JUST ONE SIN

It's been said that just one sin will not condemn a person. But let's look at the record. First, there is Adam and Eve. As far as we know, they committed only one sin each.

God had told them, and they understood what he said, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:17). They ate; they sinned; now they stood condemned and must suffer the consequences.

Moses was about as good a man as we can find. He was described thusly: "(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)" (Numbers 12:3). But Moses committed one sin for which he must suffer the consequences. So we view the aged Moses standing on Mount Pisgah, overlooking the land to which he had led the Israelites, knowing that he could not enter in because of one sin. "And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither" (Deuteronomy 34:4). (Deuteronomy 32:51-52) "Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel."

There are more instances but that's enough of the Old Testament; let's look at the New Testament. From Acts 8:20-23 we take the case of Simon who was called the Sorcerer. "But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity."

One unforgiven sin can cause us to suffer the consequences, but we can be forgiven if we will hear what the King has to say.

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