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The other day, I shared on this blog the first of six messages I delivered at Covenant Grace Church Penang (CGC) under the theme How Are We Doing? If you want to go back to that message, here it is.
The following is the second installment which deals with sin, its forgiveness, and our conversion.
As I share this, our cities are full of ornaments, light-ups, and other reminders of Christmas. May this message help us remember why Jesus came, lived, and died among us.
Part 2 – CGC Lord’s Day Service on December 8, 2019
Scripture Text for the Message: Romans 3:9-20, Psalm 51, Romans 3:21-26
Introduction
Two Lord’s Days ago, we started to look at the important topic of self-examination, based on a message written by a prominent 19th-Century British preacher by the name of J.C. Ryle. He took up the following question which the Apostle Paul posed in Acts 15:36 as he discussed with Barnabas his plans to visit the churches which the Lord had used them to found: “How are we doing with our souls?”
Are we continuing steadfastly in our faith? Are we growing in grace? Are we moving forward in the faith, or standing still? Are we thriving in the faith, or backsliding?
Whenever we eat, we chew our food and savor its flavors before swallowing it. Likewise, in order to consider such a broad and weighty question such as “How are we doing with our souls?” it is very helpful to break down this question into smaller parts. And thankfully, J.C. Ryle has done just that.
Two Lord’s Days ago, we considered the first three of his broken-down questions:
- Do We Ever Think about Our Souls at All? – Do we realize that our lives will end one day, at a time which we do not get to choose? Do we have a sense of urgency about the salvation of our souls?
- Do We Ever Do Anything about Our Souls? – Are we taking concrete action based on the teaching we receive from God?
- Are We Trying to Satisfy Our Consciences with a Mere “Formal” Religion? – Are we so preoccupied with outward formalities and customs that we neglect putting our hearts and minds into our walk of faith?
Today, we are getting into even more serious matters – forgiveness of sins and our conversion. We may have been a bit disheartened two Lord’s Days ago to hear “bad news” about how we are treating our souls. You and I will hear even more “bad news” today – but this “bad news” is critical to understanding, savoring, and appreciating how great the Good News of Jesus Christ is.
So let’s turn to J.C. Ryle’s fourth question.
Question 4
The fourth question we want to consider is Have We Received the Forgiveness of Our Sins?
If we ever spent any reasonable amount of time in church listening to Biblical preaching, I am sure not many of us would deny that there is something wrong with us. Many of us would readily admit that we are “not perfect”, while some of us might think of ourselves as being not too bad morally.
But when we consider the matter of sin, we must first look at what God requires of us human beings whom He created. Let us go back to the beginning of the Holy Scripture and take a second look at this command which God gave to Adam:
“Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)
This is a very clear and simple command – do not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But we know very well, in the following chapter of the Book of Genesis, how Adam fell to temptation and violated this command. And we are all spiritual descendants of Adam through our Lord Jesus Christ.
In short, all of us must confess that we are sinners. As sinners, we are all guilty before God. Because we are all guilty, we must either have our sins forgiven or be sentenced to eternal damnation. There is no third option.
Now the beauty of the Christian faith is that it provides for us the very forgiveness that we need — full, free, perfect, eternal, and complete. In the Apostle’s Creed, which is arguably the most famous of all the creeds of the Christian church, we say, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins.” This forgiveness of sins has been purchased for us by the eternal Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. He has purchased it for us by coming into the world to be our Savior, and by living, dying, and rising again, as our Substitute, in our behalf. He has bought it for us at the price of His own most precious blood, by suffering in our place on the cross, and making satisfaction for our sins.
But this forgiveness, as great, and full, and glorious as it is — does not become the property of every person automatically just because he or she is sitting in church and hearing Biblical preaching.
The forgiveness of sins is something which each of us must receive individually and personally for oneself. It is something we must grasp by faith and make our own by faith – or else, as far as we are concerned, Christ will have died in vain.
“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36)
Let’s pay close attention to these words. The difference between everlasting life and the wrath of God boils down to only one thing – whether or not we believe in Jesus Christ. It is nothing more than the humble, heartfelt trust of the soul which desires to be saved. Jesus is able and willing to save; but in order for that to happen we must come to Jesus and believe. Everyone who truly believes in Jesus is forgiven and justified, but without believing there is no forgiveness at all.
We might think this is all simple, primary-school stuff, but this is where many people are in danger of being lost forever.
Many people might know in their head that there is no forgiveness of sin except in Christ Jesus. The Apostle’s Creed summarizes so succinctly and beautifully who God is, who Jesus Christ is, who the Holy Spirit is, and what goes into the Christian life. I have been to at least two dozen churches in Japan, and I do not recall a single church where this creed was not confessed out loud.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
But I often felt as though we were simply reading these words as though they are an insurance policy. Do we ever take these words personally? Do we ever confess that Jesus Christ is MY Lord, MY Savior, MY Redeemer, MY priest, MY advocate/defender? According to J.C. Ryle, Martin Luther is known to have said that many people are lost because they cannot use the word “MY” to refer to Jesus Christ – unless we make this very personal, we are lost.
Then, why do we not see Jesus Christ as MY Lord and Savior? This may be a rather audacious thing to do, but in order to get down to the bottom of this vitally important matter I think it is worth at least attempting a root cause analysis.
(1) One possible reason may be because we simply do not see ourselves as sinners. Somewhere in our hearts we think, “I am a serious-minded person” or “I have not literally killed anyone, hurt anyone, cheated on my spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend, played hooky from school or shirked my duties at work” – but how about when we compare ourselves to these words?
