Why Do We Sin?

Why do we keep on sinning?

We do not know there are sins that we are missing the point. We do not know better because of a lack of knowledge and understanding of the Spirit of righteousness, though unintentionally, it is still a sin. God has always provided consequences for those sins.

“These preparations having thus been made, the priests regularly go into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and the unintentional sins of the people.” (Hebrews 9:6-7 ESV)

While there are unintentional sins that we are aware of, we willfully do it anyway and then rely that God will forgive us. If we decide to go on sinning after we have learned the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins. There is nothing but fear in waiting for the judgment and the terrible fire that will destroy all those who live against God. (Hebrews 10:26-27)

“For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? We know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”- (Hebrew 10:26-31)

“I was alive before I knew the law. But when the law’s command came to me, sin began to live, and I died. The command was meant to bring life, but it brought death for me. Sin found a way to fool me by using the command to make me die. (Romans 7:9-11 NCV)

Paul was saying that he knew God’s commandment and was still deceived by sin. How much more are they ignorant of the Word? How can we commit sinning when we know what God said? It only proves that sin is our own doing, our fault, and we cannot blame it on God.

James said that when people are tempted, they should not say, “God is tempting me.” Evil cannot tempt God, and God himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But people are tempted when their evil desire leads them away and traps them. 15 This desire leads to sin, which grows and brings death. So then, we are not talking about excuses for sin but reasons. There are reasons why we allow ourselves to be deceived and decide to sin. (James 1:13-15) NCV

We sin because we bow down to what the world has given us, not what the Word tells us to do and what to avoid doing. It is so simple to understand that we fall quickly into the luxury of life, and when it comes to God’s will, we turn our back because of a lack of knowledge and understanding between the World or worldly offer and the Word or spiritual affairs. Temporal vs. Eternal.

But then the question comes; why do we want a quick enjoyment for our short stay here on earth when we can enjoy an everlasting life with God? Why do we have to fall to a deceiver of the truth when we can follow God’s will? Evil doesn’t sleep until they do evil things, so be mindful of it and contemplate and submit yourself to God and you will be blessed.

Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard, and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:23-24)

How does it all begin? The simplest example is when the enemy of our faith deceived Eve.

The Beginning of Sin

The snake was the most clever of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day the snake said to the woman, “Did God say that you must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”

The woman answered the snake, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. But God told us, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. You must not even touch it, or you will die.'” But the snake said to the woman, “You will not die. God knows that if you eat the fruit from that tree, you will learn about good and evil and be like God!”

The woman saw that the tree was beautiful, that its fruit was good to eat, and that it would make her wise. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of the fruit to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Genesis 3:1-6 NCV)

We can have everything in life, yet we may still feel something missing, the emptiness, the longing for unexplainable something, the perfection to make us complete. Eve knew the commandment of God, which she used to explain to the serpent, yet she was still deceived. Maybe Eve thought that there was something that she might learn new that would make her life complete.

The wisdom of asking God first before the fall was not present at the time because what she missed was to trust God’s Word and live everything to Him. Wisdom comes from God, and He gives wisdom to the wise; it would be wise if Eve spoke to her husband, whom God trusted to be His steward. But instead, she acted in disobedience and involved Adam to sin. Eve knew things she did not know before, but it was too late. They had already sinned against the will of God.

There are deceptive feelings, and there are honesty and truthfulness. We are vulnerable to enemy attacks when God is not welcome within us, which is supposed to be His temple. Without God, we are defenseless and powerless, and the enemy of our faith can easily be under his command. God never asks for much faith; He said through Jesus’ words: “Because your faith is too small, I tell you the truth, if your faith is as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. All things will be possible for you. (Matthew 17:20 NCV)

“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it is larger than all the garden plants when it has grown and becomes a tree.” (Matthew 13:31)

Just a little faith in Him can be a wall to any attack. Sometimes we sin because we want to keep up with the Joneses. Does it do good to have those feelings? Of course not! Be content with what you have and thank God in any circumstances, but do not limit your relationship with Him; your continuous communication will make a difference.

Sometimes we feel like we are not welcome to a particular group of Christians even if we are attending the same congregation. The feelings that we don’t belong to their level could be the age differences, positions, how they dress, how they give tithes, their relationship to the Pastors, and other reasons beyond our knowledge. Remember the humble inherit the earth and do not fall for that challenge, be strong, and remember that we belong to God.

“But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” (1 John 4:4 NLT)

Now that we know that we belong to God through His Word and if we believe in God, what more can we ask when we have it all? God is the completeness of our imperfection, the answer to what we want, and the provider of what we need. Do we want more than that? We need God more than He needs us; we are loved and protected by Him. We belong to Him, and no one can snatch us from His hand. Faith works, and without faith and good works, we will not be able to please Him.

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:16-17 ESV)

Try not to be deceived; when we are tempted to use the Word of God and that temptation will flee like shooting stars. God provides everything good. When we stop doing what God wants us to do, that is blasphemy to Him and sin. Let us build our faith like a rock, more robust and mightier, and temptation will have no place in our senses. The lesser the feeling of flesh desire, the more spirit of contentment comes after in time.

God help us to grow mightily with your Word.

Glory to God in the highest