One of the many reasons why sin is so popular in our society is that people have been able to convince themselves that such activity can be enjoyed with few consequences.
While certain sins in the past carried with their commission a certain stigma, such is not the case today. Pregnancy outside of marriage, sexual promiscuity, drug use, homosexuality — all are accepted by society, or at the most are looked upon as a mild indiscretion. We witness the famous engaging in bizarre and destructive behavior, and they are continually enabled and excused in their lawbreaking and infidelities. Authority figures in our country, including policemen and educators, often have their hands tied when trying to deal with crime and delinquency. We are a society that defends, rationalizes and enables. Sin is seldom dealt with as God intends — even in the church.
However, such license is misleading. While men may believe they can escape the consequences of their sin, the Bible affirms, “Good sense wins favor, but the way of the treacherous is their ruin” (Proverbs 13:15, ESV). Consider the following ways that sin brings ruin.
- Ruin to the Body. Sinful indulgences such as drinking, drug use, gluttony and sexual promiscuity leave scars upon the body. Cirrhosis of the liver, liver cancer, lung cancer, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, etc., can all be caused or exacerbated by sinful lifestyles. Added to this is the reality of addiction. A person may disregard the health risks which accompany his indulgences when young, and then be unable to control his destructive impulses when time brings the inevitable loss of vigor and health. “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16).
- Ruin to the Family. Few consider the impact that sinful behavior has upon others. The pursuit of prurient pleasure is typically selfish. The sinner wants what he wants, and is unconcerned about whose life his sin may harm. Sexual affairs destroy marriages, and harm children. Gambling and wasteful spending affect economic standing. Drinking and drug abuse lead to the loss of employment, bring disease that can rob children of their parents at a young age, and influence the young to walk their own path of dissolution. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6).
- Ruin to the Spiritual Man. Some mistake God’s decision to not immediately and temporally punish sin as an indication that no punishment is forthcoming. They do so to their own destruction. “…It is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you … in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-8). The consequences of sin are real, and eternal in nature.
These are not all of the consequences we could discuss, but they are sufficient to make the point. The appeal of sin is deceptive and destructive. The same sentiment expressed with regard to strong drink in Proverbs 20:1 could be repeated with any transgression, “…whoever is led astray by it is not wise.”
