Category Archives: Sin

Born in Sin

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Genesis 1-3

I have to confess that I have always had a bit of trouble understanding the whole “born in sin” thing. I wasn’t able to get past the fact that a newborn hasn’t had time to sin, yet is condemned because someone did sin thousands of years ago. I mean, I accepted that fact by faith. But I couldn’t understand it. (which is what faith is, right?)

I’ve started a new study recently, “Seamless,” by Angie Smith (Lifeway Press, 2018). She said something that turned on a lightbulb for me. She reminded me God created humans with a chance to obey Him, or not. They chose not. So Holy God had to separate Himself from disobedient them.

Since they could no longer live in fellowship with God, their children would be born out of fellowship with Him, they would be separated from Him because their parents were separated from God when they were born.

You can’t claim to be a natural born American if your parents were citizens of another country and you were born in that country.

“Born in sin” means to be born separated from God. Being separate from God is where sin is. Even a newborn’s heart is separated from God’s because Adam and Eve’s hearts were separated from God when they received the punishment for their sin in the Garden. No one, except Jesus, could ever be born in fellowship with God again.

But we don’t have to live out of fellowship! Our beautiful Savior gave His life so the gap can be bridged, the separation obliterated. Through Jesus’ work on the cross, and because of God’s love, mercy, and grace, we can have God Himself living within us!

But that fellowship doesn’t come with being born. It comes with being born again. We are “born in sin” but we don’t have to live there.

Martyred

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2 Corinthians 10

We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but against the powers of evil. Paul tells us the weapons God gives us are powerful for the demolition of strongholds. “We demolish arguments…” (vs 4b)

No one used those weapons better than Charlie Kirk. He wielded the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, wearing the belt of truth as he talked to millions of young people on college campuses. He understood the fight wasn’t physical. He didn’t call for violence against people who disagreed. But he demolished his share of strongholds. He demolished arguments with simple, yet powerful truth.

What we learned this week is that the weapons of God don’t stop bullets. This young man was assassinated – yes, it’s assumed for his political views. But let’s not forget his political views were grounded on the truth of God’s Word. Charlie wasn’t afraid to make that abundantly clear.

Satan didn’t care if Charlie was a Republican. Satan cared that Charlie was a vocal Christian fighting, and winning, the war between truth and lies.

We Christians mourn the man, the father and husband, the Christian, the warrior. It’s hard to fathom that God allowed Charlie’s life on earth to end when we see so much more he could have done. But we aren’t God.

Charlie will be remembered as a martyr. A martyr is, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, “one who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce religious principles; one who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle.” The truth is, Charlie knew the risks. He went willingly to Utah to further his belief, cause, and principles.

And, according to the Scriptures, Charlie has heard those precious words: “Well done, Charlie. Enter your reward.” Charlie’s life has just begun.

So the question is, how far am I willing to go to further my beliefs, cause, and principals? I believe Jesus is the only way to the Father. I believe without God’s saving grace on a repentant sinner, the end is an eternity separate from God with more pain than I or anyone can imagine. I believe the Bible is true from Genesis to Revelation, and apart from Scripture there is no truth.

Now what?

I’ve got some soul-searching to do. I thank God for the life and example of Charlie Kirk. I’ve followed his ministry for several years and as someone who is decades older than those Charlie ministered to, he has influenced my own way of thinking about certain things. But is a change in the way I think enough?

I pray that I, that we as fellow believers in Jesus, will carry on the fight with the same fervor and commitment to God as Charlie had. Satan took out one man. Let’s return fire with all of us wielding the weapons of God to carry on the fight against evil. Are you willing? Am I? The war isn’t over.

Have a Heart

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2 Corinthians 6-7

I think Christians make a couple of mistakes when sharing the Gospel. Sometimes we might be so fervent, so black and white, that we come across as insensitive. Other times we might try to be so sensitive that we sugar-coat the Gospel until it’s unrecognizable.

