Sin Begins in the Heart

A person does not become sinful by doing a bad act. A person does a bad act because they are already sinful in their heart.

I once heard it said that a man is not a liar because he told one lie. The truth is that if someone tells a lie they were already a liar in their heart. We cannot do bad things unless they are first in our heart.

The heart condition of a man comes first, then the sinful act. God said that if we never did a bad deed we would still go to hell for our sinful heart.

Matthew 5:27-28 "27 You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

It is the heart (mind) that is sinful, the deed only proves it. A man does not have to commit the act of adultery to be an adulterer, he only has to wish he could do so.

When a born-again believer does not walk in sinful ways it's because they are confessing their sin in their heart before it becomes an act. If someone commits an act of sin, it only means they had been pondering committing that act for a time in their mind before the act was released from the mind to become an act.

The smallest sin is worthy of hellfire because it is the evidence of an overall sinful heart. Jesus Christ came to cleanse those who wish to be cleansed by Him so that they can live in continual spiritual growth. The more we confess the sin in the heart before it becomes an act the more holy we become.

Confession of sin is proof that we desire to be cleansed of our sin. Those who will not confess their sin are pretending they have none. They pretend by justifying their sin in one way or another. They claim their sin was someone else's fault, or that they had a good reason for what they did.

Many people do not confess out of pride hoping that the guilty feelings will go away eventually or that others will not notice. The more we ignore our sin, refuse to confess or pretend it was not a big deal the more hardened our hearts become.

Hebrews 3:15 "15 As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.”

We can hide our sinful hearts from other human beings but we cannot hide from God. He knows all that we think and why we commit sinful acts, we are never fooling God with pretense, nor are we fooling discerning people. Discerning people have already experienced their own sin, their own hiding, and their own heart, they know how to discern the same things in others.

Discerning people became discerning by learning from their own failures. They are not above others or special, they merely have a lifelong experience of battling sin in their hearts.

Those who do not battle sin in their hearts allow the sin to take root. Often believers hide their sin by not committing the acts but retain it in their minds. Many people look as though they have no sin who have been hiding it for years never confessing to be cleansed. Their hearts have become hardened so much so that they begin to ignore sin in themselves and in others.

We know this is so by God's own words:

Matthew 7:21-23 "21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

There are those who say we cannot judge another persons' heart because only God knows the heart. This is true, except that Christ lives in us giving us discernment about the character of a man, this is why He said the following:

1 Corinthians 5:11-13 "…11But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. 12 What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”…"

We are to judge those in the body in order to keep sin out of the body.

Matthew 7:15-20 "15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will [a]know them by their fruits. [b]Grapes are not gathered from thornbushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will [c]know them by their fruits."

God told us we will know who is born again and who is not. He gave us discernment to judge all things.

1 John 4:1

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."

We are to judge by the Scriptures and by the Holy Spirit. Sin has been allowed to grow in the body bringing in many pretenders because of the violation of the scriptures.

Our culture has taught us not to judge anyone about anything. We have been trained that we cannot know what's inside of the heart of a person, that their acts do not prove their heart. These things are the opposite of what God teaches us.

A man's heart is known by their deeds according to the word of God. Since the sinful heart is first and the deed follows we know that the deed was done because of the sinful heart.

Worldly psychology teaches that a man is nothing more than an animal acting out because of the bad that was done to him. This is Darwinism and not Biblical. We are not animals merely reacting to stimuli. The dogs and cats will be friendly and kind if we treat them that way.

We are not animals, they operate out of instinct but human beings operate out of the wickedness of our hearts. It is only Christ Who can change our hearts from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh.

Jeremiah 17:9-10

9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick;

Who can understand it? 10 I, the Lord, search the heart,

I test the mind, To give to each person according to his ways,

According to the results of his deeds."

No person can claim they had a good heart but did a bad deed.

The good news is that Christ came to save us from our sin and make us holy. If we confess our sinfulness to Him and desire to be changed by Him into a new creation He will do that for us.

When He changes us into a new creation we have a completely opposite way of thinking. We no longer love sin, we hate it even if we fall from time to time we cannot endure the shame and guilt of it, so we confess to be cleansed.

It is Christ Who cleanses us in response to our desire to be cleansed. He will not change anyone who does not want to be changed. This is why we have so many people in the churches who have never become born again. These people came to the church to join in on the blessings they thought they would obtain but had no desire to walk with Christ or be cleansed by Him.

This is why God told us to judge those in the body, that we might challenge those who are walking sinfully to pray asking God if they have been truly born again.

2 Corinthians 13:5 "5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can’t you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you— unless you actually fail the test? "

Sadly one day there will be a reckoning. Those who are born again through confessing their sinfulness and who were changed by Christ into a new creation will enter into heaven with great joy.

However, there are those who think they are going to heaven who will be turned away because they wanted God's perks and blessings but did not want Him.

Matthew 15:7-9 "…7Y You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8‘ These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ ”"

These people will hear those terrible words as they approach heaven; "I never knew you,. depart from me into eternal fire."

Do not be one of those who spent a lifetime believing they were going to heaven only to be turned away at the last moment. Imagine the horror of realizing you will not be there after all but will be in hellfire.

May those who read this either solidify in their own minds that they were born again and walking with God and may those who think they are but are not repent and become born again before it is too late.

Trust in Christ today, the time is short before His return, do not delay.