But I gave MYSELF permission

Ezekiel 3:20
"Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood."


The Holy Spirit never gives us permission to sin; choosing to go ahead and sin anyway feels like a privilege we're entitled to grant ourselves anytime it seems convenient.

You've already heard this old saw: "God's already promised to forgive me for anything I do, so what's the big deal if I slip up and sin some anyway?"

Whoa, hold your horses. Grace isn't something we were given any choice about arbitrarily dispensing to ourselves. Grace comes from God's mercy alone, through Christ sacrificing himself on the cross for our sins ... not the other way around.

"Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?"
Romans 6:16

Oh gosh, the word Sin sounds so Puritanical and Judgmental. You never hear the word "sin" outside of church anyway, so if a little sinning sounds like fun and isn't hurting anybody, that should be private stuff between God n' me or whoever I'm doing it with.

"Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient."
Ephesians 5:6

There's a not-so-subtle difference between humbly asking for forgiveness and selfishly expecting to be forgiven. God knows our hearts, God knows where our faith truly lies, and God knows when we lie and deceive ourselves about living by our faith:

"For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
Romans 1:17

God doesn't hate sin because sinning is fun, exciting and glamorous and he's not the grumpy old man upstairs who wants to make sure we're miserable, scared and brooding while we're living in his apartment downstairs. God hates sin because sin ignores his word and mocks his holiness: sin is pursuing our wants, instead of seeking his will.

All sin, any sin, is a deviation from God's flawless design and is therefore imperfect, pernicious, rebellious and unacceptable in his eyes. God hates sin because it's a perversion of his perfect design and plan for our lives. For believers, sinning means forgetting who we are, and ignoring who God planned for us to be:

"In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God."
Psalm 10:4

Only the enemy is foolish enough to believe he's smarter, more in touch or more powerful than God.

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"Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness."
Romans 6:13

People willing to set their faith aside to pursue a good time in the moment are looking for a distraction from being reminded who they are in the present, believing that breaking God's law today will somehow fix what's broken inside them tomorrow. Sinning today has never been enough or satisfied them, but they still expect to be forgiven and free to sin the same way tomorrow. And next weekend too, if that's what happens to suit them.

Drugs (illegal or otherwise; or getting blasted with alcohol) sure sound appealing when reality seems dull or overwhelming. The prospect of sexual conquests (guys) and romantic adventures (ladies) are actually the two opposite sides of one sin coin revealed at the same time: a woman trading disinterested sex for emotion, and a man exchanging half-hearted emotion for sexual gratification.

"Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body but he who sins sexually sins against his own body."
1 Corinthians 6:18

All sin is abhorrent and separates us from God's perfect plan for our lives. Obedience means staying faithful during trials and temptations, keeping God's word in our hearts and honoring him in every thought, word and deed.