Paul knew he could be harsh. In his defense, he didn’t have time to tiptoe around the issues. He was like the captain of a sinking ship, barking out orders to get the passengers into a lifeboat. Worrying about hurt feelings was the last thing on his mind.

But at the same time, Paul wanted the Corinthians to know that his words, as harsh as they were, came from a place of genuine love. He’d laid his heart wide open, and didn’t want them to miss that fact in spite of the tone of his voice.

I think it would do us good if we could find that balance, too. We can’t dumb down the message of the Gospel so it doesn’t offend. The Gospel IS offensive! No one likes to hear they are wrong, without hope. But it’s a message everyone needs to hear because of the seriousness of sin in all of us.

And, it’s a message everyone needs to hear because of the Good News of Jesus, His love and grace, His work on the cross on their behalf is their only hope, their only salvation.

Let’s learn to be firm yet gentle, like Paul as a parent with dearly loved children. Having a heart means caring enough to tell the truth in love. The message is too important for us not to have a heart.

Imputation

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2 Corinthians 5

My study guide asked me to put the doctrine of imputation in my own words today. Not an easy task. But here goes…

Holy Jesus, who never sinned, became sin. God, who must punish sin, punished Jesus without mercy. The separation (the required consequence of sin) was real, and painful. Jesus paid the debt for sin in full, once and for all. Then he defeated death by living again.

When I repent of sin and accept the grace God offers by virtue of Jesus’ completed work on the cross, I become His righteousness. Just like Jesus became sin even though he didn’t have sin of his own, I become righteous even though I have no righteousness of my own.

“What do you mean,” people might say. “You’re a good person. You’ve done good things.”

That’s not righteousness. God’s righteousness is perfect, holy, sinless. And for the fact that I’ve done even one bad thing, thought even one bad thought, renders me imperfect, unholy, and a sinner. I earned the separation from God because of my sin.

But because of Jesus, God exchanges my sin for His righteousness. The exchange placed my sin on Jesus, and Jesus’ righteousness on me. That’s what the doctrine of imputation is about.

Think about it. I am the righteousness of God! God has entrusted me with His reputation. When people look at my life they ought to recognize the righteousness that is God. I ask myself if I really reflect God’s righteousness, or do I still wear the sin I refuse to confess? What does my life say about the righteousness of God?

I AM THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD!

As I go about my day today, may I keep that truth at the forefront of everything I do and say. May God give me the desire and the strength to show the world what He has graciously given me… His own righteousness.

Amazing.

Satan’s Playground

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2 Corinthians 2

Church discipline is tough. In fact, I think it’s so tough churches refuse to discipline. We turn a blind eye and hope the person caught in sin sees the light on his own. Let God do the convicting and convincing.

I’ve only experienced church discipline once in my whole life as a church-goer, and that church blew it big time. It was handled so badly I don’t think the young woman involved ever fully recovered or was ever fully restored by it.

Now just because I’m not aware of “church discipline” in churches I’ve attended doesn’t mean it wasn’t going on. I hope it was. What I am about to say is my opinion based on what I believe is taught consistently in God’s Word. Here’s what I think church discipline ought to look like:

I think first of all we are accountable to each other. Jesus said that once we have dealt with the plank in our eye, the sin in our heart, we then should go and address the splinter in our Christian brother or sister’s eye, the sin we see them living. I believe that is the first step in church discipline. If we can encourage one person to repent of sin, the need for further discipline ends there.

But if that doesn’t happen, then two or three friends from the church should go privately to the person caught in sin with the intention of restoring that person to a right relationship with God. Again, behind closed doors, not for public attention.

Third, if that person is still resistant, representatives from the church, pastor, deacon, elder, SS teacher, should quietly have a meeting with that person and lovingly confront them with their sin and resistance. The goal should always be restoration.

I also don’t believe that this is a three step process. You might go privately to your friend many times before you ask another person to go with you. The two of you might go many times before you go to the pastor. I don’t think it should ever be a checklist you complete in order to get to the final step. We are talking about a dear member of our fellowship, loved and cared for by his or her church family. Sometimes it takes time and consistent effort.

