Sin Has a Long Shelf-Life

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” 16 And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. 18 Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. 19 And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, 20 then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”

22 So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. 24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” 25 David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.”

26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. 27 And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. – 2 Samuel 11:14-27 ESV

The apostle James wrote this clear and convicting description of sin:

Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. – James 1:14-15 NLT

This entire affair surrounding David’s life is recorded for posterity in chapter 11 of 2 Samuel and serves as a tragic illustration of James’ words. David had desires. He had a strong attraction for the opposite sex that he seemed to have a difficult time managing. It had already led to his growing collection of wives, and when he spied Bathsheba bathing on her rooftop, that desire kicked into high gear. The sight of her was not enough; he had to have her. His desires enticed him and lured him into committing an even greater sin than simply lusting after Bathsheba. The Greek word James used is exelkō and it refers to a hunter or fisherman drawing his prey out of hiding by tempting them with something they desire.

David took the bait and his desire gave birth to sinful actions. What began as a lustful look turned into adultery, but it didn’t stop there. His sin grew and produced further fruit. Bathsheba became pregnant and this unexpected news forced David to commit additional sins. He lied. He manipulated. He ordered her husband back from the front lines in the hope that Uriah’s reunion with Bathsheba might hide his own sin. When that didn’t work, David’s sin gave birth to death. He concocted a plan for Uriah to be killed in battle, and he sent Uriah back to the front unknowingly carrying his own death warrant in his hands.

This story is meant to shock us, but it should not surprise us. It shocks us because it involves David, the man after God’s own heart. But just because David held a special place in God’s heart does not mean that David was immune to sin. He was human and had flaws and weaknesses, and David’s sins proved deadly. In this case, David’s growing number of sins finally led to literal death, but not his own. It was Uriah who would die and, along with him, many other innocent soldiers who were unnecessarily exposed to the same deadly circumstances as Uriah.

David’s sin gave birth to death. The Greek word James used is apokyeō and it means “to beget, to bring forth from the womb, to produce or generate.” Like the unexpected pregnancy of Bathsheba, there would come a time when David’s sins would come to full term and deliver. There would be a byproduct of his sins.

It’s interesting to note that in the Garden of Eden God had warned Adam about the consequences of disobedience to His commands.

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” – Genesis 2:16-17 ESV

And the day came when Eve, Adam’s wife, listened to the enticing words of Satan and chose to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. – Genesis 3:6 ESV

The apostle Paul reminds us that Adam’s sin of eating the forbidden fruit along with his wife resulted in death.

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. – Romans 3:12 NLT

For the first time, death became an inevitable and unavoidable reality for mankind. Adam and Eve would know the pain of physical death. But it also brought into being the more hideous reality of spiritual death – eternal separation from God – the fate of all those who do not accept God’s gracious offer of salvation through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

But Adam and Eve didn’t die immediately; they lived long after their sin was committed. Yet their sin did give birth to death in the form of their own son’s murder at the hands of his brother. In a fit of jealousy and rage, Cain killed Abel. Sin always gives birth to death. It may not always produce physical death, but it will always result in spiritual death because sin separates us from God. It also causes suffering for others. It damages and destroys. It grows and spreads like cancer, infecting our lives and contaminating those around us.

Uriah was an innocent victim of David’s selfish sin but he was not alone. Other innocent men died because of David’s poor choices and lust-driven desire to satisfy his own desires. Yet, when David heard the news of the undeserved deaths of his own men, his response was anything but sorrowful.

“Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged. The sword devours this one today and that one tomorrow! Fight harder next time, and conquer the city!” – 2 Samuel 11:25 NLT

He displayed no remorse, repentance, or regret.

But David was far from done; he still had the pregnancy of Bathsheba to cover up. In his rush to conceal his sin, David had the grieving widow brought to the palace, providing her with no time to mourn the loss of her husband. With a hastily arranged wedding, David hoped to provide a logical explanation for her soon-to-be-obvious pregnancy. But while David thought his act of subterfuge had gone unnoticed, God knew, and God would discipline David for his sin.

The apostle Paul tells us that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23 ESV). Ultimately, he was referring to the spiritual death that follows our physical death. There is an eternal separation from God that will be the lot of all those who have sinned unless they have placed their faith in the redemptive work of Christ. Paul goes on to say that “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

As Christians, we will inevitably sin in this life but we will never have to face eternal separation from God in the next life. Jesus has provided us with eternal life and the guarantee of our status as sons and daughters of God, and heirs of his Kingdom. But our sins will still have ramifications in this life. It will still produce death by destroying our joy, robbing us of contentment, damaging our relationships, and limiting our effectiveness for God. As Proverbs 11:19 reminds us, Genuine righteousness leads to life, but the pursuit of evil brings death” (Proverbs 11:19 BSB).

