On Secret Sins - Excerpts from Puritan writer S.S. Smith

It has been a long time since I have written an article in this blog. Hopefully I would be able to be regularly update this blog in future, God willing. Today I would like to share some thoughts on 'secret sins' and ways to overcome them.

What is Secret Sin?

Secret sins are those which are committed either in our hearts or flesh which no one else who are close to us may know except God. These may appear benign but most of them have fallen into horrendous acts of evil because they have let the secret sins to dwell in their lives.  How can we identify and make ourselves pure from secret sins?

1) Fear of God:

The starting point of any sins in our lives would be because of the lack of fear of God. So to overcome this sin, we would have to have the holy reverence and honor for God both in our thoughts and actions.

Exodus 20:20 "“Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 

2) Lack of knowledge of Word of God:

We sin in our lives because we don't know what exactly sin is. In order to know that we have to go back to scripture and meditate upon it to identify what are all the areas which are not pleasing to God so that we don't do it.

Hosea 4:6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;

Listen to the words of the puritan on this:

"Those who are least informed, indeed, cannot be wholly ignorant of the evil of these vices, but, unacquainted with the holiness and extent of the divine law, the high degree of their criminality is, in a great measure, unknown to them. They are covered with the guilt of secret faults, and are sinking into perdition, unconscious of the load that is pressing them down." 

3) Love of self:

Our Lord Jesus has given a call to all of us deny our self.  

"Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Mat 16:24

The reason for such call of Jesus is because we are all totally evil in our being. Our minds are totally corrupt and our natural tendency is to do evil. No man born in this world is innocent. Who has taught a child to steal chocolates from the jar? It just come naturally for all men. So the reason why we entertain secret sins is because we love our self and follow what our hearts desire rather than doing the will of God.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?"

"Of all the principles of self-deceit pleasure is the most powerful, and opens the widest field for those impositions which men are daily passing upon themselves. They are easily deceived where they already wish to be deceived. Whatever yields them pleasure they are studious to justify. All the fallacies of reason are mustered up to defend the favorite indulgence, and to overcome those scruples that fill the mind, and oppose themselves to the first approaches of vice. "

3)Culture and society around us:

We are the products of our culture. We tend to take things for granted because everyone around us does those things. Many of our habitual sins are because of this kind of reasoning. Some sins are so specific for a particular culture. This has been repeatedly seen in history. For example, abortion is so common in our society and many people don't even consider it as sin. Even 30 years ago, homosexuality was considered an 'abomination' in west, but now it's just a 'lifestyle' because of the influence of the culture. We may also entertain may sins in our lives because others around us are doing it. Smith calls this 'general influence'. 

"In consequence of that mysterious sympathy by which men are drawn together, and formed on each other's character and model, they slide insensibly into manners that are continually presented to view in the public example. Custom they confound in their ideas with propriety. And, in a thousand instances, we daily see folly lose its impertinence, and frivolity, deformity, and even vice cease to disgust when recommended and justified by fashion. The best of men frequently perceive their zeal for the glory of God, and the highest interests of human nature, languish through the lukewarmness and formality that have invaded the great body of their fellow Christians. They contract some taint in their own manners from the general license in the midst of which they live. "Because iniquity abounds the love of many waxes cold."

4) Our Secular Education:

One of the most important reason Smith gives for secret sins is the influence of education. What we learn in our classroom, the underlying philosophies, drive the culture of the society. For that, I can show from the culture of my country. Indian culture of the 80s is different from the present culture because of education. The early indian culture considered traditional family morality, virtue, honesty and love for others more important than money and hedonism. Entered the education of 90s which taught us, the children of that time, that money and hedonism are the centre of everything in life. The society taught us, to become a doctor or an engineer and grow in our career, as the greatest achievement of the life. This effect is seen in the present age. Both husband and wife goes for work leaving their children to day care from the age of 1 for earning more money. This has resulted in broken marriages, broken children, increased violence against women, increased corruption in the society, abortion, etc. This is just an example. Historians attribute the fall of roman empire to the influence of education during that time, which destroyed that society to barbarianism. 

This will affect our churches too. Who is called a good Christian according to our culture? Anyone who is not offending others by telling them anything that offends them. Many students fellowship don't talk about worship because it can offend people. This kind of reasoning is because of the predominant worldview of our society 'New age thinking'. The term 'agree to disagree' has come because of this faulty reasoning.

Much more are they liable to errors in their conduct of inferior moment from the false principles which the frailty of reason and the prejudices of education frequently mingle with the religious systems of the best of men. -- They maintain, perhaps, the basis of divine truth; but they erect upon it a superstructure, in many instances, incorporated with errors of greater or less magnitude. In whatever degree such errors exist, in the same proportion is the spirit of their piety impaired, and the system of their virtues rendered imperfect. According to the figure of the apostle, if they build on the solid foundation of the gospel, wood, hay, stubble, that is, any erroneous principles that lead to an unholy practice, their works shall be burnt, but themselves shall be saved yet so as by fire -- the fire shall consume all the false additions that have been made to this rock of ages which supports the faith and hope of every real believer. Yet, till the day when the fire shall try them, the mistaken professors of the gospel may not only remain blind to the imperfections of their own character, but even flatter themselves with the idea of their innocence or their merit.

With this in mind, let us seek to glorify God by repenting of our secret sins and asking God to mercifully deliver us from them.