Sin Knows No Color:1 John 1:8; 3:4; Galatians 5:16-21

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 Jn. 2:1, NASB).

Our pastor has been leading us in a study of the book of Revelation. At the end of last night’s session he asked us to pray for our pastor. Of course we pray for our pastor, but tonight pastor has a special request. He states that he had been praying for the people in Ukraine. Then he sees on television that the people of Ukraine was taking the tickets from Africans and giving them to citizens of Ukraine so that they could board a train and escape the oncoming Russian army. He had been praying for white folks that were mistreating Black folk.

Earlier in the afternoon I had called a classmate and a friend of mind. We talked about the state of racial affairs in our country. To us it seems that the younger generation Black folk is discouraged because of the discrimination that they are experiencing in every area of life. They conclude that discrimination should not exist in America. Jimmy and I believe that much of the disappointment about the racial relations in America is because of expectations. The younger generation was brought up in an integrated society and this should have ended racism and discrimination. On the other hand, we were brought up in a segregated society. We did not expect anything from white people. We were happy to live in our own communities and do what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it. In this article I hope to make the point that racism is a sin. Sin knows no color. Thus, we have unrealistic expectations in a world ruled by sin. How did I come to this conclusion?

The world that we live in operates on three principles; all of them come as a result of sin. They are competition, conquest, and control. The world has laws, governments, education systems, religions and other ways that promote competition, conquest, and control. Our problem as human being is that we all think that we have the best systems that can eliminate hatred and promote love. This is a false conclusion because from the beginning of time there has been competition, conquest, and control. Let us look at the story of Cain and Abel and the story of the sons of Noah—Shem, Japheth, and Ham, and their descendants. In these stories we can see that the problem is sin. There is competition, conquest, and control. These three drive the attitudes and behaviors of all of them. Their stories are recorded in the bible—the book of Genesis. The word “Genesis” means the beginning. Thus these stories give us insight into how thing were in the beginning of the history of human beings as we know them today.

The story of Cain and Abel is a story of one man murdering his brother. These are brothers born to the same father and mother. Can we safely say that they are of the same skin color? Does skin color drive Cain to murder his brother? When we read the story the writer says nothing about skin color. Rather, we see that there is a spirit of competition in Cain the older brother. Cain becomes angry at Abel because God rejects his offering and accepts the offering of his younger brother. Next we read that God offers Cain a way for him to be accepted by the Lord. “Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen’” (Gen. 4:6, NASB)? “‘If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted us? And if you do not well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it’” (Gen. 4:7, NASB). Cain does not master his sin. This is because human beings are unable to master their sin. Only Jesus Christ can save us from our sin. He alone can cleanse us from our sins and restore us to righteousness.

Our second story is that of the sons of Noah—Shem, Japheth, and Ham. Ham is the father of Canaan and we will see how Canaan shares in their story. So, after Cain murders his brother Abel, Eve gives birth to a son who is named Seth? Cain is driven from the presence of the Lord. His exile shows us that God cannot abide sin. Sin of any form God will not allow into His presence. On the other hand, Seth becomes the father of Enosh. “To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD” (Gen. 4:26). The world now consists of two groups of people. They are the descendants of Cain that live outside the presence of God. The descendants of Seth-Enosh call upon the Lord. They offer sacrifices to the Lord. They seek to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. These two group of people live separated from each other. At the same time all people are descendants of Adam and Eve and have sin as their basic human nature.

The population increases and the two groups begin to have relationship with each other. The “sons of God” marry the “daughters of men” (Gen. 6:1). Once again human beings begin to do the same thing that their foreparents Adam and Eve had done. They take control of their own lives. They sin and no longer call on the name of the Lord. They do what is right in their own eyes. God first intends to destroy human beings. However, God calls Noah who obeys the Lord doing what is right in God’s eyes. God sends a flood that destroys all animal life that live on the earth except for Noah and his family.

When the flood subsides, Noah and his family worship God. Noah makes wine and gets drunk and lay naked. Ham who is the father of Canaan sees his father and tells his brothers. His brothers Shem and Japheth refuse to look upon their father’s nakedness. Instead they cover their father’s nakedness walking backward so that they do not see the nakedness of their father. God curses Ham through the descendants of his son Canaan. Ham has four sons, Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. This leads to competition between the descendants of Ham and the descendants of his brothers Shem and Japheth (See Gen. 10:1-9).

The son of Cush acts on this competition. “Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, ‘Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD’” (Gen. 10:8-9). Nimrod has a spirit of conquest and control. He establishes his own kingdom. It is not because Nimrod discriminates because of skin color. Rather, all the descendants of Ham establish their own kingdoms. They do not seek to follow the Lord. The increase in the numbers of people becomes so numerous that they seek compromise with each other. They will live by their own wisdom gained through the study of the heavenly bodies. Their togetherness is seen in that they speak the same language (Gen. 11:1).

Together, all the descendants of the sons of Noah act on a spirit of conquest. They decide to work together and control their own destiny. “They say, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth” (Gen. 11:4, NASB). However, God puts an end to their plans. God divides the language so that people cannot understand each other. “So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city” (Gen. 11:8, NASB). Yet, all human being have the sin of their first parents. Sin is transgression of the law (of God). It is doing what one wants to do not regarding that God is maker and ruler of the entire universe. Since the people cannot communicate with each other they concentrate themselves into separate groups. Each nation increases in numbers and they scatter themselves over the entire earth. The desire for more land leads to competition because of a need. Each group tries to eliminate the competition by conquest. They will bring other people under their control. Thus, James raises a significant question. “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members” (Jas. 4:1, NASB). Sin is about what is inside a person, in their heart and mind.

The apostle Paul writes to the Galatians. He tells them that there still exist two groups of people. They are those that live by the Spirit of God, and those that live to satisfy the desires of the flesh. The two are incompatible.”But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these two are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please” (Gal. 5:17, NASB). Then Paul gives a list of the characteristics of the flesh (vv. 19-21) followed by the characteristics of the Spirit (vv. 22-23). In Galatians 5:24 Paul states that those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions. Those who belong to Christ must decide to walk in the Spirit. In all that Paul says about sin he never states that skin color has anything to do with the desires of the flesh—the sin nature that lives in every human being. I believe that we can safely conclude that sin knows no color.

Pastor Marble is concerned about justice, and he should be. Many good people seek justice according to human wisdom. However, only those who belong to Christ and live by His Spirit can live with righteousness and justice. We cannot change the world, but we can introduce people to Jesus. Jesus can save us from our sins and all of our unrighteousness. Christians are called to live together walking in the Spirit. The world will see us and some will become members of the body of Christ. These will not practice injustices and discrimination. They are free from sin and its pleasures.