True Hatred

I've been reading a book called "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices" by the old Puritan preacher Thomas Brooks. This book is amazing and I think everybody should read it (it's only $9 on Amazon!!!).

I was reading in the fourth section of the book, which is "Satan's Devices to Keep Saints in a Sad, Doubting, Questioning and Uncomfortable Position" and something he said stuck out to me in from the fifth device Brooks says Satan uses. They are as follows:

1) Many people get caught up in finger pointing out certain sins, all the while ignoring other sins. People start obeying Jesus, but only certain things the Bible says, and not all of it. For example, in Matthew 23:23-24, Jesus says, " Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel." In the footnote (70) on page 163, Brooks says "True hatred is against the whole kind." I realized while reading Precious Remedies, that many of the legalists in our day get so focused on certain things and completely neglect things that they are failing in, just like the Pharisees in Jesus' time. One sign of true regeneration is a hatred of sin, not particular sins, but ALL sin. We must realize that every sin, both the things we do that are wrong and failing to do what is right, are first and foremost against God. Not one sin is more against God than another sin, though some sins have greater repercussions than others. With that in mind, we move on to my next point, which helps enlighten the first point, and why some people point at certain sins and not others.

2) On page 164 of Precious Remedies, Brooks says, "It will not suffice a soul to see justice done upon one sin, but he cries out for justice upon all. He would not have some crucified and some spared, but he cries out, Lord, crucify them all, crucify them all. Oh! but now the conflict that is in wicked men is partial; they frown upon one sin and smile upon another; they strike at some sins yet stroke others; they thrust some out of doors but keep others close in their bosoms; as you may see in Jehu, Herod, Judas, Simon, Magus, and Demas. Wicked men strike at gross sins, such as are not only against the law of God, but against the laws of nature and nations, but make nothing of less sins; as vain thoughts, idle words, sinful motions, and petty oaths. They fight against those sins that fight against their honour, profits, and pleasures, but make truce with those that are as right hand as right eyes to them."

There is a lot to this, but the main thing I want to focus on is why people point out certain sins and not others. Now, it needs to be noted that we are to call out sin and not be idle when we and others who claim the name of Christ are sinning; the point is not being particular with sin when dealing with ours and others sin. All sin is sin (simple, right?). We know sin by knowing Jesus and his holiness. We know sin to be things contrary to the nature of God. We know sin by the Word of God.

The two main ways I see Brooks saying that people are particular with sins are as follows:

A) People point out and abstain from sins that go against the laws of nature. Many times these have to deal with sins involving sex (i.e. homosexuality, polygamy, fornication, pornography, etc. etc.), sins involving things that alter our state of minds (i.e. drunkenness, unnecessary drug use, etc. etc.), and many more of the like. People see these as sin not because they are against Jesus, but because they are against the "natural order of the world." This creates moralism. People see how things should be morally and outwardly and strive to obtain a place that fits a morally correct picture. This is contrary to what the Bible teaches and we must see that sins are not just against nature, but sins are first and foremost agains God. This will also cause us to realize that there are so many other sins that are hidden inside and might not manifest themselves outwardly so evidently.
There are sins that are against God even if they are not against the laws of nature.

B) People willfully ignore certain sins because they are pleasing to the self. Sometimes, people sin in order to keep their "honour", to keep their "profits", to keep their "pleasure". Rather than being humbled by mistakes, people lie, cheat, steal, and kill to keep their personal glory. They go to church every Sunday, they attend a weekly community group, the give more that 10% to the church, and they care deeply for poor; all the while they are liars and cheaters, covetous and greedy, worshipping the idols of themselves rather than Jesus himself, they want their glory more than the glory of God, and yet they think they are righteous because of their outward morals. People abstain from sins that are obviously not befitting of one of Christ's elect, yet they do not abstain from the sins that are festering in their very own hearts.

The point of all of this is this: we must hate sin. We must detest sin. Sin is the reason our God came to earth. He lived the perfectly moral life that we all have failed to live and then he died in our place for all of our sin, of which we should all rightfully be condemned to Hell. Jesus took on an eternity of Hell for all people so that we won't have to. This should make us hate sin, but not particular sins over others, rather ALL SIN. "True hatred is against the whole kind."