The Sinners Scale

If I were to ask you to rate sinners on a scale from 1 to 10 with 1 being the absolute worst sinner imaginable and 10 the person who sins the least, who would you put at number 1? Who would you put at number 10? Think about it. Do you have your scale yet? For example, Let's say Adolf Hitler is at 1, and Billy Graham is at 10.

Where do you rate on your scale? Surely you imagine yourself somewhere between 1 and 10. I know humility prevents you from saying you're a 9 or a 10. Where do you see yourself on the scale?

I'll play it safe and say that I'm a 5. I'm no Billy Graham, but then again, I'm not Adolf Hitler. But how does God view our scales? Are our scales like his? Somehow I doubt that it is. In fact, I'm convinced that it certainly isn't.

If ever in the history of the church there was a 10, it would be the apostle Paul. However, Paul doesn't seem to see himself as a 10. It doesn't appear he thought he was even a 5.  He explains to Timothy, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst" (1Tim. 1:15, NIV). Paul says that he is a 1.

It appears that the closer one draws to Christ, the more they understand of their own sinfulness. They see the multitude of ways in which they offend a holy God everyday. The Spirit refuses to allow them to settle into believing that their actions make them right. Two rights don't cancel out a wrong. Sin must be confessed and repented of before it can be forgiven and cleansed.

A temptation for us as believers in Christ is to assume that our sins don't matter because they have been washed in the blood of Christ. That is to say, we sometimes (wrongly) think that sin is permissible because Jesus has already atoned for it. Such thinking is blasphemous. It denigrates the sacrifice of Christ. Sin is always an offense to a holy God.

Another temptations for believers is to assume that what we do makes us right with God. We often think that if we do something wrong, we just need to do something good to override it. But this approach will never work. Just like flowers won't erase a bruise, so to good actions cannot cancel out bad ones.

In the end, the only solution is the gospel. The gospel teaches us that we have sinned against God. It also teaches us that God loves us and wants to rescue us through the finished work of Christ. We owed a debt (because of sin), and Christ paid (by dying in our place). The gospel strips us of all self-reliance because we cannot save ourselves. Jesus must always stand in our place.

How is it that Paul could see himself as a 1, and yet experience such joy and peace? Simple, he knew it was Jesus who made him right with God from start to finish, and he rested in the knowledge. Do you see the sin in your own heart? Where do you see yourself on that scale now? Are you moved to cling more closely to Christ? If you're trusting in Christ, don't fear. Jesus has you covered.

Judgment Through Consequences

Have you ever found yourself wondering why bad things happen? Have you ever asked yourself, "Why doesn't God stop sin from happening?" In part, God doesn't immediately judge sin, because he is showing mercy to the sinner. He willing shows patience to extend the opportunity of repentance to the rebel. Sometimes what seems like delayed justice is actually God judging through consequences.

Speaking about human conflict, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones once wrote, "It is God's judgment upon us, not in the sense that he caused or sent war, but that He has allowed our sins to work itself out and lead to its inevitable consequences of suffering and pain" (The Plight of Man and the Power of God, pgs. 90-91).

Someone might argue, "But so many innocent people get hurt and killed during war." If we take the popular understanding of the nature of mankind, that people are inherently good, then it would seem that many innocent lives are consumed by the ravages of war.  The biblical view of the nature of mankind is not so optimistic.  The Bible teaches that mankind is inherently sinful.  We are sinners by nature and sinners by choice.

Experience confirms this.  Children instinctively learn to rebel against authority. Each night on the news we hear report after report of brutality, corruption, deception, etc. Education cannot erase the darkness of the human heart.  Wealth does not eliminate it.  Even the socially mobile can do despicable things.

The reality of mankind's sinful nature means that there is no truly innocent people.  We have all fallen short of what God created us to be.  We have all failed to love God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength.  We all stand condemned before a holy, righteous Judge. Therefore, it is consistent with God's just nature to allow mankind to go their own way.

Isaiah says we all like sheep have gone astray (see Isa. 53:6).  The good news is that God has sent a Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come into the world to pursue us.  He ransomed us through his death and resurrection and now calls us to turn from sin and place our faith in him.  But for those who have rejected his grace and suppressed the truth with their unrighteousness, he has turned them over to their waywardness.