As long as David’s sin remained unconfessed and unforgiven, it would continue to produce death. It would kill David’s fellowship with God. It would destroy David’s peace and contentment. And it would result in yet another death – one that would come close to home and leave David devastated. Sin is deadly and, while as Christians, we may rest in the knowledge that spiritual death is no longer a threat to us, we must never underestimate the deadly effects of sin while we live on this earth. Our sins always have consequences.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Deadly Desires

1 My son, keep my words
    and treasure up my commandments with you;
2 keep my commandments and live;
    keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;
3 bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and call insight your intimate friend,
5 to keep you from the forbidden woman,
    from the adulteress with her smooth words.

6 For at the window of my house
    I have looked out through my lattice,
7 and I have seen among the simple,
    I have perceived among the youths,
    a young man lacking sense,
8 passing along the street near her corner,
    taking the road to her house
9 in the twilight, in the evening,
    at the time of night and darkness.

10 And behold, the woman meets him,
    dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
11 She is loud and wayward;
    her feet do not stay at home;
12 now in the street, now in the market,
    and at every corner she lies in wait.
13 She seizes him and kisses him,
    and with bold face she says to him,
14 “I had to offer sacrifices,
    and today I have paid my vows;
15 so now I have come out to meet you,
    to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
16 I have spread my couch with coverings,
    colored linens from Egyptian linen;
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
    aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
    let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey;
20 he took a bag of money with him;
    at full moon he will come home.”

21 With much seductive speech she persuades him;
    with her smooth talk she compels him.
22 All at once he follows her,
    as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast
23     till an arrow pierces its liver;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
    he does not know that it will cost him his life.

24 And now, O sons, listen to me,
    and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
    do not stray into her paths,
26 for many a victim has she laid low,
    and all her slain are a mighty throng.
27 Her house is the way to Sheol,
    going down to the chambers of death. – Proverbs 7:1-27 ESV

When I was a child, whenever we would visit my father's family in rural Pennsylvania we would always take one night to go out and look for deer. My dad had a high-powered flashlight that plugged into the cigarette lighter of the car and had a beam on it that would seemingly go for miles. At dusk, we would pile into our old station wagon and head out into the country in search of deer. My dad would cruise slowly down those one-lane roads with all of us kids hanging out the window, waiting in silence as he worked the powerful beam of that spotlight back and forth across the fields. Then suddenly, they would appear.

Pairs of glowing orbs mysteriously floating in the darkness. Then the spotlight would reveal their source: hundreds of deer standing like statues, ears up, tails twitching, and noses nervously sniffing the air for signs of danger. I was amazed by the power the spotlight held over them. It was like they were in a trance, transfixed to the spot on which they stood, unable to stand. It's why, in most states, it is illegal to hunt deer using any kind of light source. It's unfair. They can't help themselves. They're defenseless. And I can't help but think of that scene every time I read the warnings that Solomon gives his son regarding the immoral woman.

He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter. He was like a stag caught in a trap, awaiting an arrow that would pierce its heart. – Proverbs 7:22-23 NLT

The innocent young man was transfixed and seduced by the mesmerizing allure of forbidden fruit and false flattery. Each and every day, young men AND old men get caught in the headlights of lust. The enemy trolls the highways and byways of life looking for men AND women who he can transfix with the bright light of sin. And unlike most law-abiding hunters, Satan ignores any and all rules, taking down as many innocent victims as possible, like stags caught in a trap. He finds his work easygoing because most men are easy prey.

But there is another factor involved in this scene that sets it slightly apart from my childhood memories of "deer spotting." It’s subtle but significant. Solomon describes seeing a naive young man who lacked common sense. He is one of the simple ones, open-minded and foolish. He is gullible and lacking in common sense or moral character. He is incapable of making good choices or recognizing the danger of his situation. So he crosses the street near the house of an immoral woman. In other words, he puts himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. "It was at twilight, in the evening, as deep darkness fell" (Proverbs 7:9 NLT). He had no business being there, but he also had no sense to know better. He was a fool. He was like a deer strolling smack dab into a camp of hunters.

