Don’t Grow Accustomed to Sin

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.”

John 2:14–16

Because we live in a world that is increasingly turning its back on God, we are constantly surrounded by a sea of wickedness. And because that wickedness is being praised and promoted, it is easy for us to adopt a casual attitude toward sin. We would not do those things ourselves, but we are lulled into thinking sin is really not that bad. It is. In the time of Christ it had become common practice for the Temple to be filled with commerce rather than worship. That grieved Jesus greatly, and He physically reacted by driving the sellers out with a whip.

In the days of the rebuilding of Jerusalem under Nehemiah, the Israelites found a similar response from their leader to the accepted practice of intermarriage with the heathen nations around them. “And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves” (Nehemiah 13:25).

Of course we should love sinners, but we must still hate sin. Our reaction should be driven by what God thinks rather than by how it may seem to us. Matthew Henry said, “If we would be angry and not sin, we must be angry at nothing but sin; and we should be more jealous for the glory of God than for any interest or reputation of our own.”

Today’s Growth Principle: 

It does not take long to move from acceptance and toleration of sin to participation in it.