We Can All Learn From Loving Correction

“He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, but he who refuses correction goes astray.” (Proverbs 10:17)

I’ve often said that I learn as much from my readers as I teach. Last week’s column about degrees of sin, and the story in Exodus 1 of the Hebrew midwives’ decision to lie to the Pharaoh in order to save the lives of newborn Hebrew male children, reminded me again just how much I can learn from you.

In case you missed the column, the point I made was that we sometimes face conflicting moral truths and have to make a choice. I emphasized from the story of the Hebrew midwives that while lying is a sin, the Bible records that God blessed their decision. “Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. And so it was, because the midwives feared God that he provided households for them.” (Exodus 1:20-21). I then concluded, “Is it okay to lie to save a child? Both are sins in the eyes of God, but none of us would blame the Hebrew midwives for their chosen course of action. Apparently, God did not either…There are times that we must choose the more righteous course of action. As long as we have peace about it and repent of it, God will continue to love us.”

My story drew several comments, but it was one from a reader in Nigeria that made me think about what I said:

“I agree completely that not all sins are equal, that’s just nonsense. However, I think something must be missing or incomplete here. Using the example of the Egyptian midwives, ask the simple question, ‘What was God’s will for them at the time?’ Whether “sin” means what’s morally wrong or that which opposes the will of God, it is self-contradictory to say that the midwives did the right thing by sinning. It’s self-contradictory to say that God approved of what they did although it was a sin. It seems to me there are these possibilities:

1. Lying was the right thing to do in the circumstances, hence not a sin; or

2. Lying was the wrong thing to do, i.e. not God’s will, hence sinful, and there was a better alternative. Then God’s approval was a merciful recognition that the midwives’ sin was ‘for a good cause’ and the result of limited knowledge, wisdom, or strength to do what really was God’s will.

To say that there are times we must sin means that, on those occasions, God wants us to sin. Again, it makes no sense.”

I took his comment to my Sunday School class. “Where do you think God stands?” I asked. “If sin separates us from God, how could he reward the Hebrew midwives for sinning, even if it was what we would refer to today as a ‘little white lie’.”

“It cannot be sin,” one member responded, “if it’s God’s will.”

We then turned to God’s Word and realized that the Bible is replete with examples of what modern-day Bible critics cite as sin condoned by a sin-hating God. The distinction, however, is in every example, it was God’s will.

So there are at least two answers to the issue of what to do when there are conflicting moral truths. If it’s God’s will, then it isn’t sin at all; or if it is sin, then genuine repentance always bring divine forgiveness. In either case, we can move on with the assurance that it will not keep us out of heaven!

Thanks to all of you for reading, caring and lovingly correcting me from time to time. As I have said many times before, I haven’t arrived. I’m still on my way!