“…Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.” (1 Timothy 5:19-21)
The English word “sin” is translated from the Greek word hamartano, which literally means, "to miss the mark", while the Hebrew word is shagag: to go astray, commit transgression or error. Definition: Sin is anything that is unacceptable to God. It is what angers God, disrespects God, offends God or causes an offence to others in violation of Biblical precepts. It is what separates humanity from God.
The word sin is a very broad and sweeping term. All sin is wrong. Sin misses the mark and goes astray from the straight and narrow path of righteousness. It’s rejecting Gods leadership, direction, precepts and His love. “Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.” (Proverbs 14:9) Sin can be very personal and habitual. Habitual sin, with its forethought and premeditation is the form of sin that must be stopped, abandoned, defeated, repented of and rejected. Sin “in the moment” can quickly be realized and repented. For instance, a person can stub their toe and “in the moment” they shout obscenities, without forethought or intent. The person immediately feels remorse, repents their transgression “sin” and then turns from that sin and attempts to not sin again. This form of sin is still sin, but is vastly different from habitual sin.
Habitual sin is like a cancer growing in your soul. Habitual sin requires forethought and premeditation and a desire or compulsion to continue in that sin. Even if you try and hide the sin, it’s still there and our omnipresent God sees it. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13) God has made provision for those that will repent and turn from their sin, but those that remain in their sin will not prosper and will experience the chastisement of God in this life or the next. All habitual sin including, gossip, lying, pride, fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and many others, keep us from the presence of God. These sins separate us from having a close personal relationship with our almighty God. God made a provision, “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Ephesians 2:5) If we reject these sins, then in faith trust in our Lord Jesus and turn from those sins, we can be saved through his marvelous grace. We must reject habitual sins and not allow them to corrupt our churches. God has made a provision for that too. Please refer to the 5th Chapter of 1st Timothy.
Abandon all habitual sin, because it is detrimental to you, your family, our nation, our world and most importantly, an insult to God. God bless each of you, and have a great life in loving obedience to our Lord.