Just A Little Sin Please

I was recently asked why sin in the congregation should be dealt with. Is not God able to deal with a man's sin by the Person of the Holy Spirit? I would agree that the Spirit of God may deal personally with a man, but is this to the exclusion of all other means?

Do we believe as Christians that the Spirit of God uses us to proclaim the Gospel? Do we believe as Christians that God has given us Elders in the congregation to watch over the flock. If they do not say anything, what is their duty? Does the Elder/Pastor preach the Gospel on Sunday mornings in order to build up the church and call sinners to repentance and faith in Christ?

But why do we really need to deal with sin? In Joshua chapter 7 God tells Joshua that all of Israel had sinned. After some searching, Joshua finds out that Achan had sinned against the Lord. Please notice that only Achan is said to have done this, yet God considered all of Israel to have sinned! Now read what the punishment for Achan was:

Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold wedge, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. 25 Joshua said, "Why have you brought this trouble on us? The LORD will bring trouble on you today."
Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. 26 Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor [i] ever since.

God commanded Achan and all of his family to be killed and his possesions burned up. The lesson we may learn from this is that God takes sin very seriously. If we think we may hide our sin, in time God will hand us over to our sin, and destruction will surely follow.

Therefore sin must be dealt with. We must constantly be vigilant with our lives. We serve a Holy God who has created a people and saved them for holiness. To hide and practice sin is to insult the work of Christ and allow God's enemies to curse the Name of Christ.

For the Christian man who loves his family, he must always keep in mind, that when he sins, he affects not just himself, but he injures his family and his church and ultimately, he blasphemes the Name of Christ.