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Before
the world was created, God knew that the most
degenerate creature of all would swagger into His Eden and unleash an
evil that
would wreak havoc for eternity. The accursed seed which this creature
planted
through the cooperation of Adam and Eve has become the mother of all
earthly
evil from that day to this. And what is this unleashed evil? Nothing
more and
nothing less than sin.
Sin
is any thought, attitude, choice, word, or deed, or
any combination thereof, which results in unnecessary harm being done
to anyone
who is in any way adversely affected by it. Sin becomes attractive to
us when
distrust of God is united with self-centeredness. We are guilty of
having
sinned when we know the right thing to do and either deliberately do
what we
know is wrong or willfully or negligently do nothing when we ought to
do
something.
Sin
presents itself as the elixir of life – as the remedy
for current or future needs, wants, happiness, and security. But
sin’s facade
is a farce. Hidden under its attractive exterior is a demonic monster
which is
the cause of all senseless, unjust, and unnecessary poverty, hunger,
homelessness, loneliness, emptiness, divorce, broken homes, heartache,
dissipation of mind and body, disease, aging, and death itself.
Our
sin contributes to the reason God’s creation is
progressively being destroyed, and to the increase of evil in our
world.
Choosing to sin is choosing to join with other human beings in spurning
God and
consorting with His archenemy, the devil. When we sin, we not
only
mistreat God, we harm those God loves – from those we
supposedly love the most
(spouse, children, extended family, dear friends, valued
co-workers), to
those with whom we have repeated relationships (friends,
neighbors, employer,
co-workers, church members), to those we hardly know (people
in other
ethnic or social groups), and to those we will never know in
this life (other
nations and people groups). Our sin is part of the reason God
endured the
heart-wrenching sacrifice of His son, Jesus, on the cross at Calvary.
Our sin
is part of the reason Jesus personally endured the sufferings of being
beaten,
mocked, unjustly condemned to death, and then crucified. And though
these
things are bad enough, this is just a short list of how God has been
and is
being mistreated by us when we sin.
The
writer of Hebrews said a similar thing when he said
that if we go on sinning willfully, we trample underfoot the Son of
God, and
regard as unclean the blood of the covenant by which we are sanctified,
and
insult the Spirit of grace. (Note: Hebrews 10:29)
But
our sin not only mistreats God, it unnecessarily
harms our fellowman. And though we may not harm others in all the ways
listed
below, this list gives us some examples of the ways sin unnecessarily
hurts
others. Therefore, sin breeds political tyranny, oppression, torture,
slavery,
prejudice, murder, rape, pornography, adultery, physical abuse,
brawling,
rioting, stealing, lying, cheating, alcoholism, drug addiction, fits of
rage,
verbal and emotional abuse, taunting, faultfinding, manipulation,
exploitation,
hate, anger, slander, jealousy, bitterness, impatience, disrespect,
unkindness,
unforgiveness, gossip, arrogance, vanity, laziness, apathy, negligence,
and
deceitfulness.
Remove
sin, and such things as love, happiness, and peace
are free to flourish. Eliminate sin, and patience, kindness, honesty,
moral
decency, faithfulness, and gentleness will become the norm. Put an end
to sin,
and mutually satisfying relationships, happy homes, emotionally healthy
families, good communities, and a safe world will be possible. Oust
sin, and
authentic security, wholesome pleasures, the provision of every need,
and the
promotion of all that is good will fill our world in abundant measure.
But
how do we get rid of sin, once and for all? By
getting rid of sinners – either through the means of
repentance and faith
in God, or through banishment.
God
created us as rational beings with the ability to
think, conceptualize, reason, and remember. With rationality comes the
ability
to choose, including choosing between what we know is right and what we
know is
wrong. Sin cannot work its destructive forces without created, rational
beings
choosing to sin. In other words, where there are no created beings
choosing to
sin, there is no sin. Therefore, when we, God’s created,
rational beings,
voluntarily and deliberately choose to repeatedly and unrepentantly do
what we
know is wrong, the only way to remove sin is to remove us.
Removing
sinners to bring an end to sin is what God has
chosen to do. In fact, the penalty for sin is removal, banishment,
eternal
damnation to hell, or as the Apostle Paul says in Romans 6:23, death.
The death
referred to is not the end of existence, but the removal from
God’s presence to
a place devoid of God and all the good He has for those who love Him
and live
according to His will. This means that this place of banishment is
totally
controlled by the forces of evil, the mindset of self-centeredness, and
the
ways of sin – which is why banishment to this place is the
worst form of death.
But
you may ask, isn’t it cruel for God to torture
sinners by damning them to hell for eternity? Why not just end their
life so
they are no more?
This
is a good suggestion, but it overlooks two facts
which are important to God and the end of sin. First, we are created in
the
image of God, which makes it possible for us to live in intimate
fellowship
with Him forever. Second, we are created to be loved, valued,
respected,
protected, and a contributing part of a loving, caring community.
Sending
sinners into oblivion rather than to the eternal fires of hell would
send the
message that these two facts are so unimportant that they can be
ignored. To
understand this more fully, consider the reasoning below.
The
first problem with ending a sinner’s life so he is no
more is that God created us in His own image, which makes it possible
for us to
live in intimate fellowship with Him forever. Now, being created in the
image of
God does not mean we are exactly like God. It means there are certain
things
about God which are also true about us. One of those things is, once we
are
born, we live forever. And it is this likeness to God, along with all
the other
likenesses, that enable us to participate in a never-ending
relationship
of
intimate fellowship with God. Therefore, like God, our life has no end,
and
like God, we can enter into and maintain meaningful and intimate
relationships.
To
say our life has no end does not mean we will not die
physically. However, physical death is not the end of our life, it is
the end
of our life in this world for the purpose of limiting the amount of
time we
have on earth. Such a limit has three purposes. First, it gives us a
designated
period of time in which we can respond to God’s invitation to
repent and put
our faith in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ – which
enables us to be
reconciled to God and equipped to live with Him forever. Second, it
limits the
amount of sin we can commit or teach and encourage others to commit
– thus
slowing the spread of sin on the earth. And third, it limits the amount
of harm
we can do to others.
Yet
in spite of dying physically, we are created to go
into the next world and live forever. Therefore, the solution to our
sin
problem is not oblivion after physical death, but repentance and
conversion
while we yet live in this world. And in a similar way, the solution to
the
world’s sin problem is to remove unrepentant sinners to a
place all their own –
where they can no longer harm those affected by their selfishness and
sin.
