Sermon: "Sinless! ’Cause God Says So" D. Anderson
Gen. 2:7-9,15-17,3:1-7; Ro. 5:12-19; Mt.4:1-11
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God’s word today speaks of the foundation
doctrine concerning how we are saved--the
Doctrine of Justification. Paul proclaims
our justification when he writes by the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man,
death reigned through that one man, how much
more will those who receive God’s abundant
provision of grace and of the gift of
righteousness reign in life through the one
man, Jesus Christ. 18 Consequently, just as
the result of one trespass was condemnation
for all men, so also the result of one act of
righteousness was justification that brings
life for all men. (Romans 5 NIV)
IT WASN’T THAT LONG AGO WHEN Edward M. Davis,
then Los Angeles police chief, told a
Breakfast Club that the United States was on
the verge of--and I quote--"a crime wave like
the world had never seen before." Why? (And
I quote again) "[because of] the new morality
which condones lying, stealing and killing."
(end of quote).
Now let’s see what sense we can make of the
"new morality." If you no longer consider
lying wrong, will it hurt any less if someone
lies to you?
If you no longer call stealing a crime, will
you remain passive when someone wants to come
into your house and carry away your
furniture?
If killing is no longer murder--a legal term-
-then will bullets and knives hurt you or
your loved ones less?
Clearly, a rose, or a rotten egg, will not
change their aroma when called by another
name. Evil actions continue to hurt and
harm, even if they are no longer called
immoral.
What’s happened today? Why don’t we see
morality in the public square? Why is there
so much violence.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn came to the United
States in Exile from the former Soviet Union.
He received the 1970 Nobel Prize for
literature. Speaking at a commencement
address at Harvard University in June of
1978, he compared American morality to a
thin, surface film. Listen to his comment
about how virtuous we act when we feel we can
be criminal without getting caught:
"The center of your democracy and of your
culture is left without electric power for a
few hours only, and all of a sudden crowds of
American citizens start looting and creating
havoc. The smooth surface film must be very
thin, then, the social system quite unstable
and unhealthy." (end of quote)
So I ask the question again: Why don’t we
see morality in the public square? The
answer to this question, I say with deep
meaning and sadness, is that we have lost the
notion of sin within the clear proclamation
of Christendom.
So what does all of this have to do with the
Doctrine of Justification? Very simply said,
if there is no real, hard-core, concrete, and
unholy sin, then everything that I say now,
or the Confessions have said before about
justification, or the Apostle Paul, is
meaningless.
Do you believe that there is such a thing as
sin? I’m serious. This is not a rhetorical
question. Or if you do believe in sin, is
sin merely what other people do?
If you like to steal, is sin everything but
stealing? If you like pornography, is sin
everything but pornography? If you like
casual sex, is sin everything but casual sex?
If you like to gossip, is sin everything but
gossip. If you neglect worship, is sin
everything but neglecting worship?
I MUST TELL YOU FRANKLY, that if you have
started to believe that some of what the
Bible has called sin, is not really sin, than
it’s not a long jump to conclude that all of
what the Bible has called sin, may not be
sin.
And that’s what has happened in Christendom
today! There is very little serious
attention given to what the Bible calls sin,
or to what the Bible calls the dangers of
damnation because of sin.
Against this deceptive and demonic gospel of
Satan, God takes sin very seriously. He has
spelled out the meaning of sin very clearly.
And God will very surely sentence a person to
hell if that individual has only merely one
sin--much less than the millions of sins
which may be accumulated by a person within a
single lifetime.
That’s the true prognosis for each one of us
here today. Sin is so serious to God that He
will not take us into heaven with even one
sin. And any one--any pastor--who relaxes
the code revealing sin--the law of God!--
teaching others to neglect the law of God,
will be, and I quote the Lord Jesus, "Called
least in the kingdom of heaven."
Again the other night, I needed to visit with
Luke, my youngest son, because of his sincere
and earnest desire to make sense of eternity
and what it means to live forever after death
in heaven. How concerned are we that sin is
so serious that it may cause us to live in
eternal separation from God?
If by God’s grace you have taken sin
seriously, or are beginning to do so now,
then how can you be sure of eternal life in
heaven? If even one sin can separate each of
us from God, how can any of us be certain
that heaven will be our final home?
Here is were the doctrine of Justification
comes to our aid--from the heart of God to
each one of us.
Imagine that you are a very bad criminal, who
has been a thug among a family of thugs. You
have stolen... you have cheated... you have
abused... you have spilled innocent blood...
you are a very, very bad man or women! You
are a wicked criminal, and your crimes have
caught up with you.
You have been brought to trial. Your crimes
have been established beyond any doubt. The
judge is about to sentence you to prison and
death by capitol punishment.
