Posts tagged sin

Yeeeoowww! That last one stung some of you!

It was meant to.

I get it now: Jesus asked me to speak in my own words last time because He wanted you to see the contrast between Friday night and today, between Him and me.

Since Friday, some of you have lived with the knowledge that God is angry with you because you won’t stop sinning. You’ve lived with the understanding that He hasn’t forgiven you. You’ve lived with fear.

What is that about? Isn’t God a God of forgiveness?

Indeed He is, but some of you are confusing forgiveness with unconditional love. Some of you think you have a get-out-of-jail-free card because someone dunked you in their backyard pool once (Or the river. Whatever.)

Folks, if you don’t know God’s Word, how can you do it? In John 15:10-14, Jesus says, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.”

If you don’t keep His commandments, how can you abide in His love?

What does Jesus command us to do in order to receive His forgiveness?

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

That’s it: Repent, turn away from your sins as in stop doing them, and start doing what Jesus tells you to do. That’s all.

What about all those prophecies against you?

“Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.” (I Corinthians 13:8)

If you repent.

If not, you live under God’s wrath, and you get me prophesying your doom whenever He asks me to, broadcasting your sins in increasingly specific detail for all to see.

If you’ve got it going on, you’ve noticed that I haven’t mentioned one single sin, haven’t called anybody out today.

That’s what Jesus is offering you.

“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that,Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Yay! Don’t you want that? If you don’t have it (and if Jesus still has me on your back, you don’t have it), it’s because you haven’t repented yet.

Sin is the only thing standing in your way. You already know you have to repent, but as Paul writes in Romans 7:18-19, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

Yup, you’re gonna do it again, and again, and again, and again. Even if you repent.

How do you get out from under that?

“I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” (Psalm 32:5)

What about those times when you’re so stubborn, so angry, so pained, so conflicted that you don’t know what’s right?

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)

But we have to put in the time. We have to be present. We have to be praying.

I’ve already shown you that Jesus is way cooler than I am. What do you think would happen if, instead of coming here reviling me, you went to Him repenting of the sins you understand, asking Him to show you the sins you don’t, asking Him to help you move forward. What would happen if you stopped wasting time hating me and started gaining time loving Him?

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

You want power over someone? Stop sinning, and show Satan Who’s Boss.

You remember David, the young sheepherder/songwriter/musician who killed Goliath, incurred the wrath of Israel’s King Saul, ran for his life, was called “a man after God’s own heart” by God Himself, succeeded Saul as Israel’s king, was beloved by his people AND from whom Jesus Christ descended?

Good guy, religious guy, temple-going guy, favored-by-God-guy, right?

Yeah, except for the “good” part. You remember: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

2 Samuel 11 tells the story of David’s fall from grace: David was at home while his lieutenants went out to clean up the territory. This wasn’t David’s usual style; he was no shirker. In fact, God says, he was a little too war-happy, but that’s another (sad) story.

So, he’s chillaxin’ on his balcony, he sees this woman taking a bath, and decides its king-with-benefits time. He finds out her name is Bathsheba, sends for her, does the deed.

Then, Bathsheba announces there’s a little king on the way.

There go my poll numbers, David thinks. So, he sends for Bathsheba’s husband, a general named Uriah, asks him to volunteer for the front line. Uriah gladly does so, and is promptly killed in action, which was just how David had planned it.

Almost makes Bakker, Swaggart, Haggard, Long, and their ilk look like pikers, doesn’t it?

God thinks so. He sends Nathan, Samuel’s successor, to prophesy all kinds of doom and gloom for David and his family. By the time God is finished with you, Nathan tells David, you’ll be a laughingstock in front of your own people.

2 Samuel 12:13-14 tells us “David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.”

“I have sinned against the Lord” — that’s it! No back-pedaling, no blame-shifting, no minimizing, no denying. Just total humility and a full admission of guilt. And then, forgiveness, on the spot.

You want forgiveness for your sins? Take a lesson from David.

Better yet, take a lesson from Jesus in Luke 17:3-4: “Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

After all, that’s what God does for us if we repent; that is, stop sinning.

