Did you know God is serious about sin… like really serious. Sometimes I think that we, modern Christians, have such a warped view of forgiveness and grace. We live in a way where we think … “Yeah, I sinned, no big deal… GRACE!”. Worse yet, we actively shut out the Holy Spirit and God’s people so that we don’t have to confront the sin that our conscience has already betrayed us on. We think by staying away from church or trivializing our actions that we can claim ignorance.

Recently, I’ve been reading through Leviticus and one thing I have come away with is that sin and how it is dealt with is a very serious matter and the God is very holy. In Leviticus, the first several chapters outline the many types of sacrifices and how they are to be dealt with. There guilt sacrifices, sin sacrifices, food and drink offerings, there is even a sacrifice of sin where the sinner is unaware of their transgression! What is even more glaring is the precision in how each of these sacrifices were to be made. If there is one misstep, the sacrifice is unacceptable!

So sin, in the camp of Israel, was a BIG deal. To gain atonement, there was loss of life and very detailed instructions and confessions that not only a person had to go through but a priesthood had to go through on their behalf!

What has changed? Why is sin no longer a big deal to us? Are we spoiled by grace or is it that we just do not understand its depths? For if we understood the sin that could require us to make these gory atonements before the Lord, then grace would not give us a green light to a nonchalant attitude, it would bring us to our knees in repentance and thankfulness.

Soli Deo Gloria

Jesse Horne