This Whole Sin Thing…
For the next several weeks, both in weekend services and brickhouse, were talking about the 7 Deadly Sins (DiStractIoNS, as we’re cleverly disguising it!) Mark Twain said, “We are like the moon; we have a dark side we don’t want anyone to see.” It’s true, even as I read the Bible, the “heroes” mess up: Abraham – friend of God – lied and deceived; David – a man after God’s own heart – adultery, murder; Noah – bailed water well against the flood but lost a significant battle to the bottle!
Quite frankly though what’s most disturbing about the human condition is the ambiguity in my own life! Romans 5 says I am “in Christ” but I am also “in Adam.” I’m a new creature but I bear the imprint of old sinful patterns that continue to make their appeal to my flesh. So how do I deal with this?
I went back to this verse that Kris led us to this past weekend: 1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (NIV) Confess simply means take 100% responsibility. I sinned, period. Until that is done, there will be no peace, no joy, no clear sense of God’s presence, and I desperately need this.
But our flesh will battle against that. I see at least four different ways: 1) Dismissal – pretend it didn’t happen. Just like our parents, Adam and Eve, get leaves and cover things over. 2) Blame shifting – As Kris mentioned, this goes all the way back to Adam, and as modern as me! 3) Rationalization – we try to diminish the seriousness of sin by labeling it another way. Call it what it is! Don’t play games with God! Be ruthlessly honest and transparent with him. 4) Penance – attempt to make up for the bad by doing things – go to church, give more money, bargain with God: “I will never do that again. It’s perfection from here on out, I swear, perfection.” Failure to appropriate your grace is what got you in trouble in the first place! Confession is the only means to dealing with true moral guilt.
But don’t end your reading with the first chapter of 1 John – read on: 1 John 2:1-2: My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense– Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (NIV)
John says, “I didn’t write 1:9 as a bar of soap or for loose living. Reality is we will sin. But we’ve got one who speaks to the Father in our defense.” The origin of that word can be kind of interpreted two ways: “someone who comes alongside,” or as “advocate,” which has more of a legal feel to it.
Once you know Jesus, God never sees you first, he sees Jesus. We are covered by him. God looks on us with his eyes dancing and face smiling! That’s grace! Yes, God gets upset about our attitudes and actions, but that is different than our person. We are covered from head to toe in perfect righteousness because of the Cross!
Keep this in mind as we begin our journey through the 7 Deadly Sins! I am.
- Drew Brown
