For All Have Sinned

Last week, I wrote about the Christian concept of being “born again.” But what is the purpose of this spiritual rebirth? Why is it necessary? The reason is simple, but you won’t necessarily like it. The reason you have to be “born again” is because the YOU 1.0 is broken and you need a brand-new holy spirit-filled YOU 2.0. In biblical language, you are a sinner. The equivalent in modern terminology may be something like this: You are a failure.

Harsh, isn’t it? Examine your actions and your heart: certainly there are things to be proud of, but also things in your past or even your present which cause you enormous regret and shame. Maybe there’s a problem or action that you have been trying to overcome for YEARS with no success. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, That which I hate I still do (Romans 7:15).

Don’t miss this important point: EVERYONE is a sinner. We’re all in this together, man. Some “holier-than-thou” people have the false impression that they are above others because of how well they are able to keep rules. But the Bible is clear: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The apostle Paul himself declared that he was a “wretched man” and the “chief of sinners.” Not just in the past either – note the present tense in his language; see Romans 7:24, 1 Timothy 1:15.

I’m not that bad! I never killed anybody!

Other people think that because they haven’t committed a major crime that they are guiltless. They may say, I’ve never killed anybody! But Jesus says to look beyond outward actions and go straight to the root of the problem: the heart. He says that if you’ve ever had hatred in your heart toward your brother, you’re as guilty as a murderer! (Matthew 5:21-22) Never committed adultery? Jesus says that if you’ve ever had lust in your heart, then you’ve already committed adultery in your heart! (Matthew 5:27-28).

The problem that people have is not with the outward actions. We can train a chimp to do certain actions and we can train ourselves from childhood to behave a certain way. But that doesn’t change the inclinations of the heart. You can appear perfect to the outside world, but inside be a completely different person. That is called hypocrisy, my friends. You may be fooling a lot of people, but you’re not fooling yourself, and you’re not fooling God.

So, should we just try harder to be good?

You could try, but it would be like cleaning the outside of the cup and leaving the inside dirty (Jesus hammers this point home powerfully in Matthew 23:25-28). Jesus says you would merely be like a well-polished tomb: outside you may appear clean, but inside you’re still full of dead men’s bones. Wow.

The biblical truth is that you can’t change your own heart. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” (Jeremiah 13:23)

No amount of Oprah-endorsed self-help books will fix you in any meaningful way. It doesn’t matter how white your shirt is on a Sunday morning, that doesn’t change the brokenness inside. All I can do here is speak from my own experience: the old hatreds and the old lusts will linger and they will eat you from the inside out. You must be born again by kneeling before the Lord Jesus Christ and putting your life in his hands.

So, as “sinners,” should we feel guilty all the time?

The purpose of this concept is NOT to initiate a perpetual state of guilt in you. Some religious systems like you to feel perpetual guilt because it creates dependence upon the institution, demanding that you return to them week after week for forgiveness, offering special ceremonies that they tell you are essential for you to be forgiven. Wolf in sheep’s clothing alert! That is NOT what Jesus says. Special rituals done for forgiveness are called “ordinances,” which the Bible says were contrary to us and were nailed to Jesus’ cross! (Colossians 2:14). Rather, Jesus made ONE perfect sacrifice which is able to save us once for all. “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14; see also verses 11-12)

The guilt we feel at the realization of our sin shows us in a powerful way our own dependence upon our creator. It is meant to get us to turn to God for help, to lead to repentance and conversion. After you are born again, the guilt is GONE! (I have felt this amazing grace for myself, as have millions of other born again Christians around the world. God will lead you as you come to him in repentance, and you will be washed by the renewing of the spirit). That doesn’t mean you will never feel guilt again; God continues to work on you after you’re born again, and that sometimes means convicting you for any old habits that remain. However, the good news is that there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Now we can go boldly before the throne of grace because Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 4:16; 7:25). But it all starts with a deep realization of your own sinfulness, your own spiritual helplessness, your own miniscule ratio before the divine.

Closing thoughts

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9)

Maybe you can relate to the scenario presented in the Bible. Maybe there is something about your nature which is acceptable to the world but makes you feel damaged and hopeless. Maybe your efforts to change yourself have proven fruitless. Maybe you’re tired of appearing good to the world while knowing that you are much different in the secrecy of your private thoughts. We can’t just scrub at the outside of the cup; Jesus tells us we have to go to him for renewal from the inside out! You must be born again! See last week’s blog post for a discussion about what that means:  http://eph1-17.blogspot.ca/2013/07/born-again.html.

As always, thank you for reading. Next time I will conclude this little series on being “born again” by discussing the consequences of giving your life to God! Praise God for his amazing grace! God bless you.

Christians and Homophobia

Normally this blog is not a venue for discussing current events, but one news story came to my attention which I believe needs to be addressed in a Christian context.

Last week, a lesbian couple in Kingston, Ontario received threatening letters demanding that they leave town. The author went so far as to threaten shooting the couple with BB guns (one news report can be found here: http://kingstonherald.com/news/threatening-letters-kingston-2010311764). The reason I want to discuss this disturbing case here is because the author professed to be a Christian and even ended the letter “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our saviour.”