I believe that at any point the person does repent of sin, the “discipline” doesn’t end there. I would hope there would be follow up, encouragement, support, maybe Bible Study or counseling that occurs.

Finally, and this is the first time church discipline goes pubic, the church must ask an unrepentant sinner to not come back. Again, this step cannot come without a lot of effort on the church to help the person realize his or her need of repentance. It cannot come without a lot of prayer, maybe fasting, pleading with God and this person to make that change. But as hard as it would be, a separation must take place to protect the body.

Even then, the goal of the separation is the eventual restoration of that lost soul. It should be followed by the entire congregation praying for the needed repentance, with anticipation of the time when he or she surrenders to God. Then, I would hope the fellowship would welcome the repentant one home with open arms.

I honestly think that if we really did the first three steps, the need for separation would be almost zero. But in that rare case, we have to do the hard thing for the good of the fellowship, and in obedience to God.

I look at the state of the Church and wonder if we are more intent on making church fun, or exciting, or attractive that we don’t have time for discipline. I wonder if we are so worried someone won’t like us we are afraid to confront. And I wonder if we are more worried about the tables turning, we don’t want to address sin in someone else. Even as I write this I think about churches that make the news because they abuse church discipline. We certainly don’t want to be like them, so we choose not to discipline at all.

All I can say is as I look at the modern church, an undisciplined church is Satan’s playground. I think he’s having a ball inside the walls of our churches and in the hearts of churchgoers these days.

Again, just my opinion. But I wonder.

The Choice to Suffer

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2 Corinthians 1:1-11

First let me make myself clear. I am not going to encourage anyone to adopt a victim mentality. In fact, what Paul says in these verses will blow that attitude out of the water. Paul is talking about sharing in Christ’s suffering, and Jesus was anything but a victim!

So how am I sharing in Christ’s suffering? I believe He suffered and died. I wear a cross around my neck and participate in Communion once a month. I identify with Him by calling myself a CHRISTian.

But I’m a wimp. I avoid suffering. I live a safe, predictable life in a nice home on a beautiful island. How am I supposed to share in Christ’s suffering?

I know there are people who will die today because of their faith in Jesus. There are people all over the world who live in fear every day, yet they stand boldly for the NAME.

Me? I’m afraid someone won’t like me if I actually share the Gospel will them. They might not want to be my friend, or they might even cut me out of their life completely. That would hurt my feelings.

I’m sitting here thinking about this whole idea of sharing in Christ’s suffering, and it dawned on me (or God did). To share in Christ’s suffering means to let go of my “self,” and do the will of the Father no matter the cost. Wasn’t that what Jesus did? He didn’t shy away from doing the hard thing, because the hard thing is what God wanted Him to do. He didn’t think “Me first.” In fact, He didn’t think “ME” at all:

Not my will, but Thine be done.

Paul wasn’t intimidated by the gossip about him in Corinth. He considered that insignificant compared to knowing Jesus and obeying His command to go and make disciples. Paul chose to put his life in God’s hand and, come what may, Paul trusted God even if it caused suffering.

So the question is, am I willing to share in Christ’s suffering? No one is going to nail me to a cross or beat me with leather straps. But standing up for the Truth might make someone mad. It might cause an argument. They might walk away and make fun of me to their friends.

If that’s the extent of my suffering for the sake of the Gospel, shame on me if I cower in fear. Don’t I realize that anything I may “suffer” can bring glory to God? Jesus’ suffering certainly did. And I have the privilege of sharing in that.

Do I choose to suffer for Jesus’ sake? We’ll see. I pray that I do.

Deliberately Limited

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1 Corinthians 8-9

A.W. Tozer said Jesus is God, “limited deliberately.” He never ceased being God. But He chose to limit Himself when He put on human flesh. In a sense, Jesus went into the ring with one hand tied behind his back… deliberately.

