Jonathan Evans

Being a Christian doesn’t compensate for my sin

 

A Christian who sins needs God's forgiveness as much as anyone who is not a Christian. But there are some important distinctions that as a Christian I should believe and hold to.

 

1. I believe I have sinned. I come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I am convinced of my sin. Godly grief settles in and produces the proper effect (fruit) of repentance. (Matthew 3:8; 2 Corinthians 7:10) 
   
   
   
2. I believe I must seek forgiveness. So I confess my sin to Jesus, because sin is not forgiven automatically (1 John 1:9). “(T)he righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses…and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins.” (Ezekiel 33:12)
   
   
   
3. I believe I need forgiveness. Sin separates me from God, from his good (and holy) intentions for me, and from others. God’s love isn’t a way of comforting me and convincing me that I’m okay; its his way of convincing me that I’m not okay, and yet comforting me with the truth that it can be made okay.
   
   
   
4. I believe I can find forgiveness. Although I have sinned against God, I have a Savior, an Advocate, a Substitute in Jesus Christ. Because God looks on him, God desires and is able and ready to forgive me. I need only to also turn and look on Jesus, "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!" (John 1:29)
   
   
   
5. I believe I am forgiven. My sins have been removed, as far as the east is from the west; my heart has been washed as white as snow; I am united to Christ, justified before God, a temple of the Holy Spirit. "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
   
   
   
6. I regret sinning, but not leaving my sin. True repentance is without regret (2 Corinthians 7:10), that is, it doesn’t look back with sadness, with a sense of loss over the sin it's leaving behind, but it looks forward with joy, with earnestness and with eagerness, with a sense of longing and with anticipation, to Jesus, our Salvation. Through him we are brought home to God and God is brought home to us. 

 

Being a Christian doesn’t compensate for my sin. Only being in Jesus Christ my sin is paid for and forgiven. And Jesus always forgives us of our sins with the intention of changing us, of transforming us, even by one degree. And the heart that truly confesses and repents of sin always seeks forgiveness with the expectation of being changed, the promise and assurance that change from the bottom up and from the inside out is possible through the power of the blood of Jesus.

Unbelief is a yearning

“I don’t believe in God,” writes Julian Barnes, “but I miss him.” Unbelief is a yearning. It leads you away from believing in certain things, but not in all things. It leads you to believe in many other ways and in many other things that are to it more believable than God. 

 

“I don’t believe in love, but I miss it,” is the self-confession of many in the heartache of another broken and lost, deep and meaningful relationship. Though they vow, “Never again”, they long for love more than ever before. So they will search for, or create, or force new ways to be loved. With a mixture of faith and doubt they knock, hoping to be invited in, and if not, to invite themselves in.

 

Saul of Tarsus didn’t believe in Jesus, but he had a passionate, violent yearning for God's love. Restlessly, tirelessly he pursued it and found it exactly where he wasn’t looking, where he was convinced it wasn't, where he had sought to in (un)belief destroy it. "And he said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And he said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.' " (Acts 9:5)

 

“I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Jesus meets and helps me when and where I barely or partly believe, not when and where I fully and completely believe. Because belief or faith is not a work that earns and deserves anything from God. It is that which knows in some small, child-like way that I can’t and don’t have to earn this; I can’t and don’t have to be deserving of this; I can’t and don’t have to go out and get this on my own; here it is and it is mine. Perhaps a child believes suddenly that they are all alone. Whatever the cause, that belief just as suddenly effortlessly rises up from the heart and races to call out, “Mom? Dad?”

  

Unbelief and belief wrestle with each other in my heart and my mind, and that's ok. Sometimes I can’t sleep and I wrestle with my thoughts, pinning one only to be lifted by another. It disturbs my wife’s sleep. And I wonder, would she sleep better with my wrestlings and turnings or with my complete absence?

Idolatry and adultery

 

When Jesus says, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28), he is not saying that any man who notices or recognizes the beauty of another woman has committed adultery. He is saying that any man who looks on a woman in order to desire her sexually, in order to have sex with her in his imagination, has committed adultery. 