The
second problem with ending a sinner’s life so he is
no more is that it would devalue God’s purpose for life and
life itself, and
such devaluing would encourage sin rather than discourage it.
Think
about this: what self-centered person wouldn’t
choose the pleasures and treasures of sin, even though they are
temporary, if
they knew that at the end of their time on earth they would go off to
oblivion?
The reality is, if life has no value, if we only exist for today, if
there is
no judgment and no lasting punishment for wrongdoing, if we can eat,
drink and
be merry for tomorrow we die – and that’s it, why
do what you know is right
when doing what you know is wrong is so immediately rewarding?
Therefore,
because the rewards of sin – such as fame, fortune, power,
luxury, happiness,
pleasure, excitement, and entertainment – are so gratifying,
and if we could be
selfish and sinful without the fear of eternal consequences, the
problem of sin
would be even worse than it is today.
However,
God’s purpose for life and life itself are
precious, and therefore worthy of being pursued, treasured, and
protected
– not only for
ourselves, but for every other human being who has ever been born or
ever will
be born on this earth. In like manner, relationships built on mutual
love and
trust are precious and worthy of being pursued, treasured, and
protected.
We
see the truth of this in the command, “Love your
neighbor as yourself,” and in God’s hatred of sin,
and in God’s promise of a
final judgment where sinners will be separated from the righteous as
sheep are
separated from the goats. We see the truth of this in
Christ’s death on our
behalf – a death which brings us redemption from the
penalty, power, and
practice of sin so we can be reconciled to God and live with Him
forever. We
see the truth of this in the fact that we have been created in the
image of God
and given the gift of being eternal once we are born.
We
confirm our belief in, and commitment to, this truth by
choosing faith in God over going our own way, in choosing the way of
love over
self-centeredness, and in choosing fellowship with God over the
pleasures and
treasures of sin.
This
raises another question. Couldn’t God take away our
ability to choose between right and wrong so we would only do what is
right and
good? Yes He could. But if He did, we wouldn’t be rational
beings anymore, and
we wouldn’t have the capacity to love.
Without
the ability to choose, we would be programmed
beings. We would be like computers programmed to function according to
their
designer’s wishes, or like animals acting according to
instinct. This would put
a stop to sin, but it would also put a stop to rational, freely-chosen,
voluntarily-shared, intimate relationships of communion and
companionship built
on mutual love and trust. To those who know the unequaled worth of
voluntarily-shared, intimate relationships built on mutual love and
trust, solving
the sin
problem by taking away a person’s ability and freedom to
choose is no solution
at all. Truly, the prospect of a loving community, a love-ruled
kingdom, a
people group who love God supremely and all others as themselves, is so
attractive that it overshadows the horrendously painful cost of sending
those
who want no part of such a community to their own place where they can
live
self-centered lives for the rest of time. Therefore, the most
reasonable way to
protect our ability to choose between right and wrong so that we are
able to
engage in meaningful relationships built on mutual love and trust, and
solve
the sin problem at the same time, is to banish unrepentant sinners.
Keep
in mind, however, that the freedom to choose
provides the opportunity to change sides. Having the ability to choose
means we
can avoid banishment by voluntarily and deliberately repenting of sin,
turning
from our sinful ways, trusting in God, receiving His gracious gift of
salvation
from the penalty of sin, taking hold of the freedom He gives from the
power and
practice of sin, and pursuing a life of godly love. It means we can, by
an act
of our will, set our mind on God and godliness rather than self and
selfishness. It means we are capable of loving God supremely and
verifying that
love by our freely-chosen words and deeds. Freedom to choose gives us
the power
to affect our future – that is, to sow what we wish to reap,
for surely we will
reap what we have sown.
However,
damning sinners to eternal banishment in hell
creates an excruciatingly painful problem for God. As loving parents
deeply
love each of their children, so God loves every one of us. As loving
parents
hope for the best possible relationship with each of their children, so
God
wants a voluntarily chosen, deeply personal, meaningfully intimate,
emotionally
impassioned, unequivocally trusting, mutually satisfying, never-ending,
reciprocal relationship with each one of us. Nothing less is
satisfactory. And
because He loves us so much, losing just one of us to the place of no
return breaks
His heart.
Yet
in spite of what God wants, we, of our own free-will,
have chosen to sabotage our relationship with Him. He created us, yet
we take
what belongs to Him and go off on our own to live as we please in order
to
please ourselves. He loves us, yet we distrust His love and doubt His
motives –
preferring the pleasures of self-centeredness for a season over the
riches of a
loving relationship with Him for eternity. He has given us every reason
to do
what we know is right, yet we deliberately and repeatedly do what we
know is
wrong. We are willful, intentional sinners. Therefore, God faces the
loss of
every one of us to banishment in hell. (Note: Mark 12:28-31; Romans
3:23, 6:23,
8:14-17; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20; Ephesians 5:25-32)
Driven
by love, God has taken corrective action to solve
this desperate situation wherein all His beloved earthly beings are
doomed to
eternal banishment. Through the death and resurrection of His son,
Jesus
Christ, God has made it possible for us to be rescued from the power
and
practice of sin in this life, and the punishment for sin in the life to
come.
He has re-opened the door to relationship so we can be reconciled to
Him and enjoy a mutually satisfying love relationship with
Him, forever.
And, He has made available to us everything we need to live a
love-controlled
life from the day of our salvation, forward. And in doing all this, He
has done
for us what we could not do for ourselves.
Therefore,
by His power, through His wisdom, and because
of His love, God has solved the sin problem. His solution is truly the
best
solution, as we can see by the fact that it satisfies the following
important
requirements:
1. Justice
must be served.
2. Freedom
of will must not be compromised.
3. A
perfect substitute must take the sinners place in paying the penalty
for sin.
4. It
must be evident to all that God infinitely loves us and wants a
mutually
satisfying relationship with us.
5. Salvation
from the penalty of sin must be granted to all who repent of sin, trust
in God,
and devote themselves to loving as God loves.
6. Repentant
sinners must be freed from the enslaving power and practice of sin.
7. Forgiveness must be complete, that is, it must result in a restored relationship between God and the forgiven sinner.
God’s
plan to rescue
sinners from the penalty of sin and restore them to full membership in
His
family so they can live with Him forever is unquestionably and
indisputably
just. Consider the supporting evidence to this fact.
