Anger is Not Sin

(Ephesians 4:26-27)

One of the great questions to be understood by Christians is what is and is not sin?

There are a multitude of things that people call sin, but are they really sin?

Today I want to look at this issue to try and nail down some aspects of what is and isn’t sin, partly because it is important that we know, and partly to help you and others stop condemning yourself over things that are not directly sin.

A Devilish Trap

Condemnation, and especially self-condemnation is a trap of the devil. He wants nothing more than to try and keep the people of God under condemnation.

When people walk in condemnation their focus is not on the things of the Spirit but on matters of the flesh.

Condemnation is an insidious thing and that is why in Jesus Christ God removed condemnation.

Condemnation destroys people. Self-condemnation especially is destructive because it causes people to think they are not good enough, they can’t measure up and sometimes they just give up. It is an evil and powerful tool of the devil to destroy the faith of Christians.

And the devil causes people to self-condemn over all manner of things that are just foolish. Just look at some of the things in this world that are considered “important.”

People have to “look” a certain way, have the “right” kinds of stuff and so on, and if they don’t they self-condemn. For example, the person who has a weight problem may self-condemn if they eat too much. And with social media and the rise of the “selfie” where kids are trying to keep up with others to get the “right look,” self-condemnation rules supreme if they believe they do not measure up.

Self-condemnation is insidious and evil, and that is why it is such a powerful tool of the devil to tear apart.

What is Sin?

But is this self-condemnation justified?

No, it is not. In essence the devil has made people believe the things they condemn themselves over to be sin when it is NOT sin. And in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation as we are told in Romans 8:1

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

But before we look at why there is no condemnation for those in Christ and why Christians should not condemn themselves, let us look at what sin is.

In it’s simplest form, sin is the breaking of the laws of God. But even more than that, sin is rejecting the will of God and choosing to follow our own desires rather than humbling ourselves under His mighty hand.

This second part is the reason why people died and were rejected between the time of Adam and Eve and when the law was given to Moses. They died because they chose to follow their own licentious passions, lusts and desires rather than following God.

As to sin being the breaking of the law, we see the words of the Apostle John telling us this:

“Every one who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4)

Sin is lawlessness. That means that sin is the breaking of the law. And in breaking the law, the sin becomes twice as sinful because the sin is first condemned for the actual sin itself, and secondly is condemned for the breaking of the law.

But the second aspect of sin and sinning, as mentioned above, is when people follow their own passions, lusts, desires and emotions. And it is this aspect that is addressed in this scripture today.

The scripture today says:

“Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” (Ephesians 4:26-27)

As we can see in this verse, we are encouraged and exhorted not to sin when or if we get angry.

There are some people who believe that to get angry is sinning, but that clearly is not the case. It is not a sin to get angry, and in fact the Bible tells us in several place that God gets angry. I am reasonably sure that Jesus was angry when He drove the money changers out of the temple with a whip.

But He did not sin.

Anger is not a sin, but it can be the pre-cursor to sin if it is allowed to get out of control. If we allow our anger to fuel us to do what is evil, the it can lead to sin.

And it is the same for every other passion and emotion of humanity. Anger, envy, jealousy and so on are not sin in and of themselves, but left unchecked and uncontrolled can quickly lead us to sin and the breaking of God’s law.

We see this same discussion between God and Cain right at the beginning of human history. Cain was upset that God had no regard for his offering but did have regard for the offering made by his brother Able. God showed Cain that he must not allow his passions to take control of him and lead him to sin.

“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:7)

Wrath and fury boiled over in Cain leading him to murder his brother and thereby commit sin. While he was simply angry, he did not sin. But when he allowed it to take him over to do evil, that was when sin was committed.

And it is the same for us. We too must take control of the passions of our flesh and the thoughts of our minds so that we do not allow ourselves to be led by the passions, lusts and desires that can lead to sin. When we can control these things, we have peace.

But how do we control our thoughts and our passions? How do we stop sinning? It is abundantly clear that no man is able to stop sinning for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God as we are told in Romans 3:23.

This is where the work of the Holy Spirit comes into play and the power of the sacrifice Jesus made for us when He gave his life.

Perfection

Under the law, all mankind was consigned to sin because no man was able to keep the law.

But when Christ came we were released from our sins and set free from the law through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Jesus died to be the sacrifice for our sins, just as a blood sacrifice is offered under the law for the forgiveness of sins.

But Jesus also rose again to a new life in the Spirit for the purpose of our justification, or to make us righteous, because death could not hold Him as He never sinned.

And the plan of God was to allow us to enter into the death and resurrection of Christ through baptism, to put on His death and new life, so that we could be born again, or born from above as new creations in Jesus Christ.

Through entering into His death by baptism we are released from our past sins and released from the law so that we can no longer break the law. This is the will and the grace of God for all Christians: to accept this by faith in Jesus Christ.

Now, if we are set free from sin and all our past sins have been removed, and if we have been released from the law so that we cannot break it and thus sin in the future, then we receive righteousness and are declared righteous and perfect by God.

But this perfection is only received by faith. We are not perfect in all we do, think or say…at least not yet.

The fullness of perfection cannot be achieved by man in his own strength or ability.

That is why we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring us into the perfection that reflects the image and the stamp of the nature of Jesus Christ and of God the Father.

And it does not happen overnight.

The Holy Spirit is working on us and in us to transform us from one degree of glory to another, ever so slowly as he gradually works out the kinks, knots and flaws of our character to bring us into the image of Jesus Christ.

The primary part of this work is to do what was mentioned above that we cannot do ourselves. It is to enable us to take control of our passions, lusts, desires and emotions that would lead us to sin, by capturing every thought to take it captive before it can produce a sinful act.

We are taught to walk in the Spirit and learn how to set our mind on the things of the Spirit rather than the things of the flesh. The flesh is hostile to God because it seeks to reject the ways of God because of the sinfulness that is in the flesh of all mankind. But the work of the Spirit is to transform our thinking and our minds and spirit to be Christ-like so that we can be perfect.

And if we are to live with Christ and God into eternity, we MUST be perfect. We cannot live in in God’s eternal kingdom unless and until we are perfected, as we see in Matthew 5:48.

“You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

So do not condemn yourself over things that are not sin.

Anger, jealousy, envy and all of the other emotions of humanity are not sin. Feeling unworthy also is not a sin.

But beware because all of the passions and emotions of humanity can lead to sin if they are not brought under control.

When you feel these things rise up in your heart, body or mind, take control of them.

How? Pray. Read the bible. Meditate on scripture. Set your mind on the things of the spirit by listening to gospel music or singing gospel songs.

Do whatever you can to take your mind off the things that are causing your passions and desires to well up inside you and humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.

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