We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin

As most of you know I'm a fan of the works C.S. Lewis. The following are quotes from him and my thoughts on the quotes.

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"We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin."

--The Problem of Pain - C.S. Lewis


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How true. Sins we've commited years ago seem like they've been buried under a thick layer of dirt, put to rest so to speak and no longer bothersome. Debts dead people owe can never be repaid. Sins we've buried don't seem to need any bothering about. Unfortunately that's not how it works at all.


Rom 6:23 'For the wages of sin is death...'


The price to be paid for our sins is death. Each sin warrants death. There is no level of sin in the sense there are sins that don't warrant death. I hear the gasps now. It's true. the wages of sin is death, not the wages of some sins is death. And more consternation rears up because surely a vile torturing murderer should be given more punishment than one who blasphemes God. I fully believe when the wicked are thrown into the lake of fire at the end of all sin to be burned up into everlasting nothingness that each one will suffer according to the severity of their sinfilled acts. And yes, the murderer will get a longer punishment than the person who told white lies. It's wrong to believe that any sin doesn't warrant death. Jesus died an innocent, paying that death penalty for us sinners. There isn't a single person that is sinless, not a single person who doesn't have the need for the sacrifice offered at calvary.


When C.S. Lewis wrote this- "We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin."

--The Problem of Pain - C.S. Lewis


He was speaking truthfully, a fact that many of us rather not look at.


In the Bible David lusted after another man's wife and committed adultery with her then had her husband killed so he could have her. Talk about guilt! Did David ask for immediate forgiveness? No.


2Sa 12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
2Sa 12:8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
2Sa 12:9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
2Sa 12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
2Sa 12:11 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
2Sa 12:12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
2Sa 12:13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
2Sa 12:14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
2Sa 12:15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.



2Sa 12:12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.


There ARE NO secrets from God! We can pretend we're hiding things from God, we can pretend we've gotten away with some misdeed. We can believe that the sins committed were done so long ago they no longer matter, but God doesn't believe the same. All sin we commit has been committed in God's sight. There is no hiding it, not one single sin, not one tiny pinprick of sin can be swept under the carpet and kept from the eyes of God. Our mistake is trying to hide it, trying to brush it off as if it doesn't matter. There is no expiration date on sin. A sin committed fifty years ago is still as potent as the sin committed yesterday. The sins still warrant death if they are not repented of.


Psa 32:1 A Psalm of David, Maschil. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Psa 32:2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Psa 32:3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
Psa 32:4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

Psa 51:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Psa 51:2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Psa 51:3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
Psa 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psa 51:6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Psa 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psa 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Psa 51:9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psa 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Psa 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Psa 51:13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
Psa 51:14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
Psa 51:15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
Psa 51:16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Psa 51:18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Psa 51:19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.


Let us cry out to God as David with a broken and contrite spirit, 'Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with htey free spirit.' 'Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.'


When we pray, let us pray for forgiveness from ALL our sins and if we can't remember them all and it's highly unlikely anyone can, let us acknowledge that failing in ourselves as well. Let us ask for forgiveness for the sins we can't even remember knowing that all sin is worthy of death, all sins have slain the innocent Son of God.


By the Grace and Mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we find forgiveness in Him.


Amen.