When
asked about the
greatest commandment of all, Jesus responded by saying, “The
foremost is, ‘You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your
soul, and
with all your mind, and with all your strength,’ and the
second is this, ‘You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other
commandment greater
than these." (Note: Mark 12:30-31)
Sin
violates these
two commandments. Therefore, sin’s crime is the unjust and
unnecessary harm it
does to others, beginning with God and extending to those we hardly
know or do
not know. The sinner’s crime is willfully doing what he knows
is wrong, or neglecting
to do what he knows is right, so that unjust and unnecessary harm
befalls all
who are affected by his sinful choices and behavior. Therefore, doing
what we
know is wrong is not simply breaking the law, it is also causing harm
to others
that they should not have to experience and endure. Therefore, sin is
wicked.
Indeed, it is reprehensible.
Because
every sin,
great or small, victimizes someone, every sinner who knowingly sins is
guilty
of deliberately (willfully and knowingly) harming
others. Because sin is
driven by distrust of God and self-centeredness, every sinner is guilty
of
unnecessarily harming others for selfish reasons.
Now,
it is not the
size of the sin, but the willingness of the sinner to self-centeredly (or
selfishly) and unnecessarily harm others which makes him a
threat to the
well-being of those affected by his choices and behavior. Therefore, to
both
punish sinners and protect their victims from further ill-treatment,
every
sinner must be banished to a place where they no longer endanger the
well-being
of others, including God.
Most
of us believe
that the size of the sin ought to determine the degree of our guilt. In
other
words, we judge the degree of sin’s evil by the amount of
harm it seems to do.
For example, we judge rape as horrendously evil while lying is judged
as bad,
but not nearly as bad as rape. On this basis of judgement, we believe
rape
deserves a more severe punishment than lying. Therefore, it makes no
sense to
us that God would send the liar to hell along with the rapist. In fact,
we are
skeptical of God’s sense of justice in condemning the liar to
hell when what he
has done doesn’t even come close to being as evil as what the
rapist has done –
at least in our estimation.
Who
has the problem,
God or us? We do. We do not like to decide how evil something is on the
basis
of motive (distrust of God, self-centered self-seeking),
or on the basis
of inconsideration for the well-being of others (willfully
doing what we
know is wrong at the expense of others), because it makes the
liar as
guilty of eternal damnation to hell as the rapist. And of course, if
the liar
is as guilty of eternal damnation as the rapist, we are as guilty as
the
rapist, too.
To
have to admit that
we, small-time sinners at worst in comparison to big-time sinners, are
as
guilty as murderers and rapists, is not something we want to do. In
fact, we
can’t imagine thinking of ourselves as that bad. And so we
don’t. We maintain
our sense of minimal guilt by believing the degree of guilt is, and
ought to
be, determined by the size of the sin. We reinforce our sense of
minimal guilt
by seeing ourselves as well-intentioned sinners who make mistakes, even
though
we make the same mistakes (commit the same sins)
over and over again.
And we comfort ourselves by seeing ourselves as far better than the
more
heinous sinners who deliberately do what they know is wrong.
Therefore,
we
convince ourselves we would have to tell a lot of lies to equal one
murder and
take advantage of a lot of people to equal one rape. And so we do tell
a lot of
lies, or continue to commit whatever other favorite sins we have. And
in so
doing, we force others to endure our hurtfulness without relief, which
after a
time makes some of our victims feel so much pain that it’s as
if we murdered or
raped them.
Thankfully,
God is
wise where we are foolish. God judges the evil of the sinner, not by
the degree
of harm done, but by the willingness of the sinner to deliberately
victimize
another person for selfish reasons. He judges, not by the size of the
sin, but
according to the motive whereby the sinner willfully places his own
interests
above the good of others. This is why Jesus makes love of God and
others the
two greatest commandments, and why Paul says, “Love does no
wrong to a neighbor;
therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Note: Romans
13:10)
Truly,
the threat to
the well-being of each one of us is not the size of sin, or sin itself,
but the
person who will willingly, intentionally, selfishly, or even carelessly
do what
he knows is wrong, and in so doing, willingly, intentionally,
selfishly, or
even carelessly harm others for his own benefit. Therefore, the liar is
as evil
as the rapist because both willingly and deliberately promote and
protect their
own interests at the expense of others.
For
this reason,
justice demands that every sinner, regardless of the size of sins
committed, be
punished by banishment to a place such as hell. Justice demands that
sin’s
punishment be as certain as death so only a fool would think he can get
away
with sinning. Justice demands that sin’s punishment be
impartially applied
without regard to nationality, ethnic group, color, family background,
social
status, economic status, or religious affiliation. Justice demands that
sin’s
penalty be equally applied to those who have heard the Gospel and those
who
haven’t, to those who are glad they’ve sinned and
those who are sad they’ve
sinned, and to those who repent as well as those who don’t.
This
may seem severe,
but it is a necessary application of justice given our inclination to
act
selfishly, to knowingly and willfully sin, and to determine how good we
are by
comparing ourselves to those we deem worse than us. Indeed, only when
justice
is served will the world know that every sinner will be punished for
any and
every sin willfully, knowingly, and deliberately committed. And only
when
justice brings us to the new heavens and new earth will God and all who
live
with Him forever be protected from the unjust, unnecessary suffering
caused by sinners.
It
is true that God
is patient and merciful with unrepentant sinners, even though they
continue to
cause others unnecessary suffering while He pleads with them and waits
for them
to repent. But don’t ever take this to mean God is soft on
sin. It means He is
strong on pursuing every sinner and ensuring they have every
opportunity to
repent and be saved from the penalty of their sin, because He
doesn’t want any
sinner to die in his sin. (Note: II Peter 3:1-9)
God
wants to rescue
sinners from the penalty of sin and restore them to full membership in
His
family. He wants each one of us to live with Him forever. His plan for
doing
this begins with a just punishment of sinners. Every sin is equally
penalized (the
penalty of sin is death, that is, eternal separation from God)
and every
sinner equally punished because all sin is the result of sinners
voluntarily
and deliberately doing what they know is wrong at the unjust and
unnecessary
expense of others. And because unrepentant sinners would contaminate
heaven
with the evils of sin just as they have contaminated the earth, God
banishes
them to hell where they can only harm each other by their
self-centeredness and
sin.
This
matter of choice
was looked at earlier in the chapter. Nevertheless, it is of such
importance as
to deserve a second look. Let us begin by considering several truths
concerning
relationships.
But
to have a
meaningful relationship with anyone, we must be able to love. We must
be able
to promote and protect their good. If we do not seek their good, that
is if we
do nothing when we should do something or if we deliberately harm them,
we will
give them just cause to distrust us. When we give them just cause to
distrust
us, we also give them sufficient reason to believe we do not really
love them.
