Justin Matthew Reid

Bible Teachings - Sin, Pleasure & Logic - A Treatise

Hebrews 11:25

"Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;" (with the people of Satan)

Herein we see that Moses, a free moral agent, had a choice to make. He could either 1) Choose to stand for righteousness and suffer affliction for it or 2) Choose to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. It's a choice. It's called a choice because one cannot do both things at the same time. Else it would not be a choice and one would just do both simultaneously. There would be no choice to make.

God says CHOOSE. Choose you this day whom you will serve. "I AM". "You choose!"

The people of God choose to suffer for righteousness' sake. The people of Satan choose to enjoy what God hates: sin! They choose to enjoy what they were not made to enjoy. They choose to change their God-given nature for good into evil. By doing so, they justify themselves and condemn God.

Enjoying what God enjoys is a good thing. Enjoying what God hates is evil!

When a child is forced to clean his room, does he think, "I'm sure enjoying cleaning my room!"?

No! When one is forced to do something against his will, the natural reaction is not enjoyment. It's perhaps hate, resentment or displeasure.. but NEVER pleasure.

The choice of the pleasure of sin for a season. This is the only reason why anyone could possibly choose to sin. After all, if sinning had no benefit (or so it would irrationally seem), why would anyone CHOOSE it? The "benefit" of sin is a lust being temporarily gratified. It's of no eternal value, because death and hell are never full. Lust is never satisfied. It keeps returning, and in greater measure. A man giving in to the first "little" sin will soon find himself "trapped" in an ever increasing cyclone of lust, death and destruction. John the Baptist said of Jesus Christ, "He must increase, I must decrease". If one is not serving God, the only way to go is: "lust must increase!".

I speak against those religious "Christians" that name Christ but do not depart from iniquity. They refuse to CHOOSE righteousness with the people of God, thereby CHOOSING the pleasure of sin for a season with the people of Satan. Refusing to make a choice is still making a choice. We are forced to make choices by nature of the design God gave us when he gave us a will.

These "carnal Christians" can at least (in theory) see the hypocrisy in naming Christ but not departing from iniquity. What to do? Blame someone else for the iniquity! It's sure Adam's fault or their parents' fault, but never THEIR FAULT. They follow in a long line of sinners by making such excuses. Adam blamed God for giving him Eve. "The woman YOU gave me ... caused me to sin against you!". Meaning: "God, I sinned because of something you did". That's what religious sinners do when they say they were "born that way". Who created them?

They say they cannot help BUT sin. They'll accuse their flesh body of being the cause (the flesh being subject to the will), but never accept the responsibility that it was THEIR CHOICE (or will) that is responsible for the sin. It's as if Adam, their parents, their flesh, Satan, or whatever other excuse is tying them to a chair and saying: "you'll sin and you'll like it!".

Now, for the sake of logic, let's briefly indulge the fantasy that someone could be a "person of God" and be FORCED to sin at the same time. Alright. Let's say a man of God was FORCED to commit adultery somehow. He'd be utterly disgusted WHILE the action was taking place. Here is something, adultery, that God HATES and that the man of God HATES, yet he is thick in the middle of what HE HATES! Would he enjoy the forced "sin"? No! He'd be revolted! He'd want to rebuke whoever or whatever forced him to "sin".

Let's come back to the simple, plain, obvious statement of James 4:17: "Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not: to him it is sin". Sin is defined by God as having knowledge and then CHOOSING not to do it. Therefore, there is no forced sin. There is either obedience to God or disobedience to God. A choice to not obey God is automatically a choice to disobey God.

The fact that the religious "Christian" sinners ENJOY THEIR SIN is witness/indictment against them that THEY CHOSE TO DO IT! "Flesh" caused them to think lustful thoughts, yet they are enjoying the thoughts? If it were me, I'd be ANGRY at FLESH for FORCING me to do what God HATES! Therein is the whole solution. Sinners choose to substitute an excuse/lie (flesh, parents, Adam, Satan) in place of the simple Truth (freewill) as to why they sin. Yet they aren't ANGRY at their excuses, because deep down they know that they are responsible for their own actions of sin. The people of God choose to "be ye angry AND sin not!" (Ephesians 4:26). The people of God choose to hate sin before they commit it, so that they don't commit it. They choose to hate what God hates and love what God loves.

"Awake to righteousness, AND sin not" - 1 Corinthians 15:34

Righteousness depends on not sinning. Sin is a transgression of God's moral law. Sin is against the God that formed you.

Don't sin. You were born that way (free from sin!).

-Justin

November 6th, 2007