“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:12-13 ESV
Reflection: what effects does sin have in your life?
One of the great deceptions and lies of the devil is hiding the effects, consequences and cost of sin. Just think for a moment about a time that you have done or said something you know God is not pleased with, against His will and purpose. The sin might look pretty enticing in advance, but in the very moment it is committed, there is an immediate shift. From enticement to entrapment, guilt and shame. It is exactly what happened to Adam and Eve, when they sinned in the garden. Instead of coming to their loving Father, they ran away in hiding, in shame. Adam learned the consequence of sin – separation from the intimate relationship he had with Father God.
But Adam had a choice. He could have rejected the apple, the “fruit” that his wife Eve offered him. Eve had now become an instrument for the devil. Adam also knew this was wrong, he knew it was against the will of his Father God. But he too was enticed by the fruit, and took a bite. We don’t know if the “apple” was a physical fruit, or a metaphor for something else. Most likely representing something bigger; because with it came “the knowledge of evil”. Remember, they already had the knowledge of good, being in the presence of God. This evil was what Father God wanted to shield His creation, His children from, and still is today. And, isn’t that the nature of all sin? It is rooted in evil, because it is against the will of God. It is rooted in rebellion against God, so it is very serious.
But God had a plan, even despite the fall. That He Himself would enter creation as a man, and take the punishment for sin, to atone for sin by shedding His own blood. The consequence of sin is death, as Paul wrote “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 ESV. This is the new covenant that He established, in the blood of Jesus Christ, that we too can benefit from. The free gift of God, of eternal life in Christ Jesus, as was His plan to begin with, even before the fall.
Now the writer of Hebrews makes a very important point, perhaps “controversial” to some. Talking to his Christian Hebrew brothers, he warns about what can be “leading you to fall away from the living God”. Fall away from God? What could cause that? “An evil, unbelieving heart”, he writes. And he goes on explaining how that could happen. He says that it is possible to “be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Ahh, there it is. The deceitfulness of sin, as we looked at above. The effect of sin is shame and guilt, it is hiding away from our holy Father God due to shame, and it leads to a “hardening of the heart”, meaning becoming callous. No longer having remorse leading to repentance. And the writer reminds us that this is exactly what happened to the Israelites in the desert,
“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’””Hebrews 3:7-11 ESV.
So how do we prevent this to happen, how do we deal with sin in our lives? Peter said “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” 1 Peter 2:11 ESV. This is in fact the spiritual battle front. The Hebrews writer states later “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”” Hebrews 12:3-6 ESV. As brothers and sisters in Christ we are therefore to “exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” Hebrews 3:13a ESV.
It is the oldest of battles, from the very beginning. The devil wants to entice and ensnare us, to shame us so that our hearts are eventually hardened. But we must resist and reject. We must fight this battle actively, and remain humble before our Father God. Probably learning from experience, king Salomon wrote this advice to his son “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.” Proverbs 1:10 ESV. Wise words.