Paul tells us why, in the wake of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, we shouldn’t even consider sinning: “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:15-18)

Sounds good, right? If you love Jesus, you want to give yourself over to righteousness completely. And then, it happens: Whether you, just as an example, tell a white lie to spare someone’s feelings, or look at porn to numb your own, you sin.

Now what? Does God hate you?

No, but He hates your sin, and He’ll turn away from you just like you turned away from Him when you sinned.

Thanks to Jesus Christ, there is something you can do: You can repent.

Yes, you start all over again. No matter how many times you sin, you go to God in all humility, confess your sin, repent your sin, and then stop sinning. You do this every single time you sin.

It’s not easy. You’ll have trouble going to Him because you feel guilty, and you’ll look for ways to escape having to repent.

That’s exactly what Satan wants, because he hates it when you’re forgiven. Forgiveness brings you closer to God, so Satan reminds you of your own guilt just as you’re about to go to God in prayer. He tries to convince you that you can hide from your sins.

God always has the better answer: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:7-8a). Draw near to God more often, and you’ll sin less often, but you have to draw near.

No guilt, no grief, no shame, no fear — just you and God, closer than ever.

Everyone wants to know, and everyone assumes that suffering is totally random.

Just because we don’t know the answer doesn’t mean there isn’t one.

Job 1:1 tells us something crucial about the man whose book bears his name: “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.”

Job was blameless — and rich. He worked hard, and he had piles of stuff — family, friends, money, flocks, herds, servants, real estate, health, and happiness — to show for it.

Then, one day, it was all gone.

Why?

That’s what Job wanted to know, and he was ticked! He whined. He complained. He accused God of hating him. He openly doubted God’s existence. And then, he challenged God to an argument.

Blameless, upright, and turned away from evil. Yet, Job, in the midst of his trials, sinned over and over again. Job’s sins all stemmed from one faulty assumption: that God was accusing Job of wrongdoing by punishing him.

The truth? God had such confidence in Job that He allowed Satan to take away everything Job valued, just to prove that Job would not curse God. (Job 1)

The stuff you don’t know, huh?

If we are undergoing trials — even the trial of feeling apart from God — we have to ask ourselves some questions: Were we in sin when the trial began? Is sin the outgrowth of our trials? Are we committing some sin we don’t know about?

After asking ourselves all those questions, we must realize that we don’t know a thing.

In Matthew 9:2-8, Jesus talks about one way of looking at the relationship between physical trials and sin: “And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

“And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home.”

In John 9:1-7, Jesus approaches the issue another way: “As [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.”

Either we’re in sin, in which case we’re forgiven if we sincerely repent (please, please, please understand that God will forgive a repentant sinner, no matter what Satan whispers in your ear), or we’re not, in which case we want to stay that way.

But, why, why, why do these awful things happen?

God lets us have those meltdowns before Him. I should know, because I’ve done it. I’ve also learned that His patience is not infinite when we sin by getting angry with Him.

The solution is to calm down. When we’re ready to listen, God is ready to speak. James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” By faith, Paul says in Hebrews 11:34, regular people like you and me “were made strong out of weakness.”

If you’re not sure what’s going on and why, ask Him in all humility. The answer you get will guide your steps, if you’ll just let yourself be guided.

Why do bad things happen? For one result: God’s glory.

So, we’re all just pawns in some universal round of celestial back-patting?

Hardly.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven,” Jesus says in Matthew 5:14-16.

So, even in the midst of suffering and evil, we can do what Jesus did in far worse circumstances — we can bring people to the Light.

If you’ve read my previous post, God Does Not Hate You, you’ve already learned that God doesn’t hate you, that Jesus died to give you eternal life, and that you must do what Jesus commands in order to claim that gift.

What If I Don’t Want To Do Any of That?

