Soli Deo Gloria

One of my friends is in seminary at Southwestern and has a blog he calls “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing”. I was talking with him today and we were discussing the “s” word. Yep, that’s right… sin. We were discussing the state of evangelical Christianity today and the lack of focus on sin and the proper attitude we should have towards sin. (When you get two friends who love theology on the phone talking about theological topics you know we’re going to start delving into the Bible.) After I hung up with him I got to thinking more about the title of his blog and how our attitudes as Christians should be when it comes to the topic of sin. So… why should we be “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing”?

First, let me start by saying that I am a puritan at heart. Many of my friends call me “Puritan Jay” and of all the labels theologians like to give people being called a Puritan is one I gladly will wear. The theology of the puritans is profound. Unlike today’s culture, the puritans had a solid Biblical understanding of sin in their lives and the impact sin has. They saw sin the way the Bible correctly portrays it. One of my favorite Puritan title’s is Jeremiah Burrough’s “Evil of all Evils“. His book title sums up what sin is - it is the evil of evils. In fact the opening page of his book paraphrases Job 36:21 as follows:

“That it is a very evil choice for any soul under heaven to choose the least sin rather than the greatest affliction.”

This is a profound statement. Do we think that way today? Does the evangelical church today teach and preach on the utmost evil of sin. I am hard pressed to find many pastors in mainstream Christianity that do. Only in your more reformed churches do we find good expositional preaching and teaching with a focus on sanctification and mortification of sin. In fact, the idea of sanctification and mortification of sin are probably foreign terms to most Christians today. Churches today are more concerned about growth and competitions on who has the largest church with the best looking people. To some churches, the thought of teaching the evils of sin brings the idea that they may actually lose church membership in doing so. Have they not considered that those who leave the church under those circumstances were most likely not regenerated believers?

Christians need to remember that it is our sin that sent our Savior to the cross. It was our sin that was laid on the perfect, holy Son of God and because of that sin our King bore the wrath of God that we as believers so deserve. And let me make something perfectly clear - our Holy God didn’t have to save us. He chose to save His elect for His glory alone. If only one person in all eternity is saved that is grace for we all deserve the bowels of hell for our sin. Salvation is of the Lord!

The cup Jesus was so dreading to drink in the garden of Gesthemane was not the nails, the cat of nine tails, the crown of thorns or the brutal beatings. Don’t get me wrong - these things are horrible and crucifixion is a horrible way to die - but many were crucified before Christ and many after. Tradition has it one of the disciples was crucified upside down. Our Lord Jesus, with all of His humanity showing prayed fervently three times for the cup to be removed. Most importantly, Jesus knew that His crosswork was ordained before the world was created and thus we hear Him say “not as I will but as You will.” That cup was the outpouring of the wrath of our Holy God on His Son. In essence, in a way our finite minds cannot truly grasp, God poured His wrath out on the only person that could atone for the sins of the world - Himself. God is a just God and must punish sin. Jesus took our place and bore the wrath of God. To any true Christian this thought alone of Jesus sweating drops of blood in anticipation of and bearing that wrath should give us a healthy understanding of God’s holy hatred of sin.

Christians today don’t seem to have a growing hatred of sin. In fact, I believe that our relationship with sin is one evidence of a true conversion to Christianity. As part of the sanctification process our awareness and hatred for sin should increase as we grow more Christ-like. We are all too quick to trust in a decision, signing a card or “walking the isle” to “prove” our Christianity. Let me be brutally honest - your trust should be in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. (Solus Christus) Don’t even trust in your faith. Faith is an instrument. Second, we are to test ourselves to see if we are in the faith. Paul writes the church in Corinth:

“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” - 2 Cor. 13:5.

One such test is our relationship to sin!

Sanctification is the one step in the ordo salutis that is synergistic. Sanctification requires our cooperation and working with the Holy Spirit to sanctify our walk and make us more like Jesus. Sure we will fall - we are sinful creatures and our fallen nature is still intact even after regeneration but the trend of a Christian walk should be a progressive increase in holiness. How should a Christian view himself in this world? Simul Iustus et Peccator - “at the same time righteous and a sinner”.

