Is sin a subjective thing? Is it only a sin if I think it’s wrong? If I see no harm in it, does it mean it’s okay? As a Christian, how can I know what is sin and what isn’t? Could I be overlooking sins in my Christian life?

I am not the judge of what is sin and what isn’t — nor are you, and I say that gently but with certainty. Sin is primarily an offence against God. In fact, the only thing God has against anyone is not the colour of our eyes or our skin or the condition of our clothes or the country of our origin —  the only thing He ever did have against any of us was our sin.

In our unconverted days – the only thing between us and God was our sin. It was the separating barrier. (Isaiah 59:2) Sin was the dividing line between ourselves and God —  the one thing that kept us away from God and out of His family. Christ’s death on the Cross was the only means of removing that barrier. Did you thank God yet today that Christ died for your sins?

As a Christian, the only thing that can hinder, harm, hurt and hamper my fellowship with the Lord is sin in my life —big or small. The moment I received Christ, He bestowed on me the right of belonging to His family (John 1:12). I can never be evicted, ejected or rejected from His family. I am forever a child of God. But sin will always hinder the fellowship —the communion I enjoy within the family circle.

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Sometimes, we think we are doing okay if we clean up our lives by stopping this and that. Is it enough to stop doing the evil things we once did, stop going where we once went, stop watching what we once watched, and stop saying what we once said? Is that all that God requires? Or is there more? Read this slowly and then re-read it:

Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. James 4:17

Now, that’s another angle on sin! Anytime there is something in my life I know to be good or a right thing to do, but I fail to do it, I have sinned.

Is there something in your life right now that you know you should be doing but haven’t done it yet? Until you do it, it’s a sin. You may have reasons for not doing it – rationalizations, procrastinations and justifications for not doing the ‘good’ thing just yet —but remember, it’s a sin until you do it.

If I want to enjoy greater intimacy with the Lord and robust fellowship with Him, I will want a clearer understanding of what offends Him and what pleases Him. The Bible will help us understand more of the holiness of our Great God and increase our sensitivity to sin. The Bible tells you what God does not want you to do, as well as what He wants you to do.

David’s Psalm 139 is beautiful. Someone has prefaced the Psalm with these words: “God is so great! There is nothing He does not know. There is nowhere He is not present. There is nothing He cannot do.” At the end of the Psalm, David prays:

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! Psalms 139:23-24

In other words, David was transparent in the Lord’s Presence. If there were things in his life he was failing to see that could possibly hinder his communion, his spiritual progress, and his testimony in a godless world, he wanted the Lord to open his eyes to such blind spots. Listen to his prayer: “Lead me in the everlasting way!”

In John 17, Jesus, in what is known as His High Priestly Prayer, prayed for His disciples this way:

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. John 17:15-18

Reading the Word of God has a sanctifying effect on us. Submitting to the Truth of the Scriptures makes us a more suitable vessel the Lord can use to magnify His Name and to further His eternal purposes. The more we read, the more sensitive we will become to what the Lord loves and hates. Saturating our hearts with the Word of God will produce in us a greater conformity to the likeness of God’s Son. (Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18)

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The more we read the Word of God, the more we’ll understand that sin is not just committing wrong things but also failing to do the right thing, often called the sins of commission and sins of omission. May we be more conscious of the grief we cause Him when we fail to do something we know to be right and pleasing in His sight.