In other words, our unloving, selfish, unkind choices and behavior
drive them
away from us rather than endear them to us. Our sin drives a wedge
between
others and us rather than drawing them closer to us. Our sin damages
the
relationship rather than strengthens it. Therefore, being able to love
is vital
to the promotion and protection of shared relationships. And remember,
love
fulfills the law. (Note: Romans 13:10)
Yet
there is another
side. Being able to love is not enough. God could have created us so
that we
could do nothing other than what is loving and right. But that is not
enough
when it comes to being loved. And here is where we clearly see the
importance of
free-will.
To
feel loved, to be
certain that we are loved, to have an unwaveringly secure sense of
acceptance
and belonging in a relationship, we must be able to know that the one
loving us
is loving us of his or her own free will. This means that for each
party in the
relationship to feel loved, each party must have the ability to choose
who they
want to be in relationship with, the depth of relationship desired (i.e.,
marriage, friendship, casual, superficial), how they will
treat the other
person, the extent of self-sacrifice, if they will be faithful to the
agreed
expectations of the relationship, and how they will handle failure.
Freedom to
choose these things is the only way to validate that love and not
self-interest, or love and not appeasement, or love and not jealousy,
or love
and not fear of loneliness, is the motive behind seeking relationship.
Therefore, mutually-satisfying relationships can exist only where there
is
freedom of will – where each party has the choice to
love or not love, yet
chooses to love.
Remove
freedom of
will and people would be like computers or robots who think, choose,
and do
according to the way they are programmed. Assuming God is doing the
programming, people would think, say, and do what is loving and right.
Yet they
would not do what is loving and right because they wanted to, but
because they
could not do anything else. They would feel no attraction, affection,
devotion,
or passion toward anyone – only instinctive duty.
They would seek the good
of others out of unintended obligation, not because they cared. They
would
serve and please out of involuntary servitude, not from kindness or
tenderness
or compassion. Experiencing deeds of love on this basis may be
enjoyable for a
time, but it holds no hope for the deeply satisfying joy gained from
being
voluntarily and cheerfully loved.
Therefore,
no one,
including God, finds lasting, satisfying joy in being treated in loving
ways by
someone who has no choice in whom or how he loves. We all, God
included, want
to be loved voluntarily and cheerfully, not grudgingly or out of
necessity. It
is for this very reason that God created us with the ability to choose
– with a
free will which enables us to decide if we will love, whom we
will
love, and
the depth of relationship we will seek with those who respond to our
love.
Yet
in creating us
with the ability to choose, God risked losing everything, because
inherent in
our ability to choose love is the ability to choose self-centeredness.
Therefore, to gain voluntarily-chosen, deeply-personal,
meaningfully-intimate,
mutually-trusting, mutually-satisfying, reciprocal relationships of
communion
and companionship with us, God risked losing us to self-centeredness
and sin.
From
God’s
perspective, loving relationships are so valuable, so precious, so in
the
interest of everyone, that they outweigh the losses caused by freedom
of will.
And the losses are many, because many choose self-centeredness over
love and
sin over doing what they know is right. But, freedom of will also gives
us the
ability to repent of our selfishness and sin. We can, through an act of
our
will, put our faith in God and choose the way of love.
Therefore,
having
been created to experience the greatest possible good from shared
relationships
built on mutual love and trust, God’s plan to save us from
the penalty of sin
accomplishes its purpose without compromising our freedom of will.
Any
plan to rescue us
from the penalty of sin must do at least two things. First, it must
ensure
justice is served. And second, it must convince us that sin will not be
tolerated and that the motives behind sin are heinous. Therefore, God
made
eternal banishment the punishment for rebelling against Him and
for willingly hurting others when we know what is right, yet
do
what is wrong.
This
means every sinner owes the debt of eternal damnation, separated from
the
presence of God.
If
God’s plan is
going to be both just and accomplish its intended purpose of justifying
sinners, then not even He can forgive sin. Every single sin must be
paid for.
He can forgive sinners, however, but only if someone provides a perfect
substitute to take the sinner’s place in paying the penalty
for the sinner’s
sin. And, in keeping with God’s purpose, the only perfect
substitute is a
perfectly sinless and therefore guiltless person who voluntarily takes
the
place of a self-centered, willfully-sinful sinner.
Not
wanting to lose a
single one of us to banishment in hell, God provided the perfect
substitute to
take our place. And that perfect substitute is God, himself, who in the
person
of Jesus Christ became the perfect substitute who willingly, lovingly,
and
compassionately paid the penalty for our sin.
And
why did He have
to pay the penalty for our sin? Because
there is no human being who could take our place. Every man, woman, and
child
who has ever lived has sinned. This means each one of us must pay
sin’s penalty
for our own sins. So even if we wanted to pay sin’s penalty
for a loved one, we
couldn’t. This leaves God as the only other being who shares
enough likeness
with us to be a legitimate substitute in paying sin’s penalty
on our behalf. In
addition, He is the only one who could enter our world as a human, face
our
kind of temptation, and remain sinless.
Choosing
the right
time, Jesus Christ came to earth in human form. He was fathered by the
Holy
Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He was raised by ordinary parents
in an
ordinary home. In his adult years, he brought God’s love and
truth to many
through his words and miraculous deeds. Yet he was despised by the
religious
leaders of his day, falsely accused, condemned as a threat to
Rome’s rule,
cruelly tortured, and unjustly crucified. Upon dying, he descended into
Hades (the
domain of the dark forces of evil). On the third day he was
raised from the
dead. Now he is in heaven with his Father, Jehovah, our God. By means
of his
condemnation, crucifixion, trip to Hades, and subsequent resurrection,
Jesus,
the perfect substitute, paid the penalty for every sinner’s
sin. This means we
can be forgiven and freed from sin’s penalty.
Jesus’
horrible death
and descent into Hades was the act by which God took our place in
paying the
debt we owed for our own sin. Jesus’ resurrection was the act
by which God
broke the power of sin’s hold over us and guaranteed us
eternal life with Him
and all who love as He loves. (Note: Romans 3:21-26)
For
a study on how
one man, Jesus, could pay the penalty of sin for all mankind, read the
following:(1) Romans 5:12-21; (2)
THE DAILY STUDY BIBLE SERIES,
The Letter to the Romans, William Barclay, pp. 77-82; (3) TYNDALE
NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARIES, The Epistle of Paul to the
Romans, F.F. Bruce,
pp. 125-133; (4) COMMENTARY ON THE
EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS,
Charles Hodge, D.D., pp. 142-191.
