Secret Sins

Who said, "Be sure your sin will find you out"? That would be Moses. In the Bible (Num 32:23). As a warning to Israel.

Ravi Zacharias died in May of 2020, a venerated Christian speaker. By September he was no longer venerated; he was castigated. Now a report is out that says he was doing horrendous things. Secretly. No one knew. No one came forward. At least, not until he was dead. And cannot defend himself. Nice.

That's not my point. My point is "Be sure your sin will find you out." There is no such thing as a "secret sin." There are open sins and there are private sins, but there are, in the final analysis, no secret sins. They all come out in the end. And when they come out like these have, the damage they do is tremendous. There are no "victimless sins." All sins have consequences and not pleasant ones at that. If you're counting on your sins going unnoticed, think again.

Sin is a real problem ... for us. Paul wrote about restoring brothers caught in sin and warned, at the same time, "Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted." (Gal 6:1) Because sin is insidious. He told Timothy regarding elders in sin, "As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear." (1 Tim 5:20) Because sin is dangerous and serious and we need to be on guard. Still, we tend to be lackadaisical. About our own sin.

Scripture calls us ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor 5:20). Perhaps that ought to change how we present ourselves? Scripture says we should be doing our works in such a way that they glorify our Father (Matt 5:16). Perhaps that does not include sinning? Most of us know that we don't stop sinning in this life (1 John 1:8-2:1), but that doesn't mean we should indulge sin. Paul said, "Do not let sin reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions." (Rom 6:12) Before you came to Christ you couldn't avoid it; now it's your choice. Choose not to sin. Because there are no secret sins and because all sin causes damage -- to yourself and to others and to the name of Christ -- and because we are made for good works (Eph 2:10), not sin. We ought to get serious about this (Matt 16:24; Gal 5:24; Eph 4:22; Col 3:5; etc.).