Daniel 9:13 “As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth."
This verse shows us that sin or iniquity and falsehood art equal. In order to turn to and know the truth one has to turn away from iniquity or sin. One cannot violate God in sin and still hold to the truth because God is truth. Everything that is truth is in God. God is more than truth itself but truth is not more than God. Because of this, I believe we can declare that the best way to turn from sin is simply to turn toward truth—all truth, not merely a part of it. To accept some truth but reject other truth is to flirt with wickedness. One can not accept a part of God and not all of God and be in line with God. Some people seem to think they can accept what they want of God and of truth but reject what they don't want. They think God and truth are divisible, but nothing could be farther from the truth. To reject truth is to reject God. As we see God we see reality and what reality is. To live in reality is to live and be commanded by God.
God created us in his own image and likeness. Now, this has nothing to do with our physical appearance or being but with our spiritual and moral being. Therefore, when we violate God's laws we are violating the nature He created in us which is in accordance to His own nature. That being said, when we sin we are not living and acting in accordance with truth. The truth, in this case, deals with our creation as being our nature. Therefore, sin is a violation of nature, that is, God's original creation, and so truth. This is why if we live a sinful life we are destroying ourselves. Only that which is in accordance with God's nature into which He created us can proceed in life and be fulfilled. All else is self-destructive.
A good illustration of this is too liken sin to poison. The reason poison is poison is because it is a chemical that works in violation to our chemical makeup and thereby destroys us. The poison works against the natural function of our bodies making the natural function cease to function. Anything that will interrupt the life-giving functions of our bodies will stop our bodies from functioning altogether. That is what physical death is. Sin is poison in the spiritual sense. It interrupts the natural function of our spirit and moral uprightness thereby causing spiritual weakness or death. Spiritually speaking, death is the inability to think, desire or live out our moral and spiritual responsibilities toward God. Therefore, we are living a lie because we are living in opposition to God's created order in our nature. Anything that is in violation of God's nature and declared will is falsehood. To sin is to act or think or desire opposite of who and what one really is. Self-destruction is the natural result of violating one's own nature. And where self-destruction is there can be no continued pleasure of life, only a simplistic and shallow facsimile.
Daniel 9:18 “O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. 19 “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
Only by God's grace toward us can we have our sins forgiven and be made right by Him. And He will forgive for His own name's sake for He has promised forgiveness to all who will turn to Him.
Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"
(All scripture is from the NASB95. Used by permission)
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