This gets me to my friend’s blog title - “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing”. The more I ponder this passage from 2 Cor. 6:10 the more I am convinced this is also magnificent description of the Christian walk. Jesus in the beatitudes says “blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” - Matt. 5:4 This is obviously a mourning over sin and the helpless condition we are in. Our reliance is totally on the atoning work of Christ Jesus and His imputed righteousness we receive from Him through our repentance, faith and trust in Him. As a Christian grows closer and closer to Christ through the miracle of sanctification their awareness of and hatred for sin greatly increases. All the while a true Christian’s joy is ever increasing as “in everything we are enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge…” (1 Cor. 1:5) Our joy increases as we know Him more and more every moment of our lives. We always rejoice even in suffering knowing that our Lord will return to make things new and we will “see His face”. - Rev. 22:4

The closer we grow in Christ the more we should have a holy hatred for sin in our lives and in the lives of those in the body of Christ. The thought of sinning against our God and Savior should terrify us. Have you challenged your Christian brothers and sisters to keep you accountable to sin?

I want to clear something up as well. What I am about to expound on should not even need to be discussed if it weren’t for the day and age we live in where the true Gospel message has become so distorted and watered down that most church goers today have no idea what the true Gospel is. The point I want to stress is that our hatred for sin is part of sanctification. Before regeneration we are slaves to sin. After regeneration we are slaves to righteousness. The social gospel and all works based religions will tell you that you must clean up your act in order to be saved. That’s not the Gospel. That’s heresy. The Gospel is that Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, came to this earth fully God and fully man and took on your sins on the cross, bore the wrath of God, shed His precious blood for the forgiveness of your sins (Hebrews 9:22), was approved by the Father by Jesus’ resurrection and through repentance, faith and trust in the person and work of Christ you are justified, adopted and receive the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ Himself. In essence, as a Christian when God looks on you He sees not your sin but the perfect righteousness of His Son. And all of this we do not deserve nor can we merit on our own. This is amazing grace! The life-long process of sanctification (whereas Christ’s Spirit indwelling the believer makes us more and more holy and like Jesus) follows regeneration and is a natural, required process of the order of salvation. We are new creatures in Christ and it should show.

We should have a growing sorrow for sin and such a hatred for sin that we want to kill it, detest it and do everything to prevent it from occurring. Just like Samuel hewed King Agag to pieces (1 Sam. 15:20-33) we are to do the same thing to sin in our lives.

John Owens (probably the most well known Puritan) writes in his book “Mortification of Sin in Believers” (mortify in 17th century English means “to kill”):

“Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.“

I want to end this post with a quote from Michael Horton’s book “Putting Amazing Back into Grace“…

“Thus, “simultaneously justified and sinful” is the biblical remedy. Until we are glorified, we must endure the war within, the conflict between the old and new life. But this war within can be waged when the war without (between God and us) finds a peace settlement. With the heavenly verdict on our side - “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” - we are able to engage in battle [against sin], knowing that the outcome is already decided.”

• If you’re a Christian and all of this talk is new to you I urge you to meditate on the Biblical texts of Jesus and His atoning work on the cross. Read Romans 6:2. Reading Isaiah 53 should bring a Christian to their knees.
• If you’re a pastor, preacher or teacher I urge you to challenge your congregation to realize the seriousness of sin. I challenge you as the pastor to preach and teach your flock about sin and sanctification and stay focused on the full Gospel message. Stray from the “let go and let God” focus that has plagued churches. Focus on your flock and not numbers! Focus on the full counsel of God’s Word not shying from the “tough parts”. One of my favorite quotes concerning preaching is “bad preaching gets applause, good preaching gets questions” - and frankly there is so much truth to that statement. Don’t tickle ears - pierce hearts!
• If you’re not a Christian (hey, you must be interested or you wouldn’t have read this far - and I am thrilled you’re here) please take a moment to check out the page called you have two ways to live.

P.S. - My friend Adam’s blog “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” is just a click away…

Soli Deo Gloria!

- Jay

Daily Walk, Theology