Deer are naturally wary. They have a built-in defense mechanism – a fright and flight response wired into them by God. But due to the effects of the fall, men have had their spiritual senses deadened. Our spiritual receptors have been dulled by sin and we no longer have the capacity to sense danger or know what to do about it if we do. And we become easy prey for the enemy, like deer tied to a stake with a target painted on our side. So, Solomon warns his son. He begs him to listen to his words of warning. He says, "Don't let your hearts stray away toward her. Don't wander down her wayward path" (Proverbs 7:25 NLT).

Stray away from what? Wander away from what? It is when our hearts stray from God that we become prey for the enemy. It is when we wander off God’s path that we find ourselves in the high weeds or like a deer in the headlights. The words of an old hymn summarize our situation well.

Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, oh take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

Be warned. Be worried. Be wary. Keep your heart close to God. Walk His path. Keep close to His side. He will give you wisdom, discernment, and the sensory perception to see danger and run from it. His way is the way to true life.

You see, Godly wisdom has its benefits. That may sound like an understatement or an extreme case of overstating the obvious, but in either case, it’s true. When we seek God and follow His ways, we gain an extreme advantage in this life. Without Him, we are left vulnerable to the temptations that are guaranteed to come our way as we live our lives on this planet.

Solomon knew that and so he went out of his way to teach his sons to seek the wisdom and insight God had to offer them. In this Proverb, he warns his sons in very graphic detail about the one temptation that faces just about every member of the male side of the species: The adulterous woman. He uses a story to illustrate for his sons just how susceptible they will be without the wisdom and insight that God provides. He describes "some naive young men, and one in particular who lacked common sense" (Proverbs 7:7 NLT). The Hebrew word translated "naive" here can also mean "open-minded, one easily persuaded or enticed."

These young men lacked the capacity to defend themselves from temptation. They were naturally open-minded or, in a way, empty-headed, and unable to say no to the tempting offers this world throws at every young man. One of the young men, who becomes the focus of Solomon’s story, was "void of understanding" according to the King James Bible. He lacked common sense. He didn’t have any wisdom from God that would warn him of the dangers that lie ahead. So when the adulterous woman spotted him walking by her house, she pounced. One of the first things that should jump out at us is the fact that this young man was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It says, "He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman, strolling down the path by her house" (Proverbs 7:8 NLT). He had no business being there. Yet Solomon describes him as "strolling" along, completely unaware of just how much danger he was in. Without the wisdom of God, he was going to find himself defenseless to the temptations headed his way. He was going to buy into the flattering words from this woman's lips that to a wise man would have been obvious lies. "You're the one I was looking for!" she would say, and "like an ox going to the slaughter," he would allow her to lead him to his own demise. He would be easily seduced by her "pretty speech" and suffer the devastating consequences of his mistake.

But he would not be alone. "For she has been the ruin of many; many men have been her victims" (Proverbs 7:26 NLT). The list of names of the men who have become victims of this temptation is long and continues to grow. All because men continue to reject the wisdom that God offers. Even so-called godly men fall prey to the adulterous woman because they reject the wisdom God offers them. They refuse to listen to His Word. Instead, they choose to give in to their desires and satisfy their natural pleasures. They live for the moment and seek to meet the needs of their flesh, rather than live in the power of the Spirit. The wisdom of God could protect them, but they refuse to listen. Wisdom has its benefits, but only if we take advantage of all it has to offer. We have to want the wisdom of God more than we want the pleasures of this world.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New English Translation (NET)NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Avoid At All Costs.

17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” – 2 Peter 2:17-22 ESV

In describing the false teachers who were negaively impacting the believers to whom he is writing, Peter uses some comparisons that are reminiscent of Jude.

…they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots. They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness. – Jude 1:12-13 NLT

They are not what they appear to be, and they don’t deliver on what they promise. Like a waterless spring, they can only offer the hope of refreshment, but they lack the means to make it happen. Like a reef lying just below the surface of the water, they are a hidden danger, waiting to reek havoc on and all who come into contact with them. They are cloudless rains, suggesting the hope of much-needed rain, but failing to deliver. They are as unreliable as a wandering star. In a day when people used the stars to direct their paths by focusing on their location in the night sky, a wandering star would be a pathetically poor marker on which to base one’s journey. You would only end up lost and nowhere near your intended destination. And that is exactly what Peter is trying to say about these false teachers.

