God knows everything, but this does not eliminate man’s responsibility to confess his sins. Failure to do so forfeits God’s practical forgiveness.
There are two categories of sin: sins against God and sins against man. By default, every sin is against God. Yet, not all sin is against man.
Many individuals are consumed with saving the earth. While this is a noble idea, it would be wise to first learn what it is that is truly defiling the earth.
The Old Testament Law declares and expresses the mind of God. It demonstrates God’s hatred for sin and His desire for just judgment.
Conviction testifies of guilt and transgression. It testifies that God is just while man is vile. It testifies to the gap of righteousness that exists between the two. If men were righteous apart from the Lord’s help, the Lord would never need to convince men that they are transgressors of His law. When men violate or transgress the law of God, the Spirit of God uses that law to convince those guilty that they are wrong and need to make things right with the Lord. The very presence of conviction confirms man’s guilt. It cries out that I am wrong and God is right. Perhaps this explains why in these last days, fewer seem interested in experiencing the convicting work of the Spirit of God.
The Bible says that pleasure-seeking breeds poverty. The more men require amusement and seek pleasure, the more they are willing to carelessly spend to have both. Proverbs 21:17 says, “He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man.” Proverbs 29:3 speaks of the desire for evil pleasure when it says, “he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.” The prodigal son, who left home with his inheritance, offers one of the most well-known cases. The Bible says of him that he “wasted his substance with riotous living” (Luke 15:13). All pleasure is not sinful, but all pleasure can become costly and sinful when not properly balanced with the right level of wisdom and discretion. There are other pleasures which are directly sinful and should be completely avoided.
Man’s opinion concerning the sinfulness of sin very rarely reflects God’s holy, perfect, and righteous declarations. This is because man does not think like God. The Lord expressed these sentiments in Isaiah 55:8-9 when He said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, . . . For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Even a cursory study of rebellion verifies these truths as a man generally thinks of it more lightly than he ought. Man describes rebellion as strong willed or independent; however, God provides an accurate description as He states that “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” Because God likens rebellion to witchcraft, the Old Testament punishment for rebellion was likewise death (Deuteronomy 21:18-23). There can be no doubt as to the seriousness of this sin from God’s perspective.
A sure sign of rebellion involves the rejection of God’s word. Throughout scripture, the Lord associates rebellion with a willful decision on the part of an individual or people group to refuse to hear. In Psalm 107:11 the Bible says, “Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High.” In Nehemiah 9:26 the scripture declares, “Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs.” Those who make their necks stiff in rebellion will not incline their ears in order to receive instruction (Jeremiah 17:23). They may accept the counsel of others but refuse the Lord’s counsel (Isaiah 30:1).
Scripture misconceptions are frequently based upon superficial understanding of Bible texts and truths. For example, very few Bible teachers seem to grasp the biblical definition of gluttony. Most people consider gluttony as referring to the sin of overeating. However, the Bible’s built-in dictionary suggests a completely different scenario. Consider the two parallels within our text. Proverbs 23:21 defines the drunkard as someone among winebibbers in verse 20. Additionally, Proverbs 23:21 defines the glutton as someone among riotous eaters of flesh in verse 20. This context shows us that gluttony is not determined so much by the amount of food eaten, but the manner of food consumption. The fact that gluttony and drunkenness are mentioned every time together further confirms this truth (Deuteronomy 21:20; Proverbs 23:21; Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34). Notice that the last two references in Matthew and Luke refer to the false accusations hurled toward the Saviour. When Christ’s accusers referred to Him as a gluttonous man and a winebibber, they were referring to His associations with the publicans and sinners, not His personal eating and drinking habits!
Life is a journey. Oftentimes, people spend far too much time and strength traveling in the wrong direction. To some degree, this is the psalmist’s testimony. In Psalm 119:59, he says, “I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.” At some point, the psalmist examined his “ways.” In doing so, he found that he was heading in a direction contrary to the will of God. Upon his consideration, he determined to turn his feet unto the Lord’s testimonies. Had he never taken the time to think upon his ways, he would never have repented and turned in the right direction. This truth is confirmed in Lamentations 3:40 where the Bible says, “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.” The Bible frequently warns man not to be deceived.