Thankfully, the public has almost unanimously come out in support of this couple and has publicly condemned the threats. I would like to add my voice of support for these women and condemn the threats. It really should go without saying that this kind of action has no place in Canada, but as long as incidents still arise, apparently it still needs to be said: this kind of treatment of any individual for any reason has NO place in Canada.

More importantly for the purpose of this blog, the kind of darkness that these threats represent should have NO place among Christians. I’m sure most readers know that this is an unusual manifestation of “Christianity,” especially in Canada. These sick individuals in no way represent the Jesus Christ that I know, or the Christianity that I profess.

I believe Christians especially need to be talking about this kind of thing. We need to make sure this kind of darkness never has a sanctuary among our ranks. We can’t just ignore it or brush it aside. As the Bible says, we must “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.” (Ephesians 5:11-13) It can’t just be the secular media talking about this, but we as Christians need to be willing to talk about it openly as well. We have to bring these works of darkness into the light to expose and defeat them.

It is most troubling to Christians when people do terrible things in Jesus’ name. Jesus said that many people would falsely claim to act in his name: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:22-23)

I usually do not feel comfortable assessing whether someone is a true Christian or not (we leave that judgement to God), but the Bible provides an interesting clue which I think is applicable here: “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.” (1 John 2:9) If there is anyone who claims to be following Jesus who still has this kind of hate in their hearts, we need to treat them with care and try to show them the true love and grace of God. Only then can they experience genuine conversion through Jesus Christ.

Any discussion on Christianity and homosexuality would be incomplete without being upfront about the Christian position on the matter. We have to be clear that male-female monogamy is the pattern instituted by God, and that homosexuality is a departure from God’s will – but so are a number of other things: serving other gods, dishonesty, and divorce, for example. We don’t see divorcees receiving the kind of horrendous treatment “in the name of Jesus” that we have with the LGBT community. The “Christians” who target LGBT people this way have bought into a number of dangerous fallacies, including the following: 1) the politicization of the church, towing some ultra-conservative political agenda rather than bringing souls to Jesus (remember, Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world), 2) the idea that there is a “sin-scale” where some sins are worse than others (remember, Christians, if you have broken one part of the law, you have broken it all. See James 2:10. That makes us all guilty of every sin, and it means that each of us needs God’s forgiveness as much as anybody else).

Closing thoughts

To Christians: check your heart. If you have this kind of hatred toward the LGBT community or anybody else, go to God for forgiveness. If you have been saved by the grace of God, remember to share that same unconditional love with everyone you know regardless of their affiliation.

To the LGBT community: I am sorry that we as Christians have failed you for so long. We were called to love, and instead we have condemned, judged, and made afraid. I hope that the actions of some so-called “Christians” will not taint your perception of the one we profess to follow. If you read Jesus’ words in the gospels you will see his heart and will for humanity – something that we should have been reflecting. We have a ways to go. I hope you will see more and more Christians shedding our medieval baggage and returning to the pure example that Jesus set for us in the first place. And I hope you can forgive us. God bless you!

Born Again

Back at the keyboard! A month has gone by since my last blog post – I’ve been busy with a move, travelling, and a subsequent lack of internet connection. If all goes well, I hope to resume the habit of posting once a week. So stay tuned.

What does it mean to be “born again”?

2,000 years ago, a man named Nicodemus came to Jesus in the middle of the night. He was a part of the Jewish religious group called the Pharisees, who had a public dislike for Jesus; but Nicodemus had become convinced that there was more to Jesus than he had previously thought. So in the middle of the night he approached Jesus in secret. It was then that Jesus told him what he had to do: “Ye must be born again.” When asked to clarify, Jesus goes on to say, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6-7)

How is someone “born of the Spirit”? Nicodemus had the same question, to which Jesus responded by pointing to himself! Read on in John 3 and you will find the now best-known Bible verse: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) We are born again when we look to Jesus solely and wholly for our salvation, and are regenerated by his Spirit.

Do I have to be perfect to come to Jesus?

No. That’s the point – Jesus saves you because you can’t save yourself. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” (Titus 3:5). It’s purely an act of his grace that we can be saved, not by anything that we can do.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Too many people have the false impression that Christianity means joining a holy club and doing everything just right in order to please God. The fact is that each person has fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), but the good news (the “gospel”) is that Jesus did all the work that ever needed to be done, and he offers the results to us as a gift (Romans 6:23).

What happens after someone is born again?

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Being saved by God’s grace doesn’t mean you say a prayer one day and just go about business as usual. It means a life-changing decision to follow Jesus, listening to his voice, and allowing him to shape you from the inside out.

Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

Everything changes. Where the world says love your friends and hate your enemies, Jesus says, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you” (Matthew 5:44). Where the world values material possessions and wealth, Jesus says, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21).

Jesus calls us to a radical transformation where sin dies, love reigns, and priorities are realigned to God’s purposes.

Closing thoughts

You must be born again. If the concept is foreign to you, I hope this serves as a basic introduction. Check back to this blog later for further discussion on the Christian life! In the meantime, pick up a Bible (if you don’t have one, you can read for free online at websites such as biblegateway.org) and see what Jesus is all about! If you have very little experience with the Bible, I recommend you start with the Gospel of John.