Senselessly,
we’ve
distrusted God’s motives, discarded His love, disregarded His
wisdom, disobeyed
His commands, and distanced ourselves from Him so we could go our own
way and
do what we pleased, as we pleased, when we pleased. We have favored
self-love
over God’s love, self-determination over God’s
authority, and sin over doing
what we know is right. We are, by our own choosing, intentional sinners
who
have deliberately and repeatedly done what we know is wrong; and
we’ve done it
at the expense of others. We are, because of our sinful choices and
behavior,
justly judged to be debtors – sin debtors – owing
what can only be paid at the
expense of our lives. Therefore, because of our indebtedness, we are
condemned
to eternal banishment from God’s presence and all who love as
He loves.
Yet
God stepped in,
and on our behalf He graciously paid this debt which we could
pay
only at
the terrifying cost of eternal damnation. Though this was a debt He
didn’t owe,
He paid it just as fully as if He did. Though the payment of this debt
cost Him
the unthinkable when it would only have cost us what we deserved, He
paid it as
if it were a privilege for Him to do so.
Why
would God pay an
outrageous debt incurred through traitorous rebellion against Him? Why
would He
sacrifice that which was dearest to pay a debt for which He had no
responsibility? Consider the following two reasons in answer to these
questions.
First,
He paid our
sin debt because He dearly loves us like a loving father loves his
children. As
a loving father, He fervently seeks our good, and the good of everyone
affected
in any way by whatever He does for us personally. As a loving father,
He
longingly desires a shared, intimate relationship of communion and
companionship with us. As a loving father, He zealously does everything
feasible to make it possible for us to be reconciled to Him when we
alienate
ourselves from Him. As a loving father, He earnestly calls to us,
pleads with
us, woos us, and comes to us in various ways in an effort to convince
us to
give up our rebellion and return to Him and His way of love. Therefore,
as a
father who loves His children, God willingly and eagerly came to our
aid and
paid our debt so we would not have to spend eternity separated from
Him.
Second,
He paid our
sin debt because He loves us like a loving husband loves his wife. As a
loving
husband, He yearns for fellowship, companionship, and an endless love
relationship with each of us – the kind of intimate,
mutually-satisfying,
mutually-loving, and mutually-faithful relationship that lovers
passionately
desire with one another. In other words, He doesn’t want to
have to live
without us. So He stepped in and took our place, paying the penalty for
our sin
so we could be forgiven and live with Him forever.
What
greater proof do
we need that God loves us – that He loves us more than
we’ve ever been or ever
will be loved by anyone in this life? Yet His love does not begin and
end with
this gracious payment of our sin debt. He does not expect us to be
content with
this one time show of love, even though it is an unsurpassed show of
love.
Therefore,
God not
only saves us from the penalty of sin, He reconciles us to Himself and
restores
our relationship with Him to one of mutual love and trust. He not only
restores
us to the status of adult children in His family, He takes up residence
in us
so our fellowship can be deeply intimate and uninterrupted. He becomes
our
provider and protector so that whether we face abundance or poverty,
praise or
persecution, good health or sickness, life or death, our lives are
completely
safe in His hands. As our lover, He endlessly does everything necessary
to make
the relationship we share our most treasured, intimate, satisfying, and
secure
relationship. Surely, God’s love is wondrous, immeasurable,
and endless. (Note:
John 3:16, 15:13; Romans 5:6-8; Ephesians 2:1-10; 1 John
4:9-10)
God
wants us to know
He paid the penalty of sin on our behalf – out of love for
us. He wants us to
know that though we ought to fear Him, we no longer have to fear
eternal
damnation if we will repent, trust in Jesus’ redemptive work,
turn from our
sin, and pursue godliness. He wants us to know He is eagerly and
longingly
inviting us to share an intimate, mutually satisfying, mutually
faithful
relationship of communion and companionship with Him. And He wants us
to know
all this so we will repent of our rebellion and sin, turn from our
wicked ways,
and come into the warm embrace of His love. Therefore, God solved our
sin
problem in such a way as to convince us of His
love – a love which is all
the more appealing because He never allows it to compromise justice.
The
wise see God’s
love as perfectly pure, and the hungry feast on it. If you cannot see
the worth
of God’s love, or understand it, ask God to help you. Make
Ephesians 3:14-19,
your daily prayer until you understand the depth of love God has for
you.
(Note: II Corinthians 5:14-15; I John 4:18,19)
God
is very patient
with us because He does not want anyone to suffer sin’s
penalty of banishment.
He wants everyone to come to repentance so they can be
forgiven and
reconciled to Himself – living with Him and all who
love as He loves,
forever. Therefore, God uses His gracious loving-kindness rather than
His
formidableness (that part of His character which arouses fear
and dread in
us) to try and persuade us to repent. (Note: II Peter 3:9;
Romans 2:4)
However,
God will not
bring even one unrepentant sinner into His eternal kingdom. He will not
forgive
anyone who knows what is right yet willfully, deliberately, repeatedly,
and
unrepentantly continues doing what he knows is wrong. To do so would be
to
unleash an evil that would ruin heaven just as sin has ruined the
earth. The
nature of sin and the destructive forces that are unleashed by the
self-centeredness of sinners demands that only those who repent of sin
can
receive God’s saving grace. (Note: I John 3:1-10)
To
repent of sin is
to change your mind about the nature of sin. Where once you believed it
wise to
do what you knew was wrong, you now choose to believe it is the most
foolish,
self-centered, unnecessarily-harmful-to-others thing you could do. To
repent of
sin is to change your mind about the character of God. Where once you
believed
Him harsh and untrustworthy, you now choose to believe He is loving and
good.
To repent of sin is to change your mind about yourself. Where once you
believed
self-centeredness was vital, now you choose to believe the denial of
self is
vital. Where once you believed you knew better and could care for
yourself
better than God, now you choose to place your well-being in His hands
and live
according to His Word.
Having
been created
with the ability to choose, we will continue to choose
self-centeredness over
love and sin over doing what we know is right if we do not repent.
Therefore,
any plan to solve our sin problem must place the requirement of
repentance on
every sinner who wishes to receive God’s redemptive
salvation, provided through
His son, Jesus Christ, and reconcile us to God.
It
is possible all
this talk about repentance is either unfamiliar or makes you feel
uncomfortable. And either case is possible because many teachers and
followers
of current Christianity wish to de-emphasize repentance or leave it out
altogether. In fact, many in the Christian religion say that placing
any
requirement on God’s free gift of salvation, such as
repentance, is heresy.
