Secret sins

“He that doubteth^G1252 is damned if he eat...for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” (Rom. 14:23).

 

“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” (Jas.4:17).

 

G1252 diakrino From G1223 and G2919; to separate thoroughly, that is, (literally or reflexively) to withdraw from, or (by implication) oppose; figuratively or discriminate (by implication decide), or (reflexively hesitate: - contend, make (to) differ (-ence), discern, doubt, judge, be partial, stagger, waver.

 

Diakrino in the context of Romans 14:23 says a lot about secret sins. “To withdraw from” “be partial, stagger, waver”. The secret is sinful even if it has to do with something as innocuous as food.

 

The King James Version uses the verb “doubt” in opposition to being or acting “of faith”. This is a truism; doubt is one opposite of faith. But, the deeper meaning is thorough separation and withdrawal, etc. This means that food or a drink or anything, which causes us to separate or withdraw from God and waver in fidelity to God, is sin. What is the reason for separating? Because we are enticed by a practice that is wrong, and we know it is wrong. Either we have read or heard the truth of God’s character with regard to it, or we instinctively know that it is wrong. Then, to do that practice makes us desire secrecy away from God. The secret sin means that I don’t want God around while I please myself, my body, my mind, or my soul. I want God to go away; at least long enough for me to do my sin. I can’t do my sin and have Him around to disturb me with His condemnation of that sin. I don’t want him to remind me that He doesn’t do that act, or love that thing or that person. So I mentally block Him out “in the chambers of [my] imagery” (Eze. 8:12), or I go somewhere that is dark and has no windows. Of course God doesn’t need windows to see what I do, as Ezekiel experienced in vision.  

 

“Then said He unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.

And He said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.

So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.

And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.

Then said He unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.” (Eze. 8:8-12).

“Then said He unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.” (Eze. 9:9).

 

They thought that by secretly doing what they knew was wrong, that it would go unnoticed by God. Of course it didn’t go unnoticed because God sees everything. Yet, though in their minds God wouldn’t see them and cut them off, the separation from God still occurred.

“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” (Heb. 4:13).

 

“Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,
Thou understandest my thought afar off.

Thou compassest my path and my lying down,
    and art acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word in my tongue,
    but, lo, O LORD, Thou knowest it altogether.

Thou hast beset me behind and before,
    and laid Thine hand upon me.” (Ps. 139:2-5).

 

If I have left God, then I am no longer just. And being unjust, I do not desire God; I want to be alone. I don’t like it that He is inescapable and His knowledge of me leaves me under His scrutiny all the time. All that I desire is to please my flesh, so I switch off my faith and go into unbelief. I want to do what I want to do. I cannot love God and remain in communion with Him at the same time that I am loving myself. I am unconverted; I am not in the kingdom; I am lost unless I haven’t cut God off so much that He can’t retrieve me from my sin.

Once saved, not always saved. But, if I haven’t gone too far, God will work overtime to save me again. In King Saul’s case, that wasn’t possible. Neither with Judas’ case. But, He could save wicked King Manasseh. I don’t understand all the factors that deal with successful, divine rescues from sin. All I know is, I need to keep as close to Jesus as possible. It seems that no one knows when he is lost. Satan and sin are that deceptive. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it.” (Jer. 18:9). That should give us something to think about.

It is the communion of faith that makes us pleasing to God. God calls them sinners who do not seek after God, and them righteous who have faith in Him. David sang, “My soul followeth hard after Thee.” (Ps. 63:8). They love to be with Him who is righteous; and His righteousness rubs off on them. The just (all of whom love to be with Jesus) have a totally different disposition to God’s ability to read our minds. The surrendered and converted heart wants God’s all-knowing presence to be near because the converted heart has come to believe in His loving presence. To the converted one, His love is worth the disturbed conscience He causes everyone who He occupies.

 

“O LORD, Thou hast searched me, and known me.

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off.

Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, Thou knowest it altogether.

Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.” (Ps. 139:1-6).

 

“Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?

If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there.

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.” (Ps. 139:7-10).

The converted heart doesn’t want to be far from God’s Spirit. His presence represents love and protection, which translates to learning His principles of righteousness, and which prevents the troubles and pains that ruin his happiness. The new, humbled heart in the new Christian wants retraining and changing from his old ways. The new heart is OK with the humbling that comes with admitting another failure and shortcoming. Pride doesn’t want to repent; but the new heart and spirit will do anything to keep its new Friend who never disappoints, but who is a faithful Friend to the very end. “Jesus…having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.” (John 13:1).

 

Will I keep my sins and do them in secret? Will I ask God to leave so that I can do evils that I have rationalized to be all right? Will I close my faith and shut down my communion with Him so that I can have that thing or that practice that I know He doesn’t approve of? Will I indulge in idolatry? Will I pretend my best Friend doesn’t exist? Will I turn Him off until I am done pleasing myself; and then turn Him back on again like He is my toy?

 

Will I have another god alongside my new God? Will the one true God allow me to flip-flop between Him and the other god? Will I risk asking Him to leave for a while, not knowing if He will come back? Do I care if the Spirit of God may not be able to come back because Satan has manipulated his familiar temptation to be more deeply rooted than in the past when I could successfully return to the Lord after serving the exact same temptation as before?

 

Will I rationalize and say that the temptation is no big thing, because everyone does it? It is socially acceptable! If it were really that bad, the government would make it illegal! And how can billions of people be wrong?! Will I conveniently get amnesia and forget what I’ve  learned, “This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” (John 3:19, 20).

 

But, really, what kind of relationship would I have with you, if I ever have to ask you to leave? For whatever reason it is, if I ask you to leave, do I have a good relationship with you? No.

Sure, there are proprieties that should afford privacy. But, before we ever ask our loved one to excuse himself/herself, his/her love for us should seek our happiness and do what we would like him/her to do. They should want to please us by doing our will before we even ask. That is the way love works out the Law of God. And as a result, everyone is very happy. Then, after the necessary privacy, the loved ones are anxious to be together again. This is what heaven is like. It is also what God wants to have with every child of Adam. That kind of love would spread around the globe if Satan didn’t put his billions of landmines to prevent its spread.

 

No more secret sins; no more separating from Jesus anymore. Let’s prepare for an eternity with the holy God and His transparent kingdom. There no closed city of God. No temple. No barriers of any kind. No more secrets. No more fears. No more tears.

 

“And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” (Rev. 21:10, 11).

 

 “And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (Rev. 21:24-27).

 

“And they shall see His face; and Hs name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true.” (Rev. 22:4-6).