That sense of turning them over to their own devices is what Dr. Lloyd-Jones is talking about.  Mankind wishes, for the most part, to be free of God's authority.  Therefore, they erect structures and systems that undermine that authority. When God permits them to do so, these structures and systems bring destruction instead of freedom. Sinners reject God's rules for living, and then get angry at God for not keeping them from hurting themselves while they were doing their own thing.  It is similar to a person gouging our their own eyes, and being upset by their blindness.

God, in his grace, has shown patience to humanity. Humanity has rebelled against God, and he has permitted them to go. The rebellious heart of mankind drives people farther from their Creator. The farther mankind gets away from God the more damage they do to themselves and others. Pain and suffering are the logically results of mankind's rebellion.

Had God not willed to rescue humanity, through Christ's substitutionary death and resurrection, we all would still be going astray. We would all be consumed by the darkness of the human heart unrestrained by the law of God. Were it not for the grace of God, humanity would have wiped itself out long ago.  But God has preserved for himself a people. And in the midst of the suffering and pain of this world, there is a light.  If only we will turn to Jesus, and find it.

Learning to Despise Forbidden Fruit

"Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. Surely there is a future and your hope will not be cut off" (Prov. 23:17-18).

Often, I find myself trying to imagine Eden in all its pre-Fall glory. I try to envision the splendor of the freshly grown fruit. I can't help but wonder what that lush paradise must have smelled like, what it must have looked like, and what it must have sounded like. It is impossible to truly imagine a world not tainted by sin. But it is fun trying. Everywhere a person turned must have been bursting with life: plants to tend to, animals to name and care for, fruit to be enjoyed, and a kingdom to be explored.

Imagine the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It stands alone, marked off from consumption. Forbidden fruit appears so sweet, but in reality it is a poison. Death comes in the partaking of the fruit. Relationships are broken. Darkness descends.

Now, fast forward to our time. The forbidden still tantalizes us. On the surface it appears delectable. It promises unending pleasure, if only we will take a nibble, but it will turn bitter in our stomach. Sin always kills. Always. The fruit that tantalizes, ends up biting us back. Thus, comes the warning: do not let your heart envy sinners.

The fruit of their life may seem appealing to the eye, but death is waiting in the wings. Don't misunderstand me, I am not trying to suggest that there is no pleasure in sin. Sin's pleasures last their season, but they do not last forever, and they always pay the dividend of death. They are a tantalizing fruit that attracts they eye, but that poisons the body.

Thus, Solomon warns his reader to keep the right perspective. The pleasures of sin have no lasting reward. They grant a temporary reward that is often short lived. The excitement of a forbidden kiss wears off pretty quickly. Shame and guilt often follow shortly. Fear of discovery follows the flood of guilt and shame. Should sin go undetected for awhile, callousness sets in. The sinner begins to feel untouchable (although they may cycle through guilt, shame, and fear). They begin to assume that their sin has gone unnoticed. As believers, we know that no sin goes unnoticed, nor unpunished.

We keep in mind that God has planned for us a glorious future. The paradise lost in Adam's rebellion will be restored through Christ's obedience. We set our heart to walk in the fear of the Lord, and in so doing we know our hope cannot be cut off. We may not get to enjoy some of the "pleasures" this world enjoys, but we have greater pleasures awaiting us in the presence of the Lord.

That is not to say that all our pleasures are otherworldly or heavenly. We enjoy great pleasures here and now, while anticipating greater pleasures to come. When we enjoy the good gifts that the Father has given us, they come without shame, guilt, or fear. As we enjoy them, we are practicing what is good, right, and wholesome. The good gifts, in all the joy they bring, are only a taste of greater joys still to come.

Let us return to the Garden. We are surrounded by trees bursting forth with new fruit, sweet and fresh, unspoiled and unblemished, all ours except one tree. It stands in the center and bears the warning: "eat and die." Would we snatch that fruit from its branch and sink our teeth into it? Not only would we, we have. We have all eaten of the forbidden fruit of sin and have been sentenced to death. The good news is that Christ has come and died in our place. By faith in Christ, we have been made new creatures.

As new creatures in Jesus our Lord, our hearts have been realigned. If we envy sinners, then we are saying that what they have in their sin is of greater value than what we have in our Savior. Solomon points the way: "continue in the fear of the Lord all the day." The simple fact is that what we have in our Savior is infinitely more valuable (and enjoyable), than what sinners have in their sin. For we have a future and a hope (see 1 Pet. 1:3-9).