But
is it heresy? Can
something be heresy when God, speaking in the Old Testament, John the
Baptist,
Jesus, Jesus’ disciples, and the Apostle Paul all taught
repentance as a
requirement for salvation? (Note: II Chronicles 7:14; Proverbs 28:13;
Isaiah
55:6-7; Ezekiel 33:11; Matthew 3:2-11; 4:17; Luke 5:31-32; 13:1-5;
15:7;
24:45-47; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:29-32; 8:20-23; 17:24-31; 20:18-21;
26:16-20;
Romans 2:4; II Timothy 2:24-26; Hebrews 6:1-2)
Ought
a sinner be
forgiven and released from having to pay the penalty for his sin by
agreeing or
believing that God is God, that Christ died to pay the penalty for
every
sinner’s sin, that no one can pay their own sin debt apart
from spending
eternity in hell, and that depending on Christ’s payment is
essential for
release from condemnation? Ought an adulterous husband be forgiven and
taken
back by his wife with open arms by agreeing or believing that she is
his wife,
that he has been unfaithful, that he should love her exclusively, and
that he
needs her forgiveness before it is okay for him to come back home?
At
first glance, the
answer to both questions seems to be yes. But think for a moment. Can
an
adulterous husband enter into a reconciled relationship with his wife
by
agreeing with or believing in certain truths? And in like manner, can a
willful
sinner enter into a reconciled relationship with God by agreeing with
or
believing in certain truths? The answer to these two questions is a
resounding
no. Why? Because agreeing with certain facts or believing in certain
truths
does not automatically result in changed behavior.
Think
about it – what
unfaithful man wouldn’t gladly agree with certain facts and
believe in certain
truths if he could have his wife, his family, his home, and his
adulterous
relationship too? And in like manner, what willful sinner
wouldn’t gladly agree
with certain Bible truths about God, sin, Christ, and eternity if it
meant he
could have heaven while continuing to practice some of his favorite
sins here
on earth?
Once
again, think
about this – if we would tell a wife not to take her husband
back as long as he
wanted to continue his adulterous relationship, why would we expect God
to do
differently with us? If we think it reasonable to judge the agreeing
husband as
unworthy of restoration because of his continued adulterous behavior,
shouldn’t
we think it reasonable for God to judge us in the same way?
If
we can see the
difference between the husband who says some right words and does some
right
things in an effort to get back home, and a husband who is genuinely
repentant
and proves it by ending his adulterous relationships, can’t
God see the
difference too? If we know that a wife who would take her husband back
under
these conditions would be setting herself up for more unnecessary
heartache and
suffering, can’t we know the same would happen to God if He
took us back under
these conditions?
So
why all the
confusion and disagreement when it comes to repentance as the first
step in
receiving the gift of eternal salvation? It is my opinion that we want
freedom
from the penalty of sin without having to be holy. We want eternal life
in
heaven without having to be godly in this life. We want God to be
faithful to
us without having to be faithful to Him. We want God to love us
unconditionally
without having to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and
strength. We
want God to do good for us according to our expectations without having
to do
good for Him according to His expectations. We want to be served
without having
to serve. We want God to pay a debt He does not owe to free us from a
debt we
cannot pay – with no strings attached. In other words, we
want the best of both
worlds. We want to be able to sin enough here on earth to make us happy
in this
life, and then go to heaven when we die to make us happy in eternity.
Such
reasoning is
faulty in that it disregards specific truths clearly stated in
God’s word,
shows disrespect for the great cost to God of His gift of eternal life,
furthers selfishness under the guise of religion, works against loving
God as
we ought, and encourages shrewd bargaining rather than saving faith.
And
why isn’t it
saving faith? Because saving faith changes our life – from
the outside in and
from the inside out. It changes our thinking, our desires, our motives,
our
speech, and our behavior. It changes our allegiance from self to God.
It
changes our focus from self-centeredness to love. It changes our desire
from
doing as we please to doing what we know is right for the good of
everyone
affected by what we do. It opens the door for God to come in and
deliver us
from the power and practice of sin as well as the penalty of sin.
The
reality is,
without repentance, we will think today as we thought yesterday. We
will live
by the same underlying principles now as before. We may modify a few
principles, change a few behaviors, and make some different choices,
but if we
never repent of pride, we will continue to treat ourselves as superior
and God
as inferior. If we never repent of self-centeredness, we will continue
to value
selfishness above love. If we never repent of our distrust of God, we
will
continue to distrust Him when He doesn’t live up to our
expectations. If we
never repent of our sin, we will continue to practice those sins we
think
essential to a happy, secure, peaceful life. And if we never change our
mind
about the reliability of God’s Word, we will continue to go
our own way when we
think God’s Word points us in the wrong way.
God’s
plan to save
sinners did not begin and end with saving us from the penalty of sin.
His plan
saves sinners from the penalty, enslaving power, and practice of sin.
Indeed,
to save sinners only from the penalty of sin would be irresponsible,
for it
would deny the value of love, ignore the importance of justice,
reinforce
self-centeredness, leave saved sinners unchanged – generally
speaking, and
leave the saved sinner’s part of the world in the same dire
condition as it was
before he was saved. Therefore, saving sinners from the penalty of sin
without
freeing them from the enslaving power and practice of sin makes a
mockery of
both love and justice.
For
example, though
saved from the penalty of sin, the born-again sinner would still be
ruled by
his selfishness, pride, ungodly passions, unloving attitudes, worldly
thinking,
and other ungodly ways. This would make a mockery of love, because the
born-again sinner would continue to be unloving in his treatment of
others.
In
a similar way, to
save sinners from the penalty of sin without freeing them from the
enslaving
power and practice of sin makes a mockery of justice. The punishment
for sin is
death (eternal banishment in hell), and every sinner
owes this debt. To
maintain justice, the debt must be paid. This is especially true for
those who
seek to be saved from this debt, for to forgive the sin debt without
paying the
debt is simply unjust. Therefore, Jesus died on the cross to pay our
sin debt –
not so we could go on sinning without fear of eternal banishment, but
so that
God could forgive us without violating justice.
To
save sinners from
the penalty of sin without freeing them from the power and practice of
sin is
to prevent them from becoming like Christ – which is what
makes them a
Christian. To become like Christ, sinners need a changed mind, a
changed heart,
changed thinking, changed desires, and a changed life whereby they
increasingly
become more and more like Jesus. And to do that, sinners must be saved
from the
penalty of sin as well as the enslaving power and the practice of sin.