 

The Bible often equates idolatry with adultery. God, who has redeemed for himself a people for his own possession through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, has done so with the anticipation and expectation that his people will worship and love him exclusively, completely, and permanently. "For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called." (Isaiah 54:5)

 

However, Biblical narrative and the history of the church and the experience of any Christian’s heart show that the people of God often turn away to worship and serve other gods. We idolize; we commit idolatry, spiritual adultery.

 

This first happened following God’s miraculous salvation of Israel from slavery to Egypt. “Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him  (Moses) aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.” (Acts 7:39-41). 

 

This happened again when God through Joshua brought Israel into the promised land. He commanded them to break down the altars representative of worship to other gods. “Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?” (Judges 2:1-2). Don’t miss this dear Christian. Before Israel joined and bowed in worshipping other gods, they failed to obey and break down their altars. There was a breakdown in their heart towards God before there was a breaking away in their actions against God.

 

Idolatry does not begin the moment we bow to another god, anymore than adultery, as Jesus has pointed out, begins the moment you have sex. Idolatry begins the moment we determine in our hearts that God is not all-sufficient for our life. We find something in addition to or apart from God to be as or more worthy of our trust and obedience, our love and our worship, and we pursue it. 

 

God is all-sufficient for your needs, your wants, your hopes, and your dreams. He belongs to you. But that’s not all he’s “good for”. He is all-sufficient for your obedience, your purity, your holiness, and your calling. You belong to him. He did not begrudgingly redeem and free you from slavery to your sin. He freely gave himself for you; he wholeheartedly took your place; he loved you. "you were ransomed...not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19). We are “the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28).

 

There is no grudge or mistrust or fear in the heart of the slave who has been freed by grace. There is only joy and thanksgiving and the desire to willingly follow their new Master all the days of their new life.

Fixing the problem and practicing the solution

 

“...but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth...” Jeremiah 9:24

  

God could solve a lot of his problems instantly. Instead, he practices love, justice, and righteousness. 

 

When I assess a problem my impulse is to fix it immediately. So I must often fight against that as my default, initial response and learn to aim for something more, something beyond just fixing the problem: practicing the solution. 

 

Practicing is that habitual, constant, and steady commitment to a future goal through a present activity. Practicing includes fixing a problem, but it also precedes and proceeds that. There are harder words that a young child won't be able to read if they don’t first start with learning and practicing easier words like “and”, “he”, “dad”, “is”, “great”. 

 

If the problem is an offense, I can "fix it" with my forgiveness. But I must go beyond that; I must also practice the solution of becoming a forgiving person. Otherwise, I will eventually find forgiveness impossible, as futile as trying to draw water up from a dry well. 

 

In order to love, show justice or be righteous when called for, I must practice (dig, cultivate, replenish, refresh) these things before and after the circumstance or problem calling for them arises. I must become the kind of tree that produces the kind of fruit that I want. It is difficult to tell the truth (fruit) if I’ve made a practice of lying (tree). But far more difficult is it to practice the truth if I don’t delight in the truth, if I'm not a lover of the truth.

 

To be a truth-lover, or a justice-lover, or a forgiveness-lover, you must be a God-lover. To be a God-lover means to delight in God, to understand and know him. He is the sum and total of truth, the source and substance of love, the foundation and fountain of justice and mercy, kindness and forgiveness, holiness and righteousness. If I delight in him, I will delight in what he delights in; I will practice what he practices.

 

 

Delight in God is a far better and more insightful and faithful practitioner than our own wisdom or strength or resources. "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,..." (Jeremiah 9:23). We might be able to temporarily fix our problems, but the ultimate solution to lasting change is not found in us.  "...but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” (9:24)

Bad news

 

“He (the righteous) is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.” Psalm 112:7

 

A parent is not moved by news that is bad to their child. Yes, they will have sympathy and empathy, they will listen and console, they will help and protect. But the parent has been there, has gone through that, has learned from it. They can see beyond the bad that overwhelms the good. They know things will end, will change, and will work out for the better.

 

How much more than a parent to a child is God to His children. 

 

He cares and knows. He watches and listens. He sympathizes and empathizes. He is kind and generous. He is patient and wise. He is gracious and merciful. He is good and powerful. He is present and faithful.

 

To the One who suffered and was crucified, who endured and exhausted God’s wrath, who was rejected and abandoned by His loving Father, who conquered and vanquished death, bad news is no threat. 

 

To the One who sees the beginning from the end, who is the Beginning and the End, bad news is no surprise.

