Seriousness of Sin

They are godless men, who change the grace of God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ, our only Sovereign and Lord. (Jude 4)

When I’m reading the Bible it’s pretty easy to slip right past a verse like this – condemning an ancient heresy that is so obviously wrong we would never expect to find it in our churches. Jude condemns those who take the grace of God as license to sin, and thus deny the Lordship of Christ. Paul was accused of a similar heresy (Rom 3:7-8 and 6:1-2) when he preached about grace. I have read Romans and I understand that we obey God out of love and willing surrender even when we are no longer under condemnation. So...next verse please!

Not so fast. Am I ever guilty of treating my sin too lightly? Do I ever forget how repugnant it is to God and what it cost him to atone for it? Yes. In the Old Testament it sometimes seems like God was destroying sinners right and left. Why would he do that? He is showing us the seriousness of sin. Jude went on to make the same point in the next verse: “Though you already know this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.” (v5) Even for some seemingly minor infractions the law required a sacrifice to remind the people of the seriousness of sin.

Now I am not under the law but under grace. (Rom 6:14) I do not need to bring a sacrifice but I do need to remember the seriousness of my sin. When I sin, I must remember the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ paid an inestimably high price to buy my salvation. Lord, forgive me for the many times I take my sin lightly. I dismiss it with a quick, casual prayer of repentance, and then I do the same thing again a few hours later. I don’t ever want to take grace as a license to sin. Convict me, and remind me of the gravity of my sin. Remind me of the cross, where you bore my sin in agony and desolation. Remind me of the cross, where you purchased my freedom. Amen.

God Yearns for the Lost

Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him, declares the Lord. (Jer 31:20)

No matter how long the children of God stray or how far, God still loves them and yearns for them. The previous verse (v19) speaks of repentance after a misspent youth. “After I came to understand, I beat my breast.” This could be my testimony, too. The fact is that God rescues many in later life who strayed when they were young. Lord, I pray for my loved ones who are lost, that they will come to understand your love for them and their need for you. I know that may take a while but I pray it will not be too long. Guard them as they stray and open their eyes to your truth. I trust them into your hands. Amen.

Does God Change His Mind?

If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. (Jer 18:7-8)

Here we see a clear explanation for why God sometimes appears to change his mind. He is warning them of the potential consequences of their actions. Verses 9-10 also speak of how he may withdraw his blessing when a nation does evil. Jeremiah is prophesying the destruction of Judah in the context of Judah’s apostasy. God wants them to understand clearly that the prophesied judgment is only a fulfillment of the conditional promises of the covenant he made with Israel. God himself does not change and his covenant is not revoked, but God responds to the choices we make, according to the promises by which he has bound himself.

Repentance and Restoration

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten. (Joel 2:25a ESV)

Joel prophesies about a time when a great swarm of locusts has invaded Israel like a marauding army and has consumed everything in its path. The result is great famine and suffering. God sent the locusts in judgment for their sin, but then he calls them to repentance. In his call for repentance he makes this great promise: “I will restore to you the years the locusts have eaten.”

God’s mercy is so great. We know that sin has consequences and sin brings judgment. Sin destroys the sinner, and robs him of all joy and peace. But God is so generous to us when we repent that he will restore the years we have lost. Of course, we can’t literally go back and live that time again. Much that was destroyed remains so. But he restores our hearts and heals our wounds. And he redeems the lost years by finding a way to use for good what we had meant for evil. (Rom 8:28, Gen 50:20)

This promise means so much to me because I strayed from God for so many years. When I first came back to him I felt such a profound sense of loss at the time I had wasted. But God showed me that he had used those years to teach me a lesson I could learn in no other way. And now I can share with others the truth that was so dearly bought in my life: that God is merciful and good, and that he deserves my full devotion.

Lord, for those whom I hurt in my time of rebellion, for those who may also have strayed because of me, I pray that you would show them the mercy you have shown me. I pray that this promise would one day be theirs – that you would restore the years the locusts have eaten. I believe that if you let them persist on their wayward path it is only because there are lessons they can learn no other way. I pray they would learn them quickly. Amen.

Don't Be a Beast

When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. (Ps 73:21-23)

Sin causes me to break fellowship with God. Harboring a bad attitude interrupts my communion with him. Yet he is always present. I am always in the palm of his hand. This verse paints an interesting image. When I have let sin interfere in my relationship with God, it is as though spiritually I have become blind, deaf and dumb before God. I am still in his presence, but like a brute beast I can neither communicate with him nor even recognize his presence. God is still present. I am still saved. I am still a child of God. The basic facts of my relationship with him haven’t changed. But I have begun to act and think like it has.

When I find myself in that situation I need to wake up! Confess, repent, and remember who I am in Christ. Why should I be so foolish as to break fellowship with the living God?

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Ps 73:25-26)

Water, Spirit and Fire

I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (Mt 3:11)

Baptism with water is for cleansing. When we repent we are baptized with water and symbolically the guilt of our sins is washed away. Jews in biblical times practiced this ritual cleansing regularly. John the Baptist connected it with repentance and made it a foreshadowing of the Messiah’s saving work. But John also said that the one who comes after him would baptize with the Spirit and with fire. The removal of guilt of sin doesn't change who we are. I will just sin again tomorrow. But the baptism with the Holy Spirit represents our empowerment by the Spirit, and the baptism of fire is sanctification. God’s plan for us is far more than just the removal of guilt. He wants to transform and empower us for his glory and the work of his kingdom. If we stop with water baptism we will never fulfill God’s purpose in saving us. We must go on to sanctification and a life lived in his service by the power of his Holy Spirit.