To
save sinners from
the penalty of sin without freeing them from the power and practice of
sin is
to imply that such evils as selfishness, pride, anger, envy, lying,
cheating,
and hidden forms of sexual immorality are unavoidable and therefore
acceptable
ways for Christians to live. In other words, only saving sinners from
the
penalty of sin sends the message that hell is the evil to be avoided,
not sin
and all the harm it does to our relationship with God, to our own
character,
ways of thinking, and choices, and to those who are the victims of our
sinful
ways.
To
make the avoidance
of punishment the primary motive for trusting in Jesus for eternal
salvation is
to perpetuate selfishness. Therefore, to save sinners from the penalty
of sin
without freeing them from the power and practice of sin is to leave
them in the
same selfish condition as before being saved.
God’s
intention for
born-again sinners is that they be changed into the likeness of Christ
so that
they will, on a daily basis and in practical ways, love those around
them as
they love themselves. In other words, God wants saved sinners to treat
their
families, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and fellow citizens in ways
that
mirror His love for us. He wants them to seek the good of others just
as He
seeks our good. Therefore, to make this kind of life possible God saves
us from
the power and practice of sin as well as the penalty of sin.
Does
this mean that
once we are saved from the power and practice of sin we will no longer
sin or
even want to sin? Does this mean we won’t have to
intentionally resist the
devil, flee youthful lusts, and put off the old nature with its sinful
ways?
Does this mean we won’t have to deliberately and purposefully
pursue
righteousness, faith, love and peace, and put on Christ-likeness. No!
No! No!
We must still do all of this. What changes when we are saved from the
power and
practice of sin is that we are no longer slaves of sin, which means we
no
longer have to sin, and we are able to pursue godliness. (Note: James
4:7; Romans
6; 2 Timothy 2:22; Ephesians 4:17-32)
Therefore,
putting an
end to sin does not begin in heaven – it begins when a sinner
repents, trusts
in Jesus for eternal salvation from the penalty, power, and practice of
sin,
and is born again. It begins in you and in me when we repent of sin,
receive
God’s gracious gift of salvation, place our life in
God’s hands, and proceed to
live according to God’s Word so as to become holy in all our
behavior just as
God is holy.
The
reality is,
Jesus’ death on the cross both paid the sin debt and broke
the enslaving power
of sin over us. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same
power of
God that protects us from ever again being tempted with a temptation
too strong
for us to resist. The Holy Spirit enters our being and empowers us to
do what
we know is right as we choose to do what we know is right. The Bible,
which is
living and active, teaches us what God wants us to know, it reproves
and
corrects us, it is our primary tool for training in godly living, and
it gives
us the means to resist the devil. Prayer tells God where we think we
need help
in living the Christ-like life here on earth. The Body of Christ (the
local
church) is our support group in dying to self and coming
fully alive to the
ways of God. In all these things, God displays His commitment to save
us from
the enslaving power and practice of sin along with saving us from the
penalty
of sin. (Note: Titus 2:11-14; 1 Corinthians 10:13;
2 Peter 1:2-11;
Romans 6:1-14)
God
understands we
are human. Therefore, He does not deal with us according to our sins,
but as a
father has compassion on his children, so God has compassion on us as
we make
an honest effort to live according to His will and word. And yet, as
born-again
Christians, He wants us to go forward and sin no more. He knows that in
our
humanness we will sin, but He also knows we no longer have to sin
because He
has saved us, not only from the penalty of sin, but also from the
enslaving
power and practice of sin – in this life and in the life to
come.
Most
often,
forgiveness must go both ways because of the failure of both sides to
love as
they ought. This is not the case between God and us. He has not failed
in any
way to love us as love loves. In fact, He loves us perfectly, fully,
selflessly, and faithfully. We are the ones who have failed to love. We
are the
ones who have sinned – not just against our fellowmen, but
also against Him. He
has desired and sought relationship with us, from the beginning. We are
the
ones who have pulled away, ignoring His presence and resenting His
demands – as
if they were a difficult burden or an impediment to happiness or are
harmful to
our well-being. And yet, His demands are the path to an abundantly
better life
that can only be obtained by trusting Him implicitly and living
according to
His will and word. Therefore, God needs no forgiveness from us. We are
the ones
who need forgiveness from Him. (Note: John 10:10)
The
purpose of
forgiveness is to bring reconciliation and restoration to damaged and
broken
relationships. Forgiveness accomplishes this by calling both sides to
resolve
their differences, repair the damage done by past wrongs committed, and
return
to treasuring, nurturing, and protecting the relationship.
To
accomplish this,
the one who has done wrong must repent of his wrong, confess his sin,
repair or
make amends for whatever damage he has done, and demonstrate his
commitment to
the good of the other through his subsequent words and deeds. The one
wronged
must lay to rest the remembrance of what was done and the hurts
associated with
it. He must put out the welcome mat, open the door to re-established
trust, and
renew his efforts at building a meaningful relationship of communion
and
companionship with the one who sinned against him. These steps enable
both
parties to begin anew to build their relationship on mutual love and
trust.
Unfortunately,
many
people think forgiveness is necessary while reconciliation is optional.
Nothing
could be further from the truth. And we see how true this is in
God’s Word and
in His life-example of love.
Love
seeks the good
of others, friend and foe alike, just as God seeks the good of
everyone,
believer and unbeliever alike. However, seeking a person’s
good does not mean
we have a good relationship with them. It simply means we are committed
to
living according to the principle of love in spite of their attitude
and
behavior toward us. The perfect example of this is God. He is unequaled
in
loving everyone, including those who reject, and even hate Him. But do
not
confuse His love with forgiveness. He does not forgive everyone He
loves. In
fact, far more are unforgiven due to unrepentance than are forgiven.
The
proof that
forgiveness and reconciliation are inseparable is found throughout the
Bible,
but two verses will be enough to make the point.
In
Matthew 5:45,
Jesus tells us we are to love our enemies (seek their good)
just as God
loves His enemies. Jesus verifies God’s love for His enemies
by pointing out
that God causes the sun to shine and rain to fall on the righteous and
unrighteous alike. This means God seeks the good of everyone by
providing them
with the basic necessities of life, be they friend or foe. In return He
receives praise, honor, trust, love, companionship, and intimate
communion from
His friends (the kind of behavior which promotes and protects
meaningful
relationships). However, from His foes He receives distrust,
disrespect,
hostility, hatred, and rejection (the kind of behavior which
damages and
destroys relationships). Yet in spite of their treatment of
Him, God is not
mean-spirited toward His foes. But neither does He forgive them so as
to grant
them salvation from the penalty of their sins. Purely and simply, He
loves
them, and in all ways seeks their good. But He will not forgive them
until they
repent and show themselves sincerely desirous of being reconciled to
Him. This
is an example of love which harbors no ill-will toward an enemy, yet
does not
forgive the enemy until he genuinely seeks forgiveness.
