How to Avoid Sin By Studying the Bible
We can learn how to avoid sin by studying about Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible. The inhabitants pushed God too far. Positioned along the Jordan River plain in the land of Canaan, Sodom and Gomorrah’s fertile fields were ideal for grazing livestock. Essentially, people had everything they needed to live a good and plentiful life.
Genesis 13:10 – And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.
In the end, people exchanged beauty for ashes. Before God destroyed the cities, prayers reached heaven about their wickedness (Genesis 18:20-21).
And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.
God gave the people of Sodom and Gomorrah one last chance when Abraham interceded for their lives. God looked for anyone righteous to save. Only three people survived—Lot and his two daughters. As a reminder, this isn’t the first time God encounters immorality. Eight people survived in Noah’s Ark. Only two people (Caleb and Joshua) from the first generation of Israelites entered the Promised Land.
Research Supports the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
Recently, archaeologists reported findings to support this event in an excavation area called Tall el-Hammam near the Dead Sea region. A meteor explosion destroyed civilization in a 15.5-mile radius. Scientists report that heat similar to the sun’s surface turned potsherds into glass. Researchers believe the findings support Genesis 19:24-25.
Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain. He destroyed all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.
Scientists found “scorched foundation stones and several feet of ash” documenting the meteoric explosion that occurred approximately 3,700 years ago.
How to Avoid Sin: Discover Why God Destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
Seems pretty clear from this scripture why God responded as He did.
Ezekiel 16:48-50 –
As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.
Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.
The world and its people still commit heinous activities. They go about their day committing despicable acts somehow thinking God doesn’t notice. Even worse, they don’t care what He thinks.
Can anyone dispute we’re living in very wicked days? God contains His wrath for only so long.
Romans 2:7-8
To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
How to Avoid Sin and Have Victory Over Habitual Sin
Please look at the last sentence listed below which I now repeat. IT IS A DREADFUL THING TO FALL INTO THE HANDS OF THE LIVING GOD.
Hebrews 10:26-31
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay, and again, “The Lord will judge his people. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Evil isn’t hard to miss. We’re living in a fallen world that Jesus came to save. You might think something didn’t happen in God’s plan since wickedness abounds. NEVER believe that God doesn’t notice when sin overtakes the earth. At any time, people can escape His righteous wrath through Jesus and learn how to avoid sin.
I Thessalonians 5:9
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
How to Avoid Sin as a Christian
- If you haven’t done so, accept Jesus as Lord and Savior – Believe He is the Son of God, He died on the cross and rose from the dead. Thank Him for coming into your heart, giving you the Holy Spirit, and leading your life.
- Understand sin: Sin only once and your conscience sears your spirit. Keep sinning and you’ll be oblivious to its deadly hold on you. Here’s a case in point. My Christian friend had an affair. Rather than run from the man, she ran to him repeatedly. She enjoyed sinning and didn’t seem to care her husband knew and was devastated. Her pastor couldn’t convince her destruction was ahead (the ashes of her marriage). Amazingly, her husband forgave her. I’ll never forget the look on her face when I asked her, “Are you going to stop?” Her answer was, “I don’t know.” She did detestable things in front of God and didn’t care. Her thinking and behavior had degraded to a point of no return.
- Learn to hate sin: Don’t exchange God’s grace for sloppy living. C. S. Lewis says to “examine the passion” for what it is. Then, drive it out of you by controlling your mind, will, and emotions. Doing so may be hard at first but keep practicing until you can corner sin quickly and subdue it.
- Cultivate your heart and mind: When you love and cherish Jesus more than life, He infills your heart with more love. You become a living testament to the Gospel. The heart and mind are in sync to contemplate your next steps. Learn to make God’s desires yours. Be diligent to discern the difference between good and evil (recognize that evil will probably show up before good in your heart).
- Listen to The Living God: Has a scripture come to your mind that kept you from sinning? The Word of God does that through The Holy Spirit who lives inside Christians. Scripture comes suddenly to correct us when we go down the wrong path. Make sure you have plenty of it inside you!
One Additional Way on How to Overcome Sin
- Realize that God reveals His righteousness through wrath: Immoral behavior fueled one question God’s prophets asked Him, “How long Oh Lord?” Evil has a day when it reaps destruction. Revelation 19:13-15 – He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Merciful as He is, God doesn’t allow blatant unrighteousness to continue forever. He has a timetable before He does something. Seems to me based on God’s Word that the world is headed for destruction.