Sin - Our Universal Dilemma

There are nine days left to Rosh Hashanah. If the Lord comes for His Church on September 29, 2011, how do you know if you'll by ready? Will you be taken, or will you be left behind to face the time of tribulations awaiting the whole world?

It's all about whether we have a relationship with God, and that's about the sin problem you and I have with God. Sin separates us from the love of God. Sin is a violation of divine law. Unforgiven sin brings God's perfect and just wrath and condemnation upon us.

We all know what it is like to feel guilt. We experience guilt when our wrong attitudes, words, or actions have caused harm to someone. The greatest commandments, according to Jesus are to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." When we don't love God and our neighbor as we should, we experience guilt and this is evidence of our sin.

Sin is universal. Nobody is exempt from it. The Bible says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). There are no exceptions.

Unless God changes us, we want to stay just like we are and continue in sin. Jesus said in John 3:19-20, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed."

There are several ways God convicts us of our sin problem. First, God has placed a sense of right and wrong in our hearts.

"Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them." Romans 2:14-15

Secondly, God has given the law (ten commandments) to demonstrate our hopelessness in obeying God's law completely, which is intended to lead us seeking God's mercy and grace. Galatians 3:24 says, "So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith."

But even with our conscience bearing witness against us, we won't change without the power of the Holy Spirit convicting us. Jesus explained the importance of Him ascending to Heaven.

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. (John 16:7-11)

Without the conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit, we ignore what we know to be true due to the power of sin over us. We may rationalize why our sin isn't all that bad. Either we lower God's standard of righteousness that he requires of us so we can meet it, or we overestimate our righteousness. We may just try harder to overcome our past sins, hoping that God will see our sincerity and choose not to take our past sins into account. We may accept false teachings that minimize the consequences of sin or even dismiss the concept of sin altogether. We may accept forgiveness that has not been given because it's not based in faith in Christ. Or we may ignore the problem of sin and hope for the best.

Of course, none of the above methods of handling our sin problem works to truly reconcile us with God. The cost, however, of not reconciling with God, is enormous. Ezekiel 18:20 says, "The soul that sins shall die" , Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

In speaking to the religious rulers of Jesus day, He said, "I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.” (John 8:24)

Those who do not follow Jesus's words will face the White Throne Judgment. In Rev 20:11-15, we read:

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Mankind's dilemma is clear. God is Holy and perfect, and He requires man to be holy and perfect too. But man is sinful and cannot meet the just demands of a Holy god. So God, because of His great love for us, will give every person either the justice they deserve (eternal separation from Him and punishment in the lake of fire) or His mercy, grace, and forgiveness, which they don't deserve, but God is willing to freely give.

Sin is the bad news, but the good news (the gospel) is that God has solved our sin problem if we will only trust Him. The next three blog entries will discuss the person of Christ, the work of Christ to save us from our sins, and the way to personally receive salvation. Only those who are saved from their sins will be raptured when the Lord returns.