They were proud and arrogant, filled with boastful words that were little more than proof of their own foolishness. These men were ignorant, not knowing what they were talking about, but putting up a good front. They were persuasive and able to convince others that what they were saying was true. But Peter exposes them for what they really were: Liars and deceivers. “They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you” (2 Peter 2:19 NLT). Like a blind person describing the beauty of a sunset he has never seen, these men were speaking about things they were incapable of knowing. They could talk a good game, but it was meaningless, because they had no idea what they were talking about. These men were prisoners of their own lustful desires,

One of the things that makes false teachers so dangerous is their appeal. They have this innate ability to entice others into falling for their lies by appealing to their base desires. That’s why Peter says, “With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception” (2 Peter 2:18 NLT). New and relatively immature Christians are susceptible to their rhetoric. Those who have just recently come to faith in Christ, having walked away from a lifestyle of sin and immorality are especially easy prey to the words of these deceivers. False teachers appeal to the senses, preying on feelings and emotions. They use man’s base passions like a bait to lure immature believers back into a lifestyle they had once left behind – all under the guise of spirituality. We can see it today in the messages of those who preach the prosperity gospel message. They appeal to men’s desire for material things, promising that God wants to make them healthy, wealthy and wise. They promise your best life now, complete with all the trappings of material success and financial reward. And people are drawn to these messages like a fish to a lure, not knowing that death, not life, awaits them.

Verses 20-21 have caused many to assume that Peter is teaching that those who place their faith in Christ can fall away from that faith. In other words, they can lose their salvation, “the last state has become worse for them than the first” (2 Peter 2:20 ESV).  But if Peter has been pointing out the falsehood of these teachers, it would seem that he is once again addressing them. He describes them as those who have been exposed to “the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”, and appear to “have escaped the defilements of the world” (2 Peter 2:20 ESV). In other words, they look like Christians. They talk as if they have become followers of Christ, but “they are again entangled in them and overcome” (2 Peter 2:20 ESV). And, as a result, they are in a worse state than before. Why? Because they have been exposed to the truth of the gospel, but have rejected it. They never became true Christ-followers. In fact, they ended up preaching a different gospel. Paul spoke of these kinds of people in not-so-flattering terms.

Let God's curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. – Galatians 1:8 NLT

And he accused the believers in Corinth of willingly putting up with and buying into the message of these people.

You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed. – 2 Corinthians 11:4 NLT

The people Peter refers to as false teachers were not true believers. They were wolves in sheep’s clothing. Jesus warned about these kinds of people. “"Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves” (Matthew 7:15 NLT). He went on to say that you have to judge these people by their fruit, not their fur. They may look the part, they may say all the right things, and they may fool you into thinking they belong to the body of Christ, but “You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act” (Matthew 7:16 NLT).

Peter makes a sobering assessment of the state of these false teachers, saying, “ It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life” (2 Peter 2:21 NLT). In other words, they would have been better off if they had never heard the truth of the gospel and the salvation from sin made possible by Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. But to have heard it and then, ultimately to have rejected it, only makes their immoral lifestyle that much worse. Peter makes an interesting, yet often overlooked observation in this verse. To know the way to righteousness is a reference to understanding justification or a right relationship with God is only possible through faith alone in Christ alone. In other words, we don’t earn salvation by our good works. But Peter points out that our faith is to be followed by an obedience to the command of God that we live a holy life. That is the predominant message of Peter’s first letter.

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:14-16 ESV

Had these false teachers been truly saved, their faith in Christ would have been followed by a change in behavior. But their actions had not changed because they had never accepted Christ as their Savior. As a result, they were conformed to the passions of their former ignorance. They had heard the message of justification, but had not accepted the free gift of salvation made possible through Jesus. And having heard, but rejected the offer, they stood doubly condemned. And Peter describes their state in fairly graphic and memorable terms: “They prove the truth of this proverb: ‘A dog returns to its vomit.’ And another says, ‘A washed pig returns to the mud’” (2 Peter 2:22 NLT). Notice that he refers to them as dogs and pigs. These are not terms Peter would have used of fellow believers. He sees them as what they are: Unsaved, unregenerate individuals who have turned up their noses at the true gospel and created their own version, which they use to justify their sinful passions and to lure others into their same false sense of security.

So, what is Peter’s point? Avoid these people at all costs. Stay away from them. Learn to spot them and then keep your distance from them. Be aware that they are an ever-present danger in the church. They will always show up in a local fellowship, like wolves in sheep’s clothing, infiltrating the flock and attempting to lead the weak and immature astray. The words of Paul to the elders at Ephesus would be wise for us to hear and heed.

28 “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders. 29 I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. 30 Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. 31 Watch out! – Acts 20:28-30 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)

Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

– 2 Peter 1:16-21 ESV