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:36)

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (BLOGGER’S NOTE: That’s “men” as in full-grown adults; not babies and children)

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

“For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

(BLOGGER’S NOTE: I don’t want scientists to stop exploring and investigating any more than scientists themselves want to do that. So why should they stop investigating because they “have all the answers” on this or any issue? It’s worth noting that all research is financed and that everyone who writes the checks has an agenda. This is just as true for those I agree with as for those I don’t. And, yes, I understand that every scientist walks into the lab with a bias comes in part from the results of previous research.)

Continuing in Romans 1: “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” (Romans 1:18-32)

“Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” (Romans 2:3-5)

(BLOGGER’S NOTE: Didn’t think I’d bother to address the sins that Christians commit, did you? Well, I did because God did, in that last passage. Sin is sin where God’s concerned. Christians don’t get a free pass. Anyone who tells you we do is a liar and … oops! in sin.)

I don’t understand how anybody ever got the mistaken idea that Christianity is restrictive. Oh, I know unchurched people get that idea from Christians. I just don’t understand how any Christian ever got the idea.

Christianity, for those of you who are now utterly confused, is adherence through faith to the commandments and teachings of Jesus Christ — not televised shouting matches with political opponents.

But I digress.

How could anybody believe that Christianity is restrictive after reading John 8:3-11, which says:

3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst

4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.

5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”

6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.

7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.

9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more”?

There’s no question that Jesus is going to judge us after we die, but in this life, He gives us tremendous latitude. This life, however long it will be, is literally a grace period.

In this life, we decide what rules we’ll follow and why. We’re subject to society and to natural law, of course, but Jesus doesn’t judge us now. John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

So here’s the question: Will you let Jesus save you? Will you accept the free gift of eternal life, purchased for you by Jesus’ blood, offered to you no matter what you’ve thought about doing; what you’ve done, to whom, or how often?

Will you confess that He is your Savior, as Paul writes in Romans 10:9-11 (emphasis mine)— “[C]onfess 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.””

Will you trust Him so completely that you keep His commandments, as He told the rich young ruler to do in Matthew 19:16-22 (emphasis mine)?

16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”

18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,

19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?”

21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Pretty simple: Confess that He is your Savior, keep His commandments, follow Him.

Still sound restrictive? Then, think on this: He loved you so much that He emptied Himself of Godhood, came down to earth, and died a hideous death by crucifixion so that we could have eternal life. Would Someone that good, that loving, ask us to follow pointless commandments, ask us to be someone we’re not?

Most of all, think on this: Would He give us the grace, time, and space to answer those questions for ourselves?

We have a good, good, unfathomably good Savior in Jesus Christ. It is a blessing — not a chore — to confess Him and keep His commandments when we let Him guide our steps, when we let Him tell us how and when someone else needs to hear the Word.

When we invite Him in, and let Him guide us, we actually have more freedom, not less. Freedom from fear, anxiety, hatred (of self and others), anger, hopelessness, hurt, and living death.

I’ve said it before: Christianity is freedom. Jesus is asking you nothing more than to come and be free.

6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.

5 For each will have to bear his own load.

6 One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches.

7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Galatians 6:1-10 (ESV)

8 Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,
who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow
or know the loss of children”:

9 These two things shall come to you
in a moment, in one day;
the loss of children and widowhood
shall come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries
and the great power of your enchantments.

10 You felt secure in your wickedness,
you said, “No one sees me”;
your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me.”

11 But evil shall come upon you,
which you will not know how to charm away;
disaster shall fall upon you,
for which you will not be able to atone;
and ruin shall come upon you suddenly,
of which you know nothing.

12 Stand fast in your enchantments
and your many sorceries,
with which you have labored from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed;
perhaps you may inspire terror.

13 You are wearied with your many counsels;
let them stand forth and save you,
those who divide the heavens,
who gaze at the stars,
who at the new moons make known
what shall come upon you.

14 Behold, they are like stubble;
the fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves
from the power of the flame.
No coal for warming oneself is this,
no fire to sit before!

15 Such to you are those with whom you have labored,
who have done business with you from your youth;
they wander about, each in his own direction;
there is no one to save you.

(Isaiah 47:8-15, ESV)