You are standing before the judge. He asks
you some surprising questions. "Would you
like your crimes to be credited against an
innocent man who was unjustly killed? In
return, would you like to receive a new
identity, including all of the innocent man’s
past record of virtues and good deeds?"
You look to the judge, and you actually
believe that he is serious. You don’t
understand the offer, but you believe that
he’s telling you the truth. So you say,
"Yes."
After you say yes, it sets in motion a
process.
First, by pronouncement of the judge, you are
set free. All of your crimes are credited to
the other person--an innocent man.
You discover that you are not yet changed in
your moral nature. You might still have lots
of criminal thoughts. You are not reformed.
Although you are not necessarily a better
person yet, your faith in the judge has
confronted you with the notions of
1) the seriousness of your crimes;
2) the meaning of substitution;
3) and the life of a virtuous man.
With some important clarifications, this
illustrates the Doctrine of Justification.
Before history began, God saw in Adam and Eve
a family of thugs and criminals. There was
no way that He was going to take thugs and
criminals into His mansions! There was no
way He would tolerate even one crime, much
less crimes without number arising from a
planet of thugs.
God has not given us a "new morality" that
lets sin slide. Nothing is excused by God...
nothing wrong is accepted. Every one who
sins must die.
But God, in a special love which is not
deserved or earned--it is called ’grace’--
decided to pin the crimes of all the thugs of
planet earth upon the Person of another
planetary being, but also the Son of God.
In the death and resurrection of Jesus, God
showed the seriousness of sin--that it cannot
be excused... forgotten.... swept under the
cosmic carpet.
In the death and resurrection of Jesus God
dealt with the sin of our entire planet.
Christ died for every single person... and
there is enough grace so that every person on
this planet could be saved.
But there remains the element of faith.
Christ died for each person, but only those
individuals will be saved who believe God’s
promise to forgive sins in the cross and open
tomb of Jesus. All others are eternally
lost.
When (or now) as you believe in Jesus Christ
as your Substitute--your Savior, God
declares you acquitted. No ifs, and, or
buts! I don’t care what you have done! When
you believe God, He says "Sinless! ’Cause I
say so!"
Does that mean that the repentant criminal
before heaven feels instantly more moral... I
doubt it, any more than an acquitted criminal
becomes instantly a good citizen.
When God declares each of us righteous...
pure... sinless... and free from penalty,
that doesn’t make us more moral. It does,
however, begin the process of our
sanctification.
When one claims the Grace of God given within
the horrible death and glorious resurrection
of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit has brought
about that faith and moves that person to be
fruitful in good deeds to the glory of our
Father in heaven.
That’s why you must not doubt God’s grace
when you consider your lack of moral virtue.
Read again Romans 7 where the Apostle Paul
confesses his moral failures. Cling again to
the righteousness of Christ which is cloaked
upon you as a robe, and presents you
completely holy and pure before God.
Ask that the Holy Spirit, who has brought you
to faith, that He may also make you fruitful
to the glory of God by defeating sins and
encouraging good deeds in Christ Jesus.
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, one
last, but very important point concerning the
Doctrine of Justification. By what has been
said, some people turn faith into a good
work. I can be tempted to think that God
must forgive me BECAUSE OF my faith.
Against this the confessional writers point
out that faith is not a merit. We are not
justified on account of our faith, but
through faith.
When I was studding Biblical archeology in
the Mideast, I saw a large Roman aqueduct
built to carry water to an inland city.
Water did not originate in the aqueduct to
flow to the city. The aqueduct was built to
carry water to the city.
Even so, the Holy Spirit is the author and
builder of our faith, and through the faith
which God gives to us, comes justification--
the total, instantaneous and complete
forgiveness of our sins--the Robe of Christ’s
righteousness.
So leave today thanking God for the gift of
His Son who took your crimes upon His body
and soul in the cross.
Thank Jesus Christ, Son of God now reigning
in heaven, for enduring the agony which our
crimes inflicted upon Him.
Thank the Holy Spirit for the gift of faith
which allows the substitution of our sin for
Christ’s blood bought righteousness to be
made.
May the Holy Spirit increase your faith, and
move you to be more fruitful in good works to
the glory of God our Father in heaven.
No longer look to your filthy rags in despair
AND no longer call filthy rags clean.
Instead, look to the cross of Christ in faith
and know for certain your sins ARE!-not
"might be"-- but ARE totally and completely
forgiven.
The hope of our nation and our planet will
not come from denying the reality and danger
within sin, but by the Holy Spirit who makes
virtuous individuals as they are declared
righteous in Jesus Christ. To Him, with the
Father and Holy Spirit, be all thanks and
glory. Amen.
