What Happens if You Don’t Put Sin to Death
Dr. John Snyder is the pastor of Christ Church New Albany, director of Media Gratiae, host of The Whole Counsel podcast, and author of multiple multimedia Bible studies including the Behold Your God series, Living with the True God: Lessons from Judges, and Behold Your God: Seeking Him Early.
In Living with the True God: Lessons from Judges, Dr. Snyder describes the vital necessity of putting all sin in our lives to death.
Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them (that is, all the Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars of Canaan; only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might be taught war, those who had not experienced it previously). These nations are: the five governors of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. They were left to test Israel by them, to find out if they would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He had commanded their fathers through Moses.
Judges 3:1–4
Beware sparing any sin. It will not spare you.
There is a spiritual principle in this passage for the Christian. If you find sin in your life, small and unnoticed by others, and you spare that sin, do not be surprised if one day that sin ruthlessly rules over you in a way that everyone notices. Think of it this way: if there are personal sins that you are at peace with, you are presently writing out your own list of enemies, like the list found in Judges 3:1–4, that may one day rule you.
Beware sparing any sin. It will not spare you.
be killing sin or it will be killing you. —John Owen
Samuel Rutherford gave the following illustration of our careless attitude toward sin. Imagine children on a ship as the sea becomes choppy. They lean over the edge of the deck and play in the white foam of the ocean waves. They do not understand that these waves are only the beginning of a terrible storm that will sink their ship and take their lives. Unaware of the coming doom, they continue to laugh and play with the waves that will soon destroy them.
Any sin that we knowingly spare in our lives is like toying with an ocean wave, unaware that it may soon destroy us.
Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work? Be always at it while you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you. —John Owen
God will accomplish His great plans of mercy despite our costly and sinful stumbling.
Did you notice the overriding mercy of God in Judges 3:1–4?
Israel was disobedient, stopping short of removing the pagan nations and later intermingling with them (3:5–6); but God used even these sinful choices in a way that would accomplish His overarching purposes. He used the remaining nations as instruments to teach Israel to depend upon Him, to walk with Him, and to obey Him. We find this truth explained more fully in Paul’s well-known words of Romans 8:28: And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
This truth is precious to the Christian—the one who loves God and has been called according to His purpose. While Romans 8:28 does not teach us that full obedience is optional, it does explain that God will accomplish His great plans of mercy despite our costly and sinful stumbling.