Five Sins That Jesus Hated Most
As we grow spiritually, we will discover that
the righteousness of God is not primarily external, and that sin too is not
primarily external. When we talk about righteousness, most people think of the
standard mentioned in the Ten Commandments. But righteousness under the new
covenant is measured by the life of Jesus and not by any written Law. When we
consider the sins that Jesus spoke against the most, we will discover what He hated
the most. As we consider five such sins, we will see that none of them are
listed in the Ten Commandments!!
1. Hypocrisy
To be a hypocrite is to give others the
impression that we are holier than we actually are. It is the same as being
false, or telling a lie. Jesus pronounced a curse on hypocrites seven times in Mt. 23:13-29.
It is possible to tell a lie without even opening our mouths. Ananias lied to
the Holy Spirit without saying a word - when he pretended to be a wholehearted
disciple of Jesus (Acts 5:1-5).
Jesus told the Pharisees that their inner life
was "full of self-indulgence" (Mt. 23:25)
- which meant that they lived only to please themselves. Yet they gave others
the impression that because they knew the Scriptures well and fasted and prayed
and tithed their income, they were very holy. They appeared very pious
externally. They prayed lengthy prayers in public, but they did not pray at
length in private - just like many today. It is hypocrisy if we praise God only
on Sunday mornings, but do not have a spirit of praise in our hearts at all
times. God looks at our hearts. The wise virgins had a hidden reserve of oil in
their vessels while the foolish ones had only enough to light their lamps
externally and have a good testimony before men (Mt. 25: 1- 4).
When we hear of a Christian leader suddenly falling into adultery, we must
realize that that was no sudden fall but the final result of a long period of
unfaithfulness in his inner life.
2. Spiritual Pride
Spiritual pride is the most common sin to be
found among those who pursue after holiness. We all know the parable of the
self-righteous Pharisee who despised others even in his prayer (Luk. 18:9-14)!
It is more than likely that 90% of all prayers offered in public by believers
are primarily meant to impress others who are listening and have not prayed to God
at all. The Pharisee in the parable may not have been evil like other sinners
in his external life. But Jesus hated the pride with which he thought of his
spiritual activities and with which he despised others. It is spiritual pride
that makes believers constantly judge other believers.
The tax collector, however, who saw himself as
THE sinner - worse than all others - was accepted by God. All who have come
face to face with God will have seen themselves at some time, as the chief of
sinners. Jesus taught that the greatest person in heaven would be the humblest (Mt. 18:4).
The greatest virtue found in heaven is humility. We see in the book of
Revelation that all those who receive crowns in heaven are quick to cast them
down before the Lord acknowledging that He alone deserves every crown (Re. 4:10,
11).
Jesus said that even if we managed to obey
EVERY SINGLE commandment of God, we would still be unprofitable servants who
had not done anything more than what was expected of us (Luk. 17:10).
Then what shall we say about our condition when we fall so often!
3. Impurity
Impurity enters into our hearts mainly through
our eyes and our ears. This impurity then comes OUT from our hearts and
expresses itself through the various members of our bodies - primarily through
our tongues and our eyes. Anyone who seeks to be pure must therefore be
especially careful about what he sees and what he hears. Jesus hated impurity
so much that He told His disciples that they should be willing to pluck out
their right eye and cut off their right hand rather than sin with those members
(Mt. 5:27-29).
When do doctors recommend the amputation of the
right hand or the surgical removal of an eye? Only when things have become so
bad that without the removal of these organs, the whole body would die. This is
what we need to understand in relation to sin as well. Sin is so serious that
it can imperil our very life. Most believers have not realized this and that is
why they are careless in the way they use their tongues and their eyes. We must
be as blind men and as dumb men when tempted to sin with our eyes and our
tongues. This is the implication of Jesus' words.
4. Indifference to Human Need
Jesus was angry when the leaders of the
synagogue did not want Him to heal a man, just because it was the Sabbath day
"He was deeply disturbed by their indifference to human need" (Mk. 3:5 - Living).
We are commanded to do good to all men,
especially to the children of God (Gal. 6: 10).
Jesus taught that those who did nothing to help their brothers who were in need
of the basic necessities of life, would be cast out of His presence in the
final day (Mt. 25:41-46). We may not have the
gift of healing to heal sick believers. But we can all certainly visit those
who are sick and encourage them. That's all the Lord asks of us.
The rich man went to hell because he did not
care for his brother Lazarus, who was a fellow Jew and a fellow son of Abraham.
The priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan were exposed as
hypocrites by Jesus because they did not show compassion on their fellow-
brother- Jew who was lying on the roadside wounded. The Bible says that those
who see their brothers in need and who are not moved to help them do not really
have saving faith (Jas. 2:15-17). They are only deceiving
themselves when they say that they are born again; they are not. Those who do
not help their brothers in need cannot possibly have the love of God dwelling
in their hearts (1Jn. 3:17). Jesus spoke out strongly
on such matters because He hated the attitude that many religious people had
who were concerned only with religious activities but not with helping their
needy brothers.
5. Unbelief
The four sins that we have already mentioned can
easily be identified as sins by all believers. But when it comes to unbelief,
almost all believers think of it, not as a sin but as a weakness. And therefore
they don't learn to hate unbelief as they hate other sins.
But the Bible speaks of an unbelieving heart as
an EVIL heart (He. 3: 12) Jesus rebuked His disciples
seven times for unbelief. (See Mt. 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8; 17:17-20; Mk.16:14; Lk.24:25).
It seems that He almost never rebuked His disciples for anything else!!
Unbelief is an insult to God, because it
implies that God does not care or provide for His children even as much as evil
fathers on earth care and provide for their children.
There is also a counterfeit faith being
preached these days, as a means of getting things from God. But that is not the
faith that Jesus preached. He wanted us to have faith to live by, in our daily
life. Victory over depression, bad moods and discouragement can come only as we
have faith in a loving Father in heaven and in the wonderful promises He has
given us in His Word.
Twice we read of Jesus being amazed - once when
he saw FAITH and once when He saw UNBELIEF!! (Mt. 8:10; Mk. 6:6).
Jesus was excited whenever He saw faith in people. And He was disappointed when
He saw people unwilling to trust in a loving Father in heaven.
Now That
We Know
Now that we have understood what Jesus hated
the most, it should be our aim to hate these five sins too. As we discover
these sins in our lives, we must crucify them ruthlessly.
Many preachers read articles like this
regularly, only in order to get points for their sermons. Let me warn all such:
Satan will tempt you to use this article just to get five points for a sermon!
But what you need to do, first of all, is to hate these sins thoroughly in your
own life.
Then you will be able to proclaim God's Word
with authority. Otherwise, you will only be a Pharisee like many other preachers
in the world.
He, who has ears to hear, let him hear.
By Zac Poonen
www.cfcindia.com