In
2 Corinthians
5:19, the apostle Paul says that God worked, and is working through
Jesus Christ
to reconcile His enemies to Himself. The word reconcile comes from the
word
conciliate. To conciliate is to restore a relationship through the
restoration
of good will, harmony, and compatibility. This kind of restoration
requires
dealing with the differences which caused the breakdown of the
relationship. Of
course, the differences must be dealt with in a manner which removes
them and
creates an atmosphere for mutual love and trust to be rebuilt. This
requires
the involvement of both parties. The wrong-doer must repent of his
wrong-doing,
change his ways, and in so doing, seek to repair the damage done. The
one
wronged must lay to rest the memories of the wrong done and invite the
wrong-doer to join him in rebuilding and restoring their relationship.
Truly,
without mutual
love and trust, a relationship is at best superficial and at worst
unbearable.
Since mutual love and trust require two people committed to seeking
each
other’s good, forgiveness must include reconciliation when a
relationship has
been damaged and people have been estranged.
Therefore,
God’s plan
to save sinners from the power, practice, and penalty of sin includes
forgiveness – true forgiveness, which is
relationship-restoring
forgiveness. If we look for God’s forgiveness from the
penalty of sin without
taking the necessary steps to reconcile with Him so as to re-establish
meaningful relationship with Him, we are looking for a salvation which
does not
exist. We may think we are saved because we have prayed a certain
prayer or
know certain information about God’s saving work on our
behalf. But,
forgiveness is only given to those who repent and do what is necessary
to
restore and rebuild a shared relationship of love and trust with God,
himself.
A
successful business
man built a lavish home on the side of a mountain. The side of his home
which
overlooked the beautiful valley below was mostly glass. The cost of
insuring
the glass against breakage was so great, he decided not to insure it. A
few
years later, a high school senior – on a dare from several of
his friends –
took a slingshot and broke five panes of glass. Through good
investigative
work, the county sheriff was able to arrest the young man who did this
destructive deed.
Feeling
the same love
for this young man that he had for his own children, the judge wanted
to
forgive him, and through some form of training, and accountability, set
him on
the path to maturity and responsibility. Yet forgiving the young man
would not
guarantee future protection for the townspeople nor pay for the broken
windows.
He could not expect the townspeople to suffer more damage to their
property
just to give the young man another chance to straighten out. Nor could
he
expect the homeowner to pay for the broken windows just so the young
man could
get on with college and a better future.
So
the judge did some
investigating between the end of the trial and the date of sentencing.
He
discovered the arrest and possible jail time had shaken the young man
into
seeing the foolishness of his ways. Before the case came to trial the
young man
had begun to make serious and personally costly changes. He changed his
friendships
so that he was spending time with young people who were encouraging him
to do
good things. He found a job and was already saving money to pay for the
damage
he caused.
The
judge checked
with the young man’s teachers, his parents, the parents of
his friends, and any
other sensible adult who had observed the young man’s
attitude and behavior
since his arrest. All pointed to a significant and sustained change of
mind and
behavior. This gave the judge the confidence he needed to act with
justice, and
with mercy – which meant no jail time for the young
offender.
However,
there was
still the matter of the broken windows. In order to be just, the judge
not only
had to protect the townspeople, he had to make sure the windows were
paid for.
Only partial justice would be served by the young man changing his
ways. Full
justice required changed behavior plus paying the debt for damage done.
To
completely forgive the young man so that he would have no jail time and
no
expense that would deter his college education, the judge, himself,
paid the
cost of replacing the broken windows.
Therefore,
the judge
was not only just, but the justifier of the one who did wrong and owed
a great
debt because of his wrongdoing.
The
love and
sacrificial generosity of the judge, coupled with the repentance of the
young
man, made forgiveness reasonable, rational, and sensible. We see the
truth of
this in the fact that forgiveness accomplished its purpose.
For example, forgiveness opened the way for reconciliation between the young man and everyone else involved. Reconciliation made it possible for the restoration of relationships to levels of love and trust. Restored relationships resulted in lasting friendships between the young man and many others in the community. And the lasting friendships became the best protection from further destructive behavior by the young man. Thus justice was served, a guilty sinner was forgiven, and the good of all promoted and protected.
Because
sin is so
heinous, so damaging to the well-being of everyone it affects, God
decreed that
the penalty for sin is eternal damnation, and therefore every sin must
be paid
for. The motive behind sin is so evil that every sinner deserves
eternal
banishment to a place where he will experience the full impact of his
selfish
choices and sinful behavior.
God’s
mercy is
available to all because He seeks the good of all. He wants everyone to
come to
repentance and be reconciled to Him. Yet God’s mercy is only
extended to and
experienced by those who voluntarily repent of their sin and pursue a
life of
love – love which makes God their supreme
focus, and the good of
others equal to their own good.
We
may never be
perfect in this life. Yet when we have repented of sin and trusted in
God, we
will persistently seek a fuller understanding of spiritual things and a
maturing
participation in the practice of godliness, which is most readily seen
in the
ways we love God and those around us. We will hunger for the qualities
of
character and behavior which God wants to build into our life. We will
not
concentrate on our failures, nor make any excuses for our sins.
Instead, we
will pour our energies and time into heading straight for the goal
– to be dead
to sin and self, to love God supremely, to serve Him fully, and to love
others
as we love ourselves.
Do
you agree with God
that all sin is heinous and must be punished? Have you repented of sin,
or have
you only agreed to give up certain sins? Are you doing your part in
forgiveness, or do you want God to overlook your sin without a
whole-hearted
commitment on your part to put an end to your sinful ways? In other
words, do
you want salvation from the penalty of sin so you can go to heaven when
you
die, yet still be free to enjoy the pleasures of sin and the ways of
the world
in this life? Or do you want a salvation that frees you from the
penalty of
sin, the enslaving power of sin, and the practice of sin so you can
love God as
you ought and those around you as yourself? This is God’s
salvation – a
salvation that includes the forgiveness of sins and the reconciling of
your relationship
with God.
God
is just, and because of your
sin, justice demands your banishment. God is love, but because you have
damaged
and broken your relationship with God, you need to be forgiven and
reconciled
to Him. Amazingly, He wants a two-way love relationship with you in
spite of
your sin. Graciously, He has done His part. What will you do?
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