That is a fact.
There IS something wrong with you.
Whether it is homosexuality, greed, arrogance, secret sexual fantasies, outright adulterous thought, indifference to the plight of the homeless and poor, idolatry of family or anything else, being lazy, being a poor steward of what God has given you, hating your brother, not loving your enemy, telling lies and half truths, hoarding money and material goods for yourself, etc., etc., etc..
There’s something wrong with me, too.
We are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves. I repeat… we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.
Can we overcome a particular sin here and there? Sure, it happens all the time. God does change people’s lives. But the truth of the matter is that we like sinning.
If you really didn’t want to sin, then you would refrain from it.
So then, what is God after?
How about a little honesty? How about owning up to what you know you really are? How about a little humility? How about a little more of the publican and a little less of the Pharisee?
After all, God knows all about you anyway. He knows who and what you really are. And He loves you anyway. He loves you so much that He was willing to be staked to two pieces of rough timber for you and prayed for forgiveness for you for your part in putting Him up there.
God, in Christ Jesus, loves sinners. He loves full blown sinners. He doesn’t love the fact that you are a sinner, but He does love you. He does forgive you.
If we won’t own up to who and what we really are, then the cross just goes away and the upward and onward project that characterizes the Pharisee begins. And then it’s all about us. The gospel moves over to the sidelines while we perform at midfield, making ourselves into little gods who are at the center of it all.
The Law and the Gospel place God and His forgiveness of sins, His life, and His salvation for us, at the center.
So be thankful, and proclaim this great gift of love for sinners to all who will listen.
Every now and then someone does hear it..and the angels in Heaven rejoice!
__________________________________________________________
Are you making good progress in your battle against sins?
Filed under: Law and Gospel, Sin |
The Old Adam Lives! 
Amen!!! to that post Steve. As for progress… none that I’ve noticed… but… Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Thanks, Patrick!
I guess Jesus’ progress (for us) is enough!
So that’s what you look like……
“For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Romans 7:19-20,24
I, a poor, miserable sinner, pray the kyrie every day. Then I try to do justly, love kindness and walk humbly with my God – and fail. So again, I pray for mercy and forgiveness, and trust in God’s promises.
??pray the kyrie every day?? I’ve never heard this phrase…what is it?
The Greek Kýrie eléison is a petition and a prayer of thanksgiving; an acknowledgment of what God has done, what God is doing, and what God will continue to do. This prayer is refined by Christ Himself in Luke 18:9-14 (KJV) The Parable of The Publican, where we see more clearly the connection to the Jesus Prayer: “God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” (KJV)
(I took this from wikipedia)
“The Law and the Gospel place God and His forgiveness of sins, His life, and His salvation for us, at the center”.
And that is the ONLY thing that allows us to look beyond our failings and our wretchedness – Christ alone is the hope, the only Savior.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But, if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
By daily contrition and reptenence, continuing to drown that old Adam, remembering my baptism when I splash water on my face and look in the mirror every morning.
If there’s something wrong with you…. what are we going to do about it? So the typical Lutheran response might be nothing, otherewise we will be on a projecty… but I heard the word repentance above…. that is something.
I believe, the true Gospel does create a God-produced change in the believer…. it does produce God-produced sanctification.
One major arminian rejection of Calvinism and other reformed denominations (like Lutheranism) is it produces complacency. The major poke from Calvinism and Lutheranism at Arminianism is it is a self-salvation project. I tend to agree with the idea of self-salvation projects but I dont necessarily believe it has anything to do with arminianism. There are many Arminain theologians that are anti-self salvation project pastors.
I liked Steves idea of being real about ourselves… that is huge… but the question is as Lutherans or Lutheresque people can we get complacent because of our theology? Can we become complacent with Grace?
http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sites/sermons2.redeemer.com/files/sermons/
I found a plethora of free Tim Keller sermons here