But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. Gal. 3:22
I’ve been writing a lot lately about sin. There are two reasons for this, I think. 1st, in the book I am reading, The Reason for God, Timothy Keller spends a lot of time discussing sin, and 2nd, I think God may be trying to tell me something.
Of course I know “I’m a sinner,” the scripture is very clear on that. But I’m beginning to truly realize that it goes a lot deeper than just those words. What Keller attempts to do (very well I might add) is explain that our sin is inevitable. We cannot not be sinners. And here’s the kicker – trying to get through life “working” our sin away actually leads to even more troublesome sin.
This last part really hit me. I see this in my life a lot. Just last week I was struggling with judgment of strangers thinking how righteous I was that I wasn’t engaged in similar behavior. I read what Keller had to say on the subject of self righteousness, and then read today’s scripture, and my heart fell. My sin is just as bad.
God doesn’t want the self righteous – if he did – Heaven would be full of Pharisees. God wants us sinners. And he wants us to know we are sinners and that there is no way around it. We can’t make our selves “worthy” of His grace. All we can do is have faith in Christ and He forgives our sin. As Paul says, “…what was promised [the gift of grace] …might be given to those who believe. ”
Blessed Redeemer – It is truly amazing to me that you can show me in one moment that I am a sinner, not worthy of your grace, yet, in the next moment, give me that grace freely. That mix of sorrow and joy is something to behold. Thank you God! AMEN
Jim (jmitch1)
Sixty-six books in a year 