Conspicuous

October 7

Jeremiah 5-6

Psalm 110

Proverbs 24:17-18

I Timothy 5

Conspicuous

“The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later.  So also, good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.” 

I Timothy 5:24-25 ESV

I usually use the Holman Christian Standard Bible or the New International Version, but I like the translation of this verse in the English Standard Version.  This version uses the word “conspicuous.”  The NIV and HCSB use the word “obvious.”  I think the word conspicuous gives us a better image of the meaning Paul is trying to convey.  We all know about conspicuous sins, those sins that are out there for everybody to see.  To be clear, a sin is a sin.  Sin is rebellion against God in any form or fashion.  The specific act is not as important as the condition of the heart in doing it.  Humanly speaking we have put sins on a scale with murder and rape measuring a 10 and having bad thoughts about people and jealousy at a 1.  Somewhere in between we put in premarital sex, lying and all the other things on the list.  Each of our lists may vary in the middle, but the top and bottom are probably pretty consistent.  That scale cannot be found anywhere in the Bible.  It is completely human made.  That isn’t how God measures sins.  To God all sin is a 10.  Anything we do that we know we shouldn’t do is rebellion against Him.  The good news is that God loves us so much that He knows we are going to mess us.  He knows we are sinful, and He provided the way for us to be forgiven for all our sins.  This verse is not telling us that there are some sins that are worse than other sins.  Paul is making the point that there are sins that are more conspicuous than others, but that all sins will be revealed, and be judged. Certainly, some sins hold much more significant earthly consequences. Imprisonment, public humiliation, financial ruin, loss of relationships, and embarrassment are the inevitable consequences of some sins while others are more easily hidden.  We may be able to hide our thoughts and actions from other people, but we cannot hide from God.  He knows our thoughts and the intentions of our hearts.  He knows us better than we know ourselves, but thankfully, He loves us more than we can even imagine.  He won’t let us get away with sin because He knows that it is not what is best for us.  Like a loving Father, He loves us too much to ignore something that is detrimental to us.  He will bring it out in the open so we can be free from the bondage it brings. 

In the same way, some good works are conspicuous.  Some of the good things we do are more public than others.  I don’t think Paul is talking about purposefully doing things to be seen.  Our motives matter.  If we are doing things with the motive of having others see us and be impressed, Paul probably would not be calling those “good deeds.”  He is referring to those good things we do that happen to be more conspicuous.  There are other good deeds that are behind the scenes.  Paul is assuring us that God sees what we are doing even if no one else does.  Our good deeds are not hidden from Him.