John 7:6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
James 4:4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
1 John 4:5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.
Proverbs 15:12 A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.
Romans 8:7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
1 John 2:15-16 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
Acts 7:54 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.
“I testify about it that its works are evil.” “Friendship with the world is enmity with God.” “They are from the world.” “The mindset on the flesh is hostile to God.” “Do not love the world.” “Do not love things of the world.” “You stiff-necked people.” I am not sure I have ever seen the division, anger, fear, and hatred that is around us today. Surely it points to the condition of the heart of mankind without Jesus Christ in their lives. Boasting, looting, rioting, lying, causing fear, anger, and division are clearly coming from the abundance of what is filling their hearts. The love of God is not there but rather a love of self, self-centered, self-interests, self-reliance, self-power, self-worth, self-love, pride, greed, and arrogance. They harden their heart into stone and close their ears to His calling. They shake their mental fist at God, mocking the Creator, Savior, and coming again King of kings. When they harden their hearts and stiffen their necks against God there is no limit to what sin they can commit. Think about it. Abortion is called, “Pro-choice”. Pornography is called, “adult entertainment”. LGBTQ is called, “alternative lifestyle”. Breaking a contract for the sole purpose of making money is called, “shrewd businessman”. Lying in business is called, “manipulating the truth”. Hate and violence are called, “justified”. The list can go on and on. Sin is no longer recognized as sin. We can look at this list and say these are all sins against a child, person, business, or group of people. The fact is these are not sins against man but against Jesus Christ himself. When we sin it is not against man. We sin against God. We may harm man but we sin against God. We may wrong a person but we sin against God. When God is removed from our hearts and mind, there is no thought of sinning against God. Even as Christians we fall into a false thought that our sin is against a person rather than the one and only Holy God.
We must have a proper understanding of “Sin”, or our lives will become more and more like the world’s view of it.