Wednesday July 26, 2017

 

Have you noticed whenever a celebrity, or a social, political, or religious leader acts morally corrupt, they immediately call a press conference to confess that they made a mistake? Those who are victims of the offender’s “mistake” on the other hand don’t think they committed a mistake, they believe the person committed a crime. Think about it; if the person knew what they were doing how could it be a mistake? If their actions were pre-meditated, if they planned it out, how can that be a mistake? Furthermore, how can it be a mistake when they continuously repeat the same bad behavior, over and over again? At some point this stops being a mistake and becomes a sin. A person who knows that what they are doing is wrong but who cannot control him or herself and does it anyway is not a “mistaker”, that person is a sinner.

 

On the basis of this description, I think we can all agree and admit that we are more than “mistakers” we are sinners. We prefer the word “mistake” because sin is a loaded word that declares us guilty with no way out. The biggest problem with sin is that it severs relationships and some of you can testify to this. For example, if your friend or business partner stole money from you, in all likelihood that deliberate act adversely altered your relationship with them forever. If there was infidelity in your marriage, chances are it destroyed the loving and trusting relationship you once had. This is why when Jesus spoke about sin, His goal was not condemnation instead restoration. Jesus knew that because sin breaks relationships, condemnation would never be enough instead what we needed was restoration.

 

When a person declares that they are a sinner, in effect they have admitted that they are guilty and guilty people are condemned for their sins. For this reason we prefer to say that we committed a mistake. The good news is that when you read your Bible, you will find in the text a loving God who is in a relentless pursuit not to condemn sinners but rather to restore a relationship with them. The Bible tells us that God sent his son Jesus into the world not to condemn the world but to save it through his sacrifice on the cross where he was condemned to death to pay the price for our SINS.

 

Luke 5:32 NIV

 

“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”