Paul apparently believes that is the model for living this Christian life. In Christ we have freedom, rights. We are “children of the King,” “joint heirs with Jesus,” “chosen.” We are not bound by a list of do’s and don’ts because Jesus fulfilled the Law on our behalf.

Free at last!

But Paul tells us to limit deliberately our rights and freedoms for the sake of others. For instance, I have the freedom to attend the wedding of a homosexual couple. Yet because my going can be interpreted as approval, or a celebration of that sin, I choose to decline the invitation. Being at that wedding wouldn’t effect my going to heaven. It might, however, effect that of someone else who looks at my example and reads “homosexuality is not a big deal,” “sin is no big deal.”

I want to limit deliberately what I do, where I go, what I say in order to represent Jesus the way He deserves. The pleasures of this world aren’t worth it. What is permissible is not always profitable. May I choose holiness, absolute truth, and the inerrant Word of God to be my standard of living, no matter what freedoms I have in Christ.

Those freedoms cost Jesus a great deal. Deliberately limiting myself for His sake is a no-brainer.

Is Holiness Outdated?

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1 Corinthians 5&6

Paul reminds me that we Christians, God’s body, His temple, represent Him to the world. If we treat sin in our midst like the world treats sin (with tolerance or celebration or with compromise), what does that say about the Holiness of God? If we allow quarreling and gossip in our midst, what picture of God does a non-believer see?

Yes, we should be calling each other out for unrepentant sin. We ought to be protecting the Holiness of God in our fellowships.

I think it’s addressing the plank in our collective eye so that we can address sin in our neighborhoods.

I think the fact we don’t address sin in the church has resulted in the accurate accusation that Christians are hypocrites. Maybe it’s time the Church stops making excuses, that we quit compromising, and reset our standard of living to holiness.

Holiness.

That’s who God is. He deserves (and demands) that His Body reveal His holiness to the world.

Jesus’ Return

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Matthew 24

Jesus is coming again. That’s a fact. When He does, life on Earth will end, the universe will crumble. There won’t be any need of stars or moons or suns. But until He comes, life will be hard.

People will be treated unfairly. Sin will be rampant. There will be natural disasters and wars. There will be liars who will turn hearts away from the Truth.

Sound familiar? Those things describe life since the garden. I think God would have us less interested in the signs and more interested in the condition of our hearts. If we’re looking at the signs, our focus is drawn away from the sin that so easily entangles us.

I think God would have us busy working to enlarge the kingdom instead of wasting time trying to put together a puzzle of which He alone holds the pieces, and that He will complete according to His own timing.

God hasn’t even told Jesus when the end will come. Let me suggest we stop looking for signs. They are out there. They’ve always been out there. The end is near. And that’s really all we need to know.

So let’s get busy actually doing what Jesus told us to do, go and make disciples. We don’t have forever, you know.

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

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Matthew 22:1-14; Luke 14:15-24

Luke tells us that without exception, the initial invitees made excuses why they turned down the invitation. All of the excuses we read about here are self-serving.

I bought a field so I NEED to go see it.
I bought oxen so I’m GOING to try them out.
I just got married so I CAN’T go.

The old I rears its ugly head once again. I need, I’m going, I can’t.

I think that some people still today think they have a special exemption from God’s invitation. “God and I have an understanding.” “I’ve done lots of good things.” “I haven’t murdered anyone today.” They rationalize that if all that is true, surely God will let them squeak by. They’ll just find a seat in the back when they are good and ready.

This parable tells us God has made one invitation, extended it to everyone – good and bad – and we have one of two responses: yes or no.

That’s it. No “but I…”

Friend, you are not the exception. The guy wearing his own clothes (his own righteousness) found that out in no uncertain terms. Heaven has closed borders. You go through one Door wearing Jesus’ righteousness, or you don’t go at all.

The invitation is this: enter and enjoy the bounty of God’s kingdom now and forever. Refuse and there will be consequences worse than your most frightening nightmare.

Consider yourself invited. What is your response?