It is Settled!

A series of lessons from the Bible

by Howell Lasseter

Evil is Sin

The last two weeks, we have referred to the "line-item veto" that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional. We have also noticed that some religious groups have ruled that homosexuality is no longer a sin. Yet, the senator who correctly stated that homosexuality is a sin also said it is a sickness. Must we conclude then that to be sick is a sin? For years, some have erroneously concluded that alcoholism, as well as gambling, is a sickness.

It is true that there are innocent victims of AIDS; there are innocent children and innocent adults who have contracted the disease, not because they sinned, but because they came in contact with others who had sinned and contracted the disease. If - as many would affirm - alcoholism is an illness, can anyone explain why the government continues to permit the production and sale of alcohol, which kills thousands each year, many of whom are innocent victims of automobile accidents, etc.? To our readers, let us affirm in the strongest possible way that the one who drinks alcoholic beverages is sinning. They may suffer disabling results from the alcohol, but it is because of sin that they have become disabled. Brain cells of the one consuming alcohol are destroyed after alcohol is consumed, not before. The homosexual, or any person who commits sexual sins such as fornication or adultery, may contract AIDS or other sexually-transmitted diseases. Sin is the root cause of these illnesses. The illness came after the sin rather than before the sin. The senator who said homosexuality is an illness said also that gambling is an illness. Why, then, does our government continue to permit, and license, gambling? Why is one of these sin-related illnesses declared by the government to be a disability, for which the person can receive the benefits of free care and treatment, and not all of them? Really, we taxpayers should not be required to pay for any self-induced, sin-caused disability.

God's Word declares that those who do evil (and the things mentioned above are evil), commit sin. Read Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 5:11; Galatians 5:19-21. Paul says, in Galatians 5:21, "they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." It is easy to see the fallacy of the reasoning on the part of a government that condones, permits, encourages, and rewards sin, isn't it? Every one in our nation would be helped if our government did not treat sin in such a manner. Let us be bold to speak out against sin wherever it is found!