Sin
The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.
Oscar Wilde 1856-1900, British Author, Wit
Rom 3:21-24
But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; NASU
What is sin? Sin, I’ve heard some say it is an acronym for Self Inflicted Nonsense, now that’s a pretty good definition. John Bunyan a British author from the 1600’s was fond of saying that one leak will sink a ship, one sin will destroy a sinner. What point am I trying to get to today? It is this; so many Christians forget where they come from. We were all at one time the worst of sinners.
Oscar Wilde reminds us this morning that we as blessed saints of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, also have a past. That past was forgiven and we cannot begin to judge others after we have been so graciously forgiven. All of us to some degree or the other have participated in Self Inflicted Nonsense, but for some reason the memory of our nonsense can disappear after a while. Now that is good in one sense, in that we are forgiven and the penalty of those things has been taken away, but we should never forget what we would be, if left to our own devices,.
We have absolutely, NO righteousness manifested in us by our actions or by our complete obedience to what God asks us to do, we, you and I, will always miss something, therefore it takes just one sin, just one leak in our self-righteous ship to sink us, and it will sink us forever. Therefore, we, you and I, have only one hope, and His Name is Jesus. The only righteousness you and I can claim, comes from our knowledge and acceptance of His Grace, free and eternal.
So what is it that causes us to forget our sinful state? It is pride, and a judgmental spirit. We stop at some point in our transformation into the image of Christ and look at someone and say, I am higher, better or more wise than someone else. When we do that then we immediately lose the Grace of Christ, because we have decided to condemn someone else for their sins, while we want to claim the forgiveness of Christ for ourselves. This is a major problem in many “so called” churches. They will look at others with a pitiful look and say, “you just don’t understand.”
Well, I’m with those that don’t understand. I don’t understand why He died for me or why He chose to redeem me. I don’t understand why He suffered and died for me, but, I know that He did, and I know that He loves me and others around me. I know that Christ decided not to condemn me, but to forgive me, and I think that is an attitude that I must continually hold, to stand before my God. Blaise Pascal, a Religious Philosopher once said this of us, “There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who think they are sinners and the sinners who think they are righteous...God Bless.
The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.
Oscar Wilde 1856-1900, British Author, Wit
Rom 3:21-24
But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; NASU
What is sin? Sin, I’ve heard some say it is an acronym for Self Inflicted Nonsense, now that’s a pretty good definition. John Bunyan a British author from the 1600’s was fond of saying that one leak will sink a ship, one sin will destroy a sinner. What point am I trying to get to today? It is this; so many Christians forget where they come from. We were all at one time the worst of sinners.
Oscar Wilde reminds us this morning that we as blessed saints of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, also have a past. That past was forgiven and we cannot begin to judge others after we have been so graciously forgiven. All of us to some degree or the other have participated in Self Inflicted Nonsense, but for some reason the memory of our nonsense can disappear after a while. Now that is good in one sense, in that we are forgiven and the penalty of those things has been taken away, but we should never forget what we would be, if left to our own devices,.
We have absolutely, NO righteousness manifested in us by our actions or by our complete obedience to what God asks us to do, we, you and I, will always miss something, therefore it takes just one sin, just one leak in our self-righteous ship to sink us, and it will sink us forever. Therefore, we, you and I, have only one hope, and His Name is Jesus. The only righteousness you and I can claim, comes from our knowledge and acceptance of His Grace, free and eternal.
So what is it that causes us to forget our sinful state? It is pride, and a judgmental spirit. We stop at some point in our transformation into the image of Christ and look at someone and say, I am higher, better or more wise than someone else. When we do that then we immediately lose the Grace of Christ, because we have decided to condemn someone else for their sins, while we want to claim the forgiveness of Christ for ourselves. This is a major problem in many “so called” churches. They will look at others with a pitiful look and say, “you just don’t understand.”
Well, I’m with those that don’t understand. I don’t understand why He died for me or why He chose to redeem me. I don’t understand why He suffered and died for me, but, I know that He did, and I know that He loves me and others around me. I know that Christ decided not to condemn me, but to forgive me, and I think that is an attitude that I must continually hold, to stand before my God. Blaise Pascal, a Religious Philosopher once said this of us, “There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who think they are sinners and the sinners who think they are righteous...God Bless.
Pastor William
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