 

To the One who is the First and the Last, who is the Ancient of Days, bad news is no disruption or distraction. 

 

To the One in whom all things are held together, on whose Word all things depend, bad news is no momentary lapse in making all that is old new, all that is torn mended, all that is broken restored, all that is lost found, all that is sick healed.

 

He is the end of all bad news.

 

 

Forgiveness is daily cleansing

What are some things we clean daily? 

 

Our bodies. When I was growing up my parents needed to remind me to take a shower. Apparently they weren’t immune to the smell like I was. In fact, even later in life (no, I won’t tell you how old I was) someone kindly pulled me aside and asked if owned deodorant. Yeah, we need to clean and wash our bodies daily.  

 

 

 

 Our clothes. We all like wearing a clean shirt and pants. If you have to smell that shirt before you put it on though, you probably shouldn’t wear it. Just go ahead and wash it.

 

Our dishes. Now that my children are doing dishes, every once in a while I pull out a plate or a fork that has a spot or some food on it. They don’t want to use it when I give it to them. So we wash again.

 

Our houses. Most of us have a day of the week where we go through the house and clean it thoroughly. We pick up, put things back into place, sweep, dust, etc. If hospitality is a way of living for you, then a clean house is a must. 

 

If in our daily, physical lives there are things we should take care of, how about in our daily, spiritual lives? 

 

More than anyone Jesus knows what we need most every single day. One of the most important things he teaches us that we need is forgiveness – receiving and giving it. It is as essential as “daily bread” and daily protection and guidance. (Matthew 6:11-13)

 

“Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12) .

 

Forgiveness is daily cleansing.

 

When we’re forgiven and when we forgive we can smell good again. The fragrance of grace and mercy returns to us. We’re no longer immune to our own odor of anger, unforgiveness or bitterness. We’re easier and more enjoyable to be around. 

 

When we’re forgiven and when we forgive we can wear a spirit of kindness. A clean attitude of love clothes us. Generosity and joy are with us wherever we go. We release to God what we think others owe us rather than demanding it from them.

 

When we’re forgiven and when we forgive we can be patient with and less critical of others. We’ll recognize that we are far worse sinners against God than others are against us. Yet He loves us, forgives us, and cleanses us.

 

When we’re forgiven and when we forgive we can clean any unkept areas in our hearts that are dark and filthy. Light and fresh air come in. Things that are disorganized and clutter our lives, making it nearly impossible to move, can be trashed. Order can return.

 

Yes, I sin daily, “But you are a God ready to forgive” (Nehemiah 9:17). Yes, I am sinned against daily, but “as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Colossians 3:13)

Maybe it doesn’t take as long to come back to life as it does to die.

It's probably just me, but I find it difficult to remember to water the plants in my office. There’s only three and I see them everyday! Yet I’ve easily (or conveniently) ignored them everyday. Until recently.

 

I’m not sure a dying plant speaks very well of my ability to care.

 

Everyday that I walk or drive the streets of my city, I usually take the same route. This means that I’m looking at the same things every day. It also means that I’m probably not seeing what or who is actually there. 

 

My eyes are open, but not really.

 

I need my eyes to open. I want to see what I’ve never noticed; I want to notice what I’ve always seen. 

 

I’m not sure a hurting neighborhood or city speaks very well of my ability or willingness to care. 

 

But if the love and grace of God have their way, I’ll start somewhere. I’ll notice and pay attention. I’ll stop and listen. I’ll sacrifice and give. I’ll come to realize that the city’s not only here for me, but that I’m also here for it, and maybe even more so in God’s eyes.

 

It appears it doesn’t take as much time for something to come back to life as it does for it to die. My plants are green again and growing. Time and water, daily attention and care. That’s what I can do. But what I can’t produce or command or control is life itself.

 

God gives life and God gives growth when and where we plant and water (1 Corinthians 3:6). 

 

One of my plants is drinking water like my son does after running hard. I can hear it, and it sounds desperate. All around me people are weary and working hard; many are hurting and giving up. Kindness to most is welcome. It is intriguing, surprising, refreshing. Kindness is also powerful. It is shocking, a “force quit”, a restart. 

 

It was, after all, God’s undeserved kindness towards me that led me to Him (Romans 2:4).