Spiritual Pitfalls to Avoid: Sin-Obscured Sight

We are discussing common pitfalls in the Christian walk, and today I want to discuss sin-obscured sight.
Sin may seem like no big deal in a culture where the only moral compass people consult is their own heart or the opinion of the masses. But the Bible says that sin is an affront to the nature and holiness of God.
Sin is a big deal because it is transformative.
Sin has a moral pull and in its grips, we “change the truth…for a lie”.
“They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise!” (See Romans 1:25)
Sin, the Bible explains, is the transgression of God’s law.
It separates us from God and changes us fundamentally.
God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to save us from the power and penalty of sin and to restore the relationship between us that sin destroyed.
If you are a believer, your sin is forgiven and the Bible tells us that we are no more slaves to it. The problem is that our flesh still feels the pull of that sinful nature. While in Adam, our flesh has the DNA of a sinner, in Christ, we have the Spirit of God in us so that we have the power to say no to sin.
In Christ, our chief goal is to love God and enjoy Him forever.
Our heart’s trajectory should be a steady pursuit of the God who loved us and gave Himself for us. But let’s be honest, sometimes our flesh is weak and we feel that strong pull back to serving sin and self.
Sin promises freedom, independence, power, and self-action. Sin whispers that you should take care of yourself in this world…nobody’s gonna do that for you. Sin tells you that you can handle it and it won’t affect you. Sin taunts that just one more time won’t kill anyone. Satan’s same old tired playbookbsince the very creation.
But if we listen to God, He paints a very different picture of sin.

Hiding sin, cherishing sin, camouflaging sin, employing sin is presenting your members on the altar of unrighteousness. In that moment you are back to serving yourself, not God.
Sin deceives you into thinking that it’s no big deal. Everyone does it. Everyone messes up.
“And indeed, there is no little sin, because there is no little God to sin against. In general, what to (humans) seems a small offense, to Him who knows the heart may appear a heinous crime. ” John Wesley
As Christians, we claim to love God but what do our actions show?
When we sin we try to manage what others think about us. We worry about the externals, but God is ultimately concerned for our hearts.
Jesus called the Pharisees “blind” and unclean because they based their morality on the traditions of men and their ideas of religion while claiming to follow God, but in their hearts, they were self-righteous unbelievers.
“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Matthew 15:8
For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.” Matthew 15:18-20
When we practice sin while going about our business as usual, inwardly our hearts are the same as the pharisees. We are far from God and there has been a subtle turn in our affections. When we sin, we are not loving God enough to obey Him.
Then the excuses and rationalization begins: Oh, we aren’t that bad. We say we just had a temporary lapse, and that we didn’t mean to say that unkind thing, chase that forbidden relationship. We reason that all things considered, we are basically good people trying to do our best. We say people around us can’t understand our very specific and difficult situation or they would agree that we were within our rights to act that way.
And that is that turn of the heart away from loving God to chasing after “idols.” The inward, naval gazing turn which allows, excuses, and utilizes other ways to make life work apart from God. Sin has obscured our view like a carnival house mirror. The remedy is to look into the mirror of God’s word and repent and receive grace.
Years ago, we took a field trip to the Perkin’s School for the Blind with a homeschool group. It was an amazing school, and we learned how they placed the floor tiles and even arranged the drafts in the hallways so students could tell which way to walk. We learned about varying levels of blindness. They gave each child a vision card with transparent windows-like glasses that they could hold up to their eyes to see what it would be like to live with glaucoma, macular degeneration, cataracts, etc., Each card left the viewer with obscured vision based on the disease.
The Bible says that in a spiritual sense, sin warps and obscures our vision.
Here are a few mentions of causes of sin-obscured blindness:
- Unbelief, pride, and self-reliance cause spiritual blindness. Matthew 15:14
- Ignoring the essential virtues and teachings of scripture (2 Peter 1:5)
- Hypocrisy which mainlines on the faults of others while minimizing the beam(sin) in our own eye. (See Matthew 7:2)
- Lukewarmness or apathy ( a lack of love for God and others) (Rev 3:17)
- Hate in the heart for a brother (I John 2:11)
Sin also has a hardening effect on us.
“But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Heb. 3:13
Sin is a big deal because it leads to more sin, displeases God, hinders your prayers, invites God’s discipline, spoils your testimony, harms others, ruins your relationships, blinds you to the needs of others, and renders you unable to help anyone else.
Sin is a big deal because all of it is firmly rooted in the soil of pride and self-love. It ignores God’s Word and considers our will and desires as essential.. Sin is falling short of His will and design for your life. It blinds us to what the Lord is concerned about–justice, mercy, truth, righteousness, and an undivided, worshipful heart.
“Sin plays havoc with our spiritual vision. Although we are able to see the sin of others with specificity and clarity, we tend to be blind to our own. And the most dangerous aspect of this already dangerous condition is that spiritually blind people tend to be blind to their blindness.”
Paul TrippThe remedy isn’t to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and try a little harder. The remedy is a change in affections—to see the beauty and holiness of Christ—to want Him and His glory more than you want temporary fixes, instant gratification, self-glory, or going your own way.
Christ is always the cure because He is the way, the truth, and the life…for salvation and for every day after that.