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Sin: Look Again

I think it would be irresponsible of us to preach the need for a Savior and talk about His love and benefits without discussing the reason why He had to come rescue us in the first place. I have realized that if we do not understand sin and what it has done to humanity, a commitment to Christ will become the same as a diet. You know what I mean: we start out with good intentions but our cravings for our old habits lead us back to the same cycles that plagued us before we committed to change.

One of the reasons that evangelism, in particular, has not been as effective in the past few decades is because many leaders of faith refuse to talk about the sin that has trapped us all. We have gotten away from the "fire and brimstone" / "nuts and bolts" preaching that led many to salvation through the ministries of evangelists like Billy Graham and Luis Palau. We have turned some of the most powerful verses in the Bible like, "for so God love the world," "the just shall live by faith," and "He himself took our infirmities and carried our diseases" into trendy catch phrases. The result is that we have sugarcoated sin so much so that we have isolated many individuals and made them think that their struggle is worse than someone else's—or maybe that they really aren't that bad. For example, our culture (sometimes even within the church) has taught that gossip, white lies, and greed are not as bad as sexual immorality, when the truth is that they all grieve the Holy Spirit because they are all sin. Many Christian fundamentalists bash homosexuals relentlessly but say nothing to a friend or colleague who watches perversion on television and brags about it. We live in a culture that sings, "Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me" without realizing that we are that wretch without Jesus as our Redeemer. We have made sin culturally acceptable and determined its punishment based on our own set of rules.

But it doesn't work that way.

In an excerpt from an album by Shai Linne called The Atonement, C. J. Mahaney of Sovereign Grace Ministries says, "In His righteous judgment, God has determined that the just penalty for sin is death and without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. Now, sin has been committed by man, therefore, only man can atone for that sin. But here's my dilemma: I can't atone for my sin; I can't. I cannot satisfy God's righteous requirements. My disobedience condemns me before a Righteous God. And...I'm captive to sin. It is humanly impossible for me to free myself from sin. A divine rescue… is necessary.  I NEED A SAVIOR! I need a Savior."  The truth is that we all do.

In our society, we have written books and built campaigns on the ideas of "positive thinking," "good deeds," "personal confidence," and many other topics that try to alleviate the guilt we all feel at one point or another. The problem is that you can never do enough to totally get rid of this shame brought on by our fallen nature that originated in Genesis 3:6. The only thing that can eradicate this sin and make us "acceptable" to a Perfect and Holy God is faith in Jesus Christ. As Galatians 3:22 (NIV) states "…the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe." 

Regretfully, verses like Galatians 3:22 and Romans 3:23 have been read many times by yours truly without any contemplation or meditation. Thank God for men like Jon Courson and his commentaries on the topic of sin. In his New Testament commentary (page 1183), Courson tells a story that I think will bring my point home (I know this is long, but stay with me).

You're in a 747 jumbo jet headed to Honolulu. Two hours into the flight, the pilot calls for the senior flight attendant and says, "There's a leak in our gas tank. We're not going to make it to Hawaii."

The flight attendant, wiping the sweat off her brow, dabbing the tears from her eyes, smiles as she returns to the cabin, saying, "Greetings passengers. Could I interest any of you in a parachute? It will make your flight more enjoyable, and in it, I think you'll discover a new measure of peace, joy, and love. (NOTE: Sugarcoating the situation.) Who would like a parachute?" Maybe three or four people raise their hands (NOTE: just like being in church).

If you are among the three or four taking one, you see the other passengers snickering and pointing at you (NOTE: the world / peer pressure). Before long, you discover your parachute is tight and uncomfortable. You begin to think, This isn't giving me any joy at all. This is ridiculous. And after twenty minutes or so, you take it off and say to the stewardess, "You lied to me. You promised I would be comfortable, full of joy, and warmed by love. But all I got were snickers, jeers, and a rash…"

Another stewardess in the same situation hears the message from the captain. She enters the cabin, saying "STOP what you're doing. Put down your reading material. I want your full undivided attention. The captain has informed me that this plane is losing fuel fast. We're going down. Who wants a parachute?"

Suddenly, people are fighting for parachutes. No one cares if the flight for the remaining minutes is smooth, or if they have enough mobility to play video games. No, everyone is clinging to his parachute, making sure it's secure because everyone knows the plane is going down."

The parachute is salvation from the consequences of sin through faith in Jesus Christ and the plane is this world and the system that governs it. To use another analogy, unless you understand what has you in prison, the pardon and redemption will not have the impact that it should. And unless we preach against and expose sin for what it is without the fear of offending people, the people will stay away or walk away from that which can only bring them eternal life with God. 

If we are not in a true state of humility that recognizes the truth about sin and our dependence on God to save us through His Son, we believers are relegated to an ineffective, trendy state at best. We will be exactly like the church of Laodicea in the book of Revelation, chapter three. In verse 16, God called that church "lukewarm" and in verse 17 He called them "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked." I wonder what He would call us.

Matthew 5:3 (NIV) says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Poverty of spirit, as stated in John MacArthur's Daily Reading from the Life of Christ, means "recognizing how truly deficient we are apart from God." He also states in this same book that "no person can receive the kingdom of God until he or she realizes they are unworthy of that kingdom." 

What makes us unworthy? Sin.

If you don't understand the effect of and damage caused by sin, you will never be able to appreciate the gift of salvation. 

Invitation

The Bible says in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  This means every one of us has rebelled against the will of God; it only takes one sin to overcharge your credit. One sin equals death and eternity without divine companionship with God.

Jeremiah 31:31 (NIV) says, "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel." The house of Israel is you and me, and the new covenant was sealed when Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Romans 10:9 states, "If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  We encourage you to pray the following prayer (or pray a similar prayer in your own words), believe the truth in your heart, and make a decision to follow Jesus the rest of your life:

Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that you are God, the only true God, and that you sent your Son, Jesus, to die for my sins. With that in mind, I admit that I have sinned against you and am in need of the atonement that can only come from the perfect blood that was shed by Christ so that my sin could never be counted against me. So right now, I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that Jesus Christ is the Lord my life. I also believe that the Holy Spirit indwells my being and He is also my God. I thank you, Father, that I now have perfect relationship with You because of Your Grace and Mercy.  Amen.

My friend, you did it! That acknowledgement of truth and the decision to follow Jesus makes you part of God's Kingdom of believers. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." This means that your past no longer holds you in bondage—God has forgotten it—and you now walk in the peace, joy, favor, grace, and mercy of God….receive it.  

  • I pray that you find a Christian church that believes and teaches every Word of the Bible so that you can start to fulfill the destiny that God has planned for you.
  • I pray that you find an older believer that can help you along the way, as you start this new journey.
  • I pray that the callings of your past life would be overwhelmed by the pull of the Holy Spirit to continue on with God.