Mount Sinai or Mount Calvary?

In 1 John 1:9 we read the following statement in regards to how a Christian is to deal with sin in their lives, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

I have come to realize over the years that the times in my life when I feel the most distant from the Lord or my prayers seem like they are rising no higher than my ceiling, are the very moments when I have unconfessed sin. This may seem rudimentary, but for a long time in my Christian walk I used to try to fill my life during “spiritual dry times” with more spiritual things or activities in an attempt to feel closer to God when in reality I needed to confess and repent of sin.

It is the sin battle that so often defeats us in our walk but John gives us the solution – just confess. Seems simple on the surface, doesn’t it? I have found that to practically live this verse is the most challenging aspect of my Christian life.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss in her profound book on revival called Seeking Him says that when we sin we immediately have two choices. We can go to Mount Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments and try to live by the law in our own strength and self-righteousness or we can come to Mount Calvary and bring our sin to the foot of the cross and receive the forgiveness and victory over sin that is ours in Christ.

The Bible tells us that after Jesus rose from the grave He went and sat down at the right hand of the Father and is there today making intercession for us when we confess our sins (Romans 8:27). This is an amazing thought to comprehend. Jesus Christ is actively working on our behalf to apply his blood atonement sacrifice to our sins. All we have to do is confess them and repent or turn from our sinful behavior. Jesus Himself has already bore the penalty and the judgment for our sins. What a wonderful spiritual reality to contemplate and allow to shape our walk!

I heard a preacher once say that the key to a victorious Christian life is to keep short sin accounts with God. In other words, when we sin is the best time to confess our sin. I think the frustrating part is so often as soon as we confess the sin, we are committing it again. But still the scripture urges us to keep confessing because I believe the very act of coming before God and agreeing with Him that we have trespassed against His law is the only way we can achieve victory even if it takes time for the sin to be completely removed from our lives. This is why the confession part is the most critical.

When David sinned with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel chapter 11, and then basically ordered to have her husband killed in the war by putting him on the front lines, he never confessed these sins before God. In fact, if not for the prophet Nathan coming to tell David that God was extremely upset over his sin, there is no reason to believe David would have ever confessed. This is a sobering thought given the scriptures tell us that David was a man who was after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). This is a prime example of the deadliness of unconfessed sin.

We have to always be on guard in our lives to ensure we are not deceived about sin and the best way to do this - the only way to do this - is to confess our sins daily before the Lord.

“Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life.” - George MacDonald

The Perfection Standard

After witnessing the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team win its 78th straight game last night and its second championship in a row, I am reminded of how enamored we are as a society with the pursuit of perfection. Just two years ago, the New England Patriots were within minutes of achieving a perfect 19-0 season which had never been accomplished in professional football. For months their pursuit of perfection captivated the New England area and every football fan across the nation, prompting ESPN to include a “patriots” tracking symbol within their update scroll to ensure fans were kept up to date, every minute of the day on team developments.

What is it about perfection that captivates us to such an intense degree? Could it be that it signifies an achievement without blemish, without error, without defect? Or perhaps it exemplifies all that we hope to be in life, not only within athletic competitions, but also within our careers, our marriages, and our churches.

While all of these are certainly plausible reasons for why we are entranced with the pursuit of perfection, I believe at the core we desire it because our God is perfect and we are made in His image and likeness, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female…Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Genesis 1:27; Matthew 5:48).

You see, it has always been God’s desire that we be perfect. When He created us that was His purpose and hope but as sin captivated our hearts, it alone drew us away from God and we ceased to be perfect and God’s standard became unattainable. It is this dilemma of trying to reconcile sin with perfection that prompted God the Father to send his Son Jesus Christ to earth to become the necessary propitiation or satisfaction for our sins (I John 2:2).

Many believe that when we die our good works will be weighed against our bad works and as long as our good works balance out our bad works than we will be permitted into heaven. But the Bible has something very different to say. Isaiah 64:6 states that all our acts of righteousness are like filthy rags to God. Why is this? Because even our good works are stained with sin before a holy and just God for we are all sinners; we have broken God's commandments. In this sense we are all wicked, and therefore, we do not stand a chance of escape from Divine justice.

That is why, if we had to rely on our obedience to God’s commandments or laws, we could never be justified before Him, "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). With tears of sorrow, even the holiest Christian admits he/she sins ever day. As long as we remain on earth it is a sad reality that we continue to sin and miss the mark of perfection.

If we were honest with ourselves, we would not ask whether we have obeyed God’s laws enough to be justified - we know we have not. Rather, every one of us should ask: What can free me, a guilty sinner, from my sin?

Thank God for His Son. There is hope in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

We read this good news in Romans 4:5 when the Apostle Paul declares, “To him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.” You see, it is God Himself that justifies the sinner. Paul insists that it is to him "who does not work" but "believes" that God accounts as righteous. God justifies the ungodly by faith alone because Jesus Christ alone is perfect and we are made perfect in Him!

What a glorious truth to contemplate. All of us, through the blood of Jesus can attain perfection before God! Romans 10:9-10 tells us how to do it, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

While it was wonderful to watch the University of Connecticut women achieve perfection last night, it was something that was only attainable by those 12 women. What Jesus Christ is offering is attainable to anyone, anywhere, right now. If you have not attained the perfection offered by Jesus, won’t you today?

Defining Sins of Omission

I am always amazed at how little you either read or hear the word sin in today’s world. Even within many churches it seems we have euphemized the word by referring to people’s sin as a personality shortcoming, an addiction, a social quirk. It is not surprising in one sense given we have become a society that emphasizes the individual above society as a whole. Given this mindset, sin becomes an insidious word because it conveys wrong doing and personal accountability to a holy God and to each other.

With this in mind, I wanted to try to tackle this issue of sin, specifically the sins of omission as I believe the majority of the world acutely understand the sins of commission, those acts or thoughts we commit that God has forbidden (see Romans 1:28-32 for an extensive list of these sins).

The sins of omission are a little trickier in that you will not find a neat and tidy list like the one found in Romans. A sin of omission is a failure to do something one can and ought to do and is defined by the Lord Himself in Matthew 25: 44-45, “Then they also shall answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to thee? Then he shall answer them, saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me.” Also, James 4:17, states, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” I believe the sins of omission are much more indicative of our relationship with God than the ones of commission, especially for the Christian.

I found a great commentary by the folks at BibleTools.org on this issue of sins of omission that I want to detail in part here. Let’s look at Zephaniah 1:12 for further insight, “And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil.” The religious Jew of that day was not on the streets committing horrible crimes like murder, rape or armed robbery. These verses speak about the thousands of ordinary people who were stagnant and indifferent toward their relationship with God. Their problem was not what they did, but what they did not do.

Nor does God accuse the Jew of the more apparent sins in Romans 1. He is angry with him because of what he is not doing! He is not a true and faithful witness, and indeed cannot be, because of his poor judgment in prioritizing his life. In focusing on his selfish pursuits and self-centeredness, he leaves God almost completely out of his life. Still, he bears the name of God, attends Sabbath services, and at least in a superficial way, worships God. Yet the relationship is growing cold as he fails to seek Him earnestly as in courtship.

I have come to realize in my own walk with the Lord that sins of commission have been stripped away from my life over the years as I have allowed the Spirit of God to cleanse me and give me victory. The sins of omission, however, I have found to be much tougher because they demand that my relationship with the Lord be right at all times. He does not just want me to stop doing certain things; he wants ALL of me.

Please comment and let me know if your experience has been similar and how you have found victory over the sins of omission.