Monday, Sept. 24

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Monday

The late preacher Harry Ironside once asked a man after a gospel meeting, “Are you saved, sir?”
“No, I really can’t say I am, but I would like to be.”
“Why would you? Do you realize you are a lost sinner?”
“Oh, of course, we’re all sinners.”
“Ah!”, said Ironside, “But that often means little or nothing. Are you a sinner yourself?”
“Well, I suppose I am, but I’m not what you could call a bad sinner. I am, I think, rather a good one. I always try to do the best I know.”

Ironside went on to tell the man that there was little use in showing him the way of salvation. Good sinners are like honest liars and upright thieves: they are far from ready to admit that they are vile, hell-deserving sinners who need God’s grace to be saved (Illustrations of Bible Truth, H. A. Ironside).

This little story illustrates the attitude most people (even most Christians) have toward sin, in particular their own sinfulness.  It is one thing to say that “nobody is perfect” or that “we are all sinners”, but it is another thing entirely to say “I am a hopeless sinner in need of God’s grace.”  This idea sounds and feels good to us because it allows us to maintain our fundamental goodness while still giving lip service to our flaws and failures.  Most people view themselves as “good” sinners. They would say, “I know I’m not perfect. I’ve got my share of faults. But I’m not a murderer or terrorist or child molester. I’m a decent person. So, yes, I’m a sinner, but I’m a good sinner.” The problem is that this is not at all the picture that the Bible paints for the basic human condition.

What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.  As it is written:  “There is no one righteous, not even one;  there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”  “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.”  “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”  “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”  “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.”  “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”  - Romans 3:9-18

Paul is laying the foundation for the universal nature of sin, he says “Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin”.  A Gentile was anybody who wasn’t a Jew, so the phrase “Jews and Gentiles” is another way of saying, the whole world!  The whole world is under sin!  Paul says there is no one righteous, not even one.  He goes on to describe our sinful condition in verses 13-18...

“Their tongues practice deceit.  The poison poison of vipers is on their lips.  Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”  - This is the sin we speak

“Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.” - This is the sin we do

“there is no fear of God before their eyes.” - This is the sin we think

But some may think, “Now wait a minute!  I’ve got my faults, but I’m not nearly as bad as this description!  I’ve bent the truth at times, but these verses do not describe my speech.  And I’ve never murdered anyone as verse 15 alleges.”

But Paul isn’t saying that every sinner does all of these sins all the time. Rather, he is saying that the seeds, or the roots for all of these sins are planted deeply in every fallen human heart. Through His common grace, God prevents sinners from being as terrible as they would be if He didn’t restrain them.  When Paul says (3:9) that all are “under sin,” he means that everyone is under the guilt of sin. This is not to say that everyone feels guilty. A mob hit man may become so callous and hardened that he no longer feels the slightest twinge of guilt after shooting a man in the face.  Afterwards, he goes to dinner with his friends and jokes about the look of horror on the victim’s face just before he blew him away.  But although he doesn’t feel guilty, he is truly guilty of murder in God’s sight. To be “under sin” means that we are truly guilty of violating God’s holy law. We will be condemned when we stand before Him for judgment, unless our sins are atoned for through Christ’s blood.

Also, to be “under sin” means that outside of Christ, we are under the power of sin. It dominates our lives so that we obey its lusts. Paul refers to this as being slaves of sin (Rom. 6:6, 16-22).  Again, this does not mean that unbelievers are as wicked as they possibly could be. Nor does it mean that they are incapable of being kind or doing good deeds. Rather, in God’s sight and by His perfect standard, even their good deeds are as filthy rags (Isa. 64:6).

But if you can read this description of human nature and think, “Thank God I’m not like that,” then God has not opened your eyes to the true condition of your heart.  As Jesus pointed out in Matthew 5, if you have ever been angry with another person, in God’s sight you are a murderer. If you’ve ever lusted, you’re an adulterer.  By nature, your heart is “under sin.”

It may not be popular, but there is very good reason for all of this negative talk about sin.  You see, If we don’t understand how bad the disease is, we won’t seek the cure, whether for ourselves or to share with those who outwardly seem to be “good” or “decent” folks.

“Good” sinners, especially religious ones, are usually the most difficult to reach with the gospel. But Paul, like Jesus before him, talked this way to the most religious people he knew. Paul knew that if we trust in our religiosity and good works, we will not be able to see our need to trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord!

Jeff Frazier