Monday, October 4, 2010

Our Sin is Not 'OK'

God does not, cannot, accept sin, but He forgives sinners. When we begin to confuse God's forgiveness of us with the acceptance of our sins, we begin to lose the power and wonder of the Gospel. Christ died on the cross for our forgivenss, not because our sin 'ok,' but because it is so bad that nothing short of His perfectly righteousness sacrifce could make us right with God.

"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.... For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:1-4, 10-14 ESV)

It is Jesus righteousness that removes the stain of sin, making us free to live for Him. Jesus was accused of sin by the religious establishment of His, because walked in righteousness, true righteousness. He was not scared of being around sinners, because He was totally free of sin. Remember what Jesus said to the woman caught in adultry, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more” (John 8:11). He never accepted sin as being 'ok,' but he loved the sinner. We need to wrestle with this tension. We have been freed from sin and its bondage, but we are constantly tempted to willingly give into the pull of sin and idolatry. God is not 'ok' with sin, but he loves us, He forgives us, and when we sin need to run to Him and throw ourselves into his arms of forgiveness. But we must never confuse this with abundance of grace as being the same as acceptance of sin. To put it mildly, God hates sin, it is open rebellion against Him. But he loves us, and by His grace, He calls us to faith in His Son, so that by Him we are made righteous before Him.

Hear the words of the Apostle; "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph 2: 8-10).