We all like to think that somehow our sins are less severe than of those around us. We assume that our transgressions are mild in comparison to others and that somehow God looks at our sins more lightly. The reality is that all sin is an affront to God and pains the Spirit. There are three simple truths in regards to sin and our relationship with God. These three truths tell us about how God sees us and how we should see the Law. These three truths discuss condemnation, but more importantly, they speak volumes about salvation.
- Every sin will lead to eternal condemnation (without intervention)
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23
Sin, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant is an act against God and therefore our willful commission of those acts deserves God’s penalty. There are definite degrees to sin, but as far as they relate to eternal consequences and salvation, all sins are the same.
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. – James 2:10
If you look at Adam and Eve’s transgression, you will see a simple act of defiance would usher in sin and evil into the world, condemning every single one of us in the eyes of God. Whether it is something as serious as David’s adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband (2 Samuel 11) or something as simple as being defiant to our parents, all sins are defiance against the Father and kill us spiritually.
- God is gracious and merciful.
God understands that we are incapable of being perfect in His eyes. He understands that the world that we were born into is full of sin and evil and that we are unable to live up to His expectations. In the times of the Old Testament a blood sacrifice was the requirement to give atonement, satisfying the righteous judgment of God. A pure animal, free from sin would be required to shed its life in order for the sinner to obtain a reprieve from God’s judgment. Due to God’s unlimited grace and patience with us, He sent His Son to dwell among us and to serve as the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the world. God literally sent His only son, a literal part of himself, to serve as our lamb so that we could be washed clean of our iniquities. I seriously don’t think that a lot of us even consider how unbelievably amazing this act by our Heavenly Father was.
- Repenting of sins ties the grace of God with the sins of man.
Many of us so willingly accept God’s grace and salvation through the blood of His Son that we fail to remember that we must come to God with repentant faith in order to obtain that atonement. Looking at Psalm 51, David throws himself at the feet of God confessing and owns up to his heinous crimes against not only Bathsheba and urea but against God himself. He begs forgiveness and a cleansing.
1
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5
Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6
Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
The connection made between our sins and the grace of God requires us to own up to the crimes that we have committed and the laws that we have broken. God loves us so much that He would send His son to serve as a blood sacrifice for our sins but we must come to Him in repentant faith and we must admit to ourselves that we need that sacrifice. It is easy to believe that Christ exists and even to believe that Christ is the Son of God because even the demons believe that. What is difficult is to accept how unbelievably flawed we are and that as sinners we need Jesus. Rather than passing judgment on others we need to pass judgment on ourselves.
God is gracious and God is amazing, yet God’s standards have only been met by one man. This man was born and lived free from sin. He is from and part of the Father and sacrificed Himself for our sins. A man, pure as snow and as sinless as a lamb would be tortured, beaten and executed in one of the most horrible ways that has ever been thought up by man. A man, whose life and death would teach the world of God’s unending grace and desire to look past our iniquities. We must understand that the judgment of others is so unbelievably hypocritical because no matter how good we think we are, in the eyes of God we are all sinners and we all require the cleansing that comes from the blood of Jesus Christ. The connection between us and the grace of God is repentance and without that repentance that bridge does not exist. Reach out and accept it. Drop to your knees and beg God to forgive you of your sins and He will hold His open arms and will always forgive you, because the punishment that you have earned for your sins was delivered 2000 years ago to a Jewish carpenter who happens to love you enough to have accepted that judgment for you.
