Every Sin Is Against Him

Verse of the day: Psalm 51:4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.

Sadly, this is something we do not immediately acknowledge when we sin. We often try to justify why we sin, and try to place blame on our circumstances or someone else. Too often we only confess because of the consequences or because we have hurt someone we really love and care about. However, all of that aside, the One whom we truly sin against is God. It is His Word, and His commands, that we violate. Yes, there are consequences that affect those we sin against, humanly speaking, but the priority in our repentance and confession of sin should be grounded, first and foremost, in how our relationship with God is affected. Although we are secure in our salvation, our relationship is hindered because our prayers are hindered (Ps 66:18) and our ability to hear the Spirit speaking to us is also hindered. This Psalm, written by King David in response to his sin with Bathsheba, and all that it entailed (including the murder of Uriah, her husband), is one of the reasons he was called a man after God’s own heart by God Himself (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22). When Joseph was faced with his master’s wife’s sexual advances, he refused on the basis of not wanting to commit such evil wickedness against God (Gen 39:9). While God expects us to love our neighbor, and not sin against one another; our main reason for doing our best to avoid sin in our lives should be that it is an offense to God, and shows a lack of fear of, or reverence toward, God. We know that there is nothing that is hidden from the Lord. King David acknowledges this when he states, “And done this evil in Your sight”. This should be a great motivator for us to be especially careful to avoid those secret sins that no one but God sees. We live in an age of grace, and our God is a patient God; however, let us not be mistaken, our God is a God who also gets angry (Is 65:3). The bottom line is that, we must become a people who mourn our sin (Mt 5:4); not because we might get caught or because we suffered a consequence that we are looking for God to remove, or disallow. Instead, we should mourn because the offense was primarily against God. Once we have settled account with God, we must not disregard those we sin against, humanly speaking. Matthew 5:23-24 reminds us that God is not interested in our gifts when we have lingering sin against our brother/sister. We are to get right, then bring our gifts to the altar. How can we worship God, and bring praises and thanksgiving to Him when we harbor secret sins in our hearts, or refuse to repent of sins that are publicly known? When we disregard the fact that what we do we do in the sight of God, it is gross contempt against a Holy & Righteous God. The fact that He does not immediately put us to death (Acts 5:1-11) should not cause us to think that He has overlooked our sin; and for this reason we should praise our God even more so for such great grace, patience, and the forgiveness He bestows upon us. We, as born again believers should be careful to examine our lives daily, and humble ourselves before our most gracious God. Let our love for God, which is only possible because He loved us first (1 Jn 4:19), be motivation to show Him reverence by making Him the primary consideration in our attempts and strivings to live holy before Him, as He commands (1 Pt 1:15-16); truly mourning, repenting, and confessing; acknowledging that our sin is against God, above all others.

Jesus died to pay the price that belonged to us to pay. Today, He extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing their sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).