Trying to Hide in a Transparent World

"How does my personal, private sin affect others?" Answer: If you lived isolated on an island in the middle of the ocean, then maybe your private sin would not affect anyone but yourself.

Fool Penn and Teller: It is difficult for magicians to hide anything from master magicians Penn and Teller. How much more so to hide stuff from God.

• "no man is an island," there is a good chance that you have a family, friends, co-workers that you come into contact with on a continual basis.

• There are also all those people that you interact with that you don’t usually build much of a relationship with. These would include the person at the gas station, grocery store, in the elevator, on and on.

• All of them will be affected in some way by sin because sin has consequences (Romans 6:23) For the (paycheck) wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

• There is a principle that follows a pattern laid down since creation: Everything created has a seed from which it propagates itself after its "kind".

• Genesis 1:11 (NLT) Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened.

• Genesis 1:21 (NLT) So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

• Genesis 1:25 (NLT) God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

• In other words, you do not plant corn and expect to harvest beets. You cannot “plant” sin—even in private—and not expect to reap a harvest of consequences.

• Consequences have a way of spilling out over everyone and anyone that comes into contact with us because of another principle called "association."

• An association is a connection or cooperative link between people or organizations.

• The associative property, in math, says that no matter how you look at it, each number, in the association, affects the others.

• This means that those around you can be blessed or hurt by association with you and the choices and actions you make, both privately and publicly.

• There is a movie titled

• We could look at past scandals involving famous evangelical leaders to see the effects on others of “private” sins.

• Once they are discovered—and the Bible tells us to “be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23)—families, friends, congregations, and the Christian community at large is harmed.

• Worse still, the cause of Christ will be damaged as unbelievers ridicule Christa and Christians.

• It may seem that people sin without visible consequences, but what is secret will one day be made manifest. Luke 8:17 says, "For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open".

• Can you honestly say that there is no one that would then be affected by your secret sins if they should become known?

What happens to the sin that seems to stay hidden?

• Sin that’s kept secret produces guilt, and guilt has a way of changing us.

• Others see those changes and are affected by ‘em.

• Imagine a spouse, for instance, is unaware of her husband’s addiction to pornography, but his addiction leads guilt, which causes secretiveness and changes his attitude toward her as his sexual partner.

• She realizes that something is different and tries to figure out what is causing the change in him.

• She starts to think that maybe he finds her unattractive, he doesn’t love her any more, or he’s having an affair. While none of these things are true, the consequences of his “private” sin are potentially devastating to her, their marriage, and their family, even if his secret seems to go undiscovered.

Here is another principle to consider. Matthew 6:6 says, "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Mathew 6:16-18 says “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. 17 But when you fast, comb your hair[d] and wash your face. 18 Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

• When we study Scripture, we are able to see a principle here that can be applied both positively and negatively.

• What we do in secret, God will reward openly.

• If we pray and fast as unto the LORD, we are rewarded.

• So, it stands to reason that if we sin in secret, we shall also be “rewarded” openly for that action.

• In any case, God sees and knows about sin, whether private or public, and He does not let sin go unpunished.

• The greatest consequence of private, personal sin is to our own mortal soul.

• Ezekiel 18:4 says that the soul that sins shall die

• Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death.

• This speaks of a person who is a natural, habitual sinner without the benefit of newness of life.

• For the born-again child of God—one who has accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior—there is a standard of conduct, both in private and in public: 1 Corinthians 10:31 says "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God".

• A born-again child of God has a desire to live to glorify God, and even though there are times when we can and do fail, God has made provision for us to be in fellowship with Him. He has promised, in 1 John 1:9, that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”.