Deadly Pride

They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God who had control over those plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. (Rev 16:9)

At the very end of the tribulation God sends the “seven bowl judgments,” seven plagues that afflict everyone on earth who worshiped the beast. Even though they know that these plagues are sent by God to afflict his enemies, astonishingly they refuse to repent and glorify God. Their hearts are truly hard and they are captive to their own pride. Maybe some of the very people I know today will be among their number. And there are many others who may not live to see that day and yet God knows their hearts. He knows they are just as stubborn and prideful as these who would endure the seven bowl judgments without repenting. The condemnation and punishment of such men is truly just. They have surely chosen their own fate. They would only deal with God on their own terms, and so he will deal with them on his.

Running from the Light

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. (Jn 3:19)

Many people have a bias against believing the Gospel. They are not open to it because to believe the Gospel is to expose their sin and require that they repent. So, because they are attached to their sins, they refuse to believe either that they are wrong or that they are in need of a Savior. Unfortunately, the same condition sometimes afflicts Christians. We, too, are attached to our favorite sins. We will engage in great mental gymnastics to ignore the truth in front of our face. Lord, help me to be honest with myself about the areas that I still need to surrender to you.

Strong Resolve

Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me. (Ps 119:5,8)

The psalmist longs to be obedient to God’s commands. Yet it is clear in v5 that he is not. Otherwise why long for it? But in v8 he doesn’t say, “I’ll try harder next time.” No, he makes an affirmative statement: “I will obey your decrees.” Sometimes I feel hypocritical making such statements because I know I’ll probably fall again. But I think having a strong resolve is important, as well as avoiding a defeatist attitude. When we stumble and fall we repent and get back up again, and immediately reaffirm our strong resolve: I will obey your decrees.

Sins of the Fathers

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation. (Ex 34:6-7)

Moses has just returned to the top of Mt. Horeb to get a new set of tablets inscribed with the law, after Aaron and the people had made a golden calf to worship. The Lord came and stood there with him, and here he proclaims himself to Moses. This is God’s description of himself! What does he lead off with? Compassion, grace, patience, love, faithfulness and forgiveness! What a wonderful picture. The psalmist even sings these words back to God in Ps 86:15, “But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” But there is still judgment. Sin must be punished. God speaks of both his love and his justice.

Lord, thank you that you have so clearly declared your compassion, grace, patience and faithfulness. You have declared them by both your words and your deeds, because you cannot be untrue to your nature. Lord Jesus, thank you that you took our sins upon yourself, so that we may abide in your love. Thank you for being so patient and compassionate with me. Lord, I know that the temporal consequences of sin do not disappear when we repent, but I pray your mercy on my sons, that you would spare them from suffering for my mistakes. I want to be just the father they need. I don’t want to pass on to them my own sins, or the sins of my own father. Let the chain stop with me. He made mistakes; I made mistakes. Help me now to overcome them and correct them by the power of your Spirit. Amen. 

Let Nothing Come Between Us

If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. (Ps 66:18)

When I choose sin, when I cling to my sins, when I cherish them more than God and am unwilling to give them up, I am building a wall between myself and God. God wants my heart. He wants to be my first love. When I give my heart to something else, how can he act as if nothing has happened? How would it glorify him to answer the prayers of an unrepentant sinner? Lord, I don’t want anything to come between us. I repent of my sins. I want you, first and most. I love you, Lord.

True Repentance

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. (Mt 3:8)

John the Baptist rebuked the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to hear him preach. Evidently they did not come in true repentance. John’s rebuke could as well be applied to me. There are certain sins I commit over and over again. Day after day I come to God to confess and repent. But is it true repentance? Where is the fruit? Repentance is more than sorrow or regret. The core of repentance is deciding to change. That change may not be possible without God’s power, but just as essential is our choosing to do differently. Lord, help me to truly change and not just regret my sins after the fact.

After the Tears

“This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. (Neh 8:9b)

The people were weeping in repentance as they heard the law read which they had so long forgotten. No doubt there were tears of deep regret and a sense of loss for all the years they had not walked in the Lord’s ways. True repentance is often associated with tears. This is good and right. But God doesn’t want us to remain there. If we continue to mope and cry we are looking backward and not forward. God has separated us from our sin as far as the east is from the west. We are new creatures in Christ; why do we continue to mourn? Nehemiah commanded the people to “celebrate with great joy” and we should do the same. Lord, forgive me for clinging to my sin when you have cast it away and for dwelling on my regrets when you have a bright future prepared for us. Help me to truly accept your forgiveness and truly trust in your sovereignty – to set my face toward the future and not the past.

What's It Going to Take?

The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands. (Rev 9:20a)

The stubbornness of the human heart is amazing. The pride not to admit fault or error is so strong in our fallen nature it infects even the believer. How many Christians are locked into their spiritual immaturity by an unwillingness to admit their need to change? How attached we are to our preening egos and our false pleasures! They keep us locked in impotence and defeat. No wonder it seems that half the book of Proverbs is devoted to the wisdom of receiving correction and instruction (e.g. Pro 12:1). We need it!

When It's Good To Feel Guilty

Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence. (Ezra 9:15b)

When we sin we need to be as keenly aware of our guilt as Ezra was. Too often we are like the priests and the Levites who were breaking God’s commands. When Ezra was on his knees before God where were they? They weren’t even present. Lord, help me to truly understand how deeply my sins grieve you so I might truly repent.