When Vice Is Mistaken For Virtue

And presumptuous sinning.

You have probably seen the popular clip that goes viral every so often. It is the one where, as the pedophile is being marched to trial his victim’s father approaches with a handgun and shoots him at point-blank range.

Typically, this clip is celebrated by people. The father is viewed as a righteous hero. Generally speaking, in the west something like pedophilia is regarded as so heinous and evil that people (whether Christian or not) recognize death as a suiting punishment. And while I certainly agree that capital punishment is to be exercised upon those who rape and abuse children in this manner (as well as all rapists in general), I do not believe that the father in this clip is justified in his actions.

Now, how can I say that? It feels so much like what he is doing is the right thing. His motivations (the love for his son and hatred for the evil he has endured) seem noble and righteous. But the problem is that God has not granted individuals the right to take this kind of justice into their own hands (this is a different scenario then self-defense, which is Biblically permissible). We are told in Romans 12:19, “Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” In the next chapter, it is revealed that God has instituted the civil government to exercise the power of the sword over evildoers. And so while it may seem that the right thing was being done, God was being sinned against.

I use this as an illustration to a concept that I think is very important to consider as we Christians navigate life and life’s temptations. And that is when, because of the tension inside of us between the fruit of the Spirit and the desires of the flesh, the two can become intertwined in a strange, and even deadly way. You see, every Christian hates sin and wants to do the right thing. Therefore, they have a motivation to do what is good in this world. But life can be complicated. And there can be times when we (wrongly) think that, in order to do right something wrong must be done. Our minds are very good at deceiving us. We have the ability to come up with elaborate and intricate webs of sophistry to explain why such and such a thing (that we would normally condemn in others) is actually good when we do it because we have some good intention or some good motivation. Doing evil thinking good will come. Thus, vice is mistaken for a virtue.

This is probably more common than we think. Most of us think that we are doing the right thing even when we aren’t. It actually takes the grace of God to realize that we are corrupt. But in these instances, the Christian man or woman has these two competing desires (of godliness or sin), that are playing out in their lives and as they evaluate their circumstances and decision-making. The Bible ultimately promises that sin has no dominion over the Christian, and that those who walk by the Spirit will not gratify the desires of the flesh, yet we still stumble in many ways. The flesh is there, and we will, with tears, have to wait until the resurrection to know what it is like to have a body free from sin and temptation. Man, I long for that day.

Now, here is why this kind of sinning is very dangerous. Because, we have the ability to trick ourselves into thinking we aren’t sinning. We actually think that what we are doing is, far from being evil, it is the proper thing to do. It’s what I must do! And so we pursue it, not with hesitation or apprehension, but with the passion and conviction we would have if we were to run into a burning building to save a child.

Often we sin in this way with regard to our relationships with others, especially those relationships in which passions run high. There is a godly and controlled passion, which stems from a beautiful kind of affection, but then there is an unbridled, basically idolatrous, kind of passion in which the object of our adoration becomes more important to us than our own lives. We should remember to love God more than we love anyone else, especially more than we love ourselves.

On its face, this attitude is what the Bible calls a “presumptuous sin”. Presumptuous sins are those sins which are produced by arrogance and confidence in ourselves. Here the arrogance is in thinking that our own rationalizations and reasoning take precedence over the revealed Law of God. The whole idea is really that we think we know better than God, or anyone else. This is devastating. It is an egotistic hubris which is the most exaggerated and extreme kind of self-righteousness, where we think we have the wisdom and ability to determine what is righteous.

But the whole reason why the revealed Law and commands of God are necessary to be written down for us in Scripture is precisely because we are so foolish, when left unto our own devices. Even Christians need to constantly be bathing in the Word of God to sanctify our hearts and minds. The world, the flesh, and the devil are ready and waiting for us. We can’t let our guards down. We need to be sober-minded, and constantly watching ourselves and evaluating our thinking and our choices that they really and truly be godly. We can’t determine for ourselves what is right, only God has that kind of authority.

Another danger with this particular kind of sin is that it is not often repented of swiftly. This is because we may still be under the delusion that what we did was right. But if we had the humility not to let our own intellects get to our head we would more easily accept this fascinating proposition: “maybe I am wrong”. Unrepentant sin in the life of the Christian makes him like a rotting piece of wood, for it will fester and spread. The conscience will be marred, which will only allow for more sin to enter. Therefore, in order to keep ourselves standing upright we must go to God and to His Word the very minute we are blessed with any kind of self-doubt. And we must confess our sin and repent of it swiftly. Should we keep trying to convince ourselves of the contrary, we will only bring more pain and suffering into our lives.

I’ve commented many times that one of the greatest blessings a man can have is a clear-conscience. But that can only be found through real and rough repentance. Meditate on the Law of the Lord, and you’ll be like a tree planted by the water.