me—and still does—to the core. One simple verse found in the fourth chapter of James that states, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” NKJV

Yes, there is such a thing as sin of omission. Generally we all equate sin to some conduct that we need to turn away from, but this 17th verse gives us much more to consider...that we may be sinning by doing something contrary or simply by doing nothing at all. Now that is a heavy concept to absorb.

The context of the passage in James 4 is reminding us that we should always..always...be making our plans based on what God’s will is and not making them simply because our actions may impress people about how ‘devoted’ or ‘selfless’ we appear. Our plans, even with the best of intentions, may not be what God wants and we can enter into a very slippery area of falling into self-righteousness without even realizing it.

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Uganda to observe (and partly participate) in a missions trip with my pastor and his father. It would be very easy for me to return to that place with grand designs of starting a music ministry and I’m sure people would take notice and say, “Wow, he’s really stepping out in faith to follow God’s plan.” In truth, it may not be God’s plan at all but I might, even subconsciously, want to pursue that path knowing how people would react. Yet...what if it really is God’s will for me to return to Uganda and I don’t go? According to James this, too, is a sin. This is the admonition that James is giving.

This part of the passage is all summed up in verse 17 and gives us a very blunt reality check. If we do know what God’s plan is and don’t do it, we are sinning just as much as if we were acting out any other sin. Anything—and without equivocation I do mean anything—that separates us from God is sin...plain and simple. Not doing the right thing can separate us from God just as much as slipping down a path of debauchery.

Kind of scary, isn’t it? It scares me every day...but that, too, is a very healthy thing for me. We all struggle on a daily basis with what God’s will is and whether we are following it or not. Sometimes it is clear, often times it can be vague. The important thing is that we continue to pray, evaluate, pray some more, seek advice from trusted friends...and pray some more.

God is always faithful to reveal His plans if we can allow ourselves to truly listen. We can all hope for the day that Isaiah spoke of to the people of Zion, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Greg Morton
Copyright © November, 2015
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