Why is Tolerating Sin Not Loving?

Seriousness of Sin

Sin is "any evil action or evil motive that is in opposition to God. Simply stated, sin is failure to let God be God and placing something or someone in God’s rightful place of supremacy" (Erickson, M. J., 2013).

Jesus talked about sinners when He said, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:2-5).  The Greek term for perish is ἀπόλλυμι which means to cause or experience destruction.  The Greek word for offender is ὀφειλέτης which is one who is guilty, culpable, and at fault when it relates to God (Arndt, et. al., 2000).  

Jesus also states, "For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:38).  Ashamed (ἐπαισχύνομαι) means to experience pain or sense of loss due because of someone (in this case, Jesus) and something (His words).  Also, in this case, adulterous (μοιχαλίς) means unfaithful.  So, when you experience pain or sense of loss because of Christ and are unfaithful, Christ would experience a sense of loss when He comes in His Father's glory.  

Paul also tells us the consequence of sin, which is death.  He states, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).  The wages, or ὀψώνιον, involves the compensation paid by sin, which is death.  This death (θάνατος), is "viewed transcendently in contrast to a living relationship with God" (Arndt, et. al., 2000).  In other words, this death would result in eternal separation from a living relationship with God (Arndt., et., al., 2000). 

Paul then says, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).  The unrighteous (ἄδικος) act in a way that is contrary to what is right.  

Christ Saves from Sin!

Therefore, it would not be loving to tolerate sin and instead tell them the truth that Jesus saves us from sin.  Jesus states, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).  Jesus also states, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die" (John 11:25-26).  

How?

Jesus said to His disciples right before His death, "For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment" (Luke 22:37).  This is fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah, which states,  "Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the many, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 5:3:12).  

Jesus also said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what you will" (Mark 14:36).  In this instance, the cup is a metaphor for the righteous wrath of God.  An instance of this happens in Jeremiah, where God stated, "Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it" (Jeremiah 25:15).  Jesus also said regarding the cup, "Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?" (John 18:11).  The cup is "a figure of speech to represent one’s portion of or participation in something" (Elwell & Beitzel, 1988).  Jesus is saying here, as well as above, that God's will was for Him to drink of the cup, which in this case means to suffer.  This cup was Jesus' participation in His death (Elwell & Beitzel, 1988).  

Jesus is the one "whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins" (Romans 3:25).  Propitiation (ἱλαστήριον) is means of expiation, which is removal of sin.  

Then Jesus rose from the grave.  Mark states that Mary of Magdala and others found Jesus' tomb empty saying, "And he said to them, 'Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you'" (Mark 16:6-7).  

Paul even writes, "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:3-6). 

Jesus wants us to "repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15).  He wants us to be converted and in this sense as a prerequisite to experiencing the reign of God.  Believe (πιστεύω) means to consider something to be true (Jesus) and worthy of one's trust (Arndt., et., al., 2000).  

Paul writes, "But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, 'Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.'" (Romans 10:8-11).

Paul, in this instance is telling us to confess (ὁμολογέω) that Jesus is Lord which means to acknowledge something (in this case Jesus being Lord) ordinarily in public as a profession of allegiance.  He then says to believe in your heart (καρδία)-the center and source of the whole inner life with thinking, feeling, and will-that God raised Jesus from death to life.  Notice that he says to believe in your heart first, then confess since the mouth gives expression of the inner life.  To be justified (δικαιοσύνη) means to have uprightness as determined by divine standards (Arndt., et. al., 2000).  

References

Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Cup. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 559). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Erickson, M. J. (2013). Christian Theology (3rd ed., p. 513). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

Holy Bible: ESV (2001). Good News Publishers. Wheaton, Illinois.