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21)
And if we can confidently say that we have not killed anyone, let’s have a look at Heidelberg Catechism and see how we measure up:
Question 106: But does this commandment speak only of killing?
Answer: By forbidding murder God teaches us that he hates the root of murder, such as envy, hatred, anger, and desire of revenge, and that he regards all these as murder.
Who among us has never been guilty of envy, hatred, anger, and desire for revenge or retribution? Certainly I have been! Indeed none of us is righteous (Romans 3:10) – if we do not see ourselves in these words, then Jesus Christ has nothing to do with us!
(2) Another possible reason may be because we do not treat the matter of sin as something deadly serious.
Even if we hear sermons in church every Lord’s Day, it is very much possible to leave it at the church door (in our minds) and keep living as we have been before we heard it.
My best friend from junior high school in South Carolina once told me, “The men sitting in front pews on Sunday are usually the ones who cheat on their wives on the following day.” That is what happens when we do not treat sin as a matter of life and death.
(3) Then, why do we not treat sin as something deadly serious?
This may be because we are too preoccupied with living in the present to think about what happens after we die. But Jesus is very clear about this:
“Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:40-44)
Indeed no one knows when we die – and a terrible judgment awaits us when we die:
“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’” (Luke 16:19-26)
(4) Then, even when faced with this terrible prospect, why do some of us still refuse to think about what happens to us after our death?
Could it be because, whether or not we are believers, we know deep down that we cannot determine where we will go after we die?
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15)
If we are full of dread after hearing all these words about the result of our not repenting of our sins, shouldn’t we all make it personal?
When the prophet Nathan confronted King David with his grievous sin of adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah by cover-up – “Thou art the man!” – David could have killed Nathan on the spot. But instead David confessed on the spot, “I have sinned against the Lord” – and left for us the immortal words of Psalm 51 as testimony of his repentance and God’s forgiveness and mercy.
Let us all take sin – and God’s forgiveness of it – personally.
Question 5
The fifth question we want to consider is, Do We Know Anything, by Experience, of Conversion to God?
If I ask you to define the word conversion, how would you define it?
Some of us might think of conversion as simply the act of being baptized and officially becoming a Christian, a member of the church. I will confess that I once used to think of conversion as such – after all, that definition of conversion is something non-believers can readily understand, right?
But after coming to CGC and hearing the word conversion being used in a different nuance, I started to realize that somewhere deep within I may have been treating “becoming a Christian” as something like obtaining a driver’s license. Was I not deluding myself into thinking that I can drive in whatever way I want to as long as I don’t actually hit another car and hurt anyone?
The Bible teaches us that conversion is something much deeper, much more fundamental than that. Let’s look at some verses together:
“There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’
Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’
Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’” (John 3:1-4)
Here Jesus is telling Nicodemus that he has to be born again in spirit if he is to see the Kingdom of God – but Nicodemus has no idea what Jesus is talking about.
“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:9-11)
Here the Apostle Paul is clearly referring to conversion as the sin dying inside of us and the Spirit of God being poured out to us and dwelling inside of us.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)
These words clearly teach us that conversion is about us being reconciled to God and being in Christ.
We are, by nature, given to hating and disobeying God as stated clearly in Question 5 of the Heidelberg Catechism. Because of that nature, we are also given to hiding from Him when we sin, as Adam and Eve did in Genesis 3:8. Conversion means that very nature being fundamentally changed.
What does that look like? The First Epistle of John Chapter 2 makes it very clear to us:
“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:3-6)
These are very strong, offensive words – if we do not walk like Christ and keep His commandments, says John, we are liars and not converted!
We should also take note of how John says, “By this we know that we are in Him.” In other words, our keeping His commandments – not our outwardly saying with our mouths that “I am a Christian” – is evidence of a life lived in Christ. In a court of law, evidence is everything. When we meet our Maker in His courtroom on Judgment Day and He does not see this evidence of our being converted, He will sentence us to eternal damnation – how dreadful a prospect!
When I think about the matter of conversion, I sometimes suspect that we might be unconsciously treating faith in God as some kind of medical treatment, a pursuit of our own need to feel better. It is normal for us to stop going to the doctor after we are healed of an illness. I have seen numerous young people being baptized into the body of believers but later disappearing from church after they found careers, spouses, or some other form of worldly success. Or they simply became frustrated with the church or disagreed with whatever the pastor, elders, or other office bearers said or did. The church is indeed a hospital for those sick in spirit, but when people leave church saying they “graduated” from Christianity they are in fact engaging in a form of consumerism – when they are finished using the product or service, they have no need for it. Is that an attitude for worshipping God?
When I use the medical analogy, I by no means want to deny the reality of mental illness and other forms of disorders occurring in the human mind. I know from experience that bullying in school and the workplace can wreak significant havoc on the functioning of the human mind. The Bible itself contains examples of mental breakdown, one of the most famous being prophet Elijah wanting to die after he received the message from Queen Jezebel threatening to kill him in retribution for killing the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 19).
And I have been just as susceptible as anyone to this consumeristic attitude. When I was baptized, I was going through a very rough time, having flunked a year in university. I did find solace in the fellowship that church offered me, including meeting brothers in Christ who also went through failures in life. But it took me some time to realize that believing in Christ also involved long periods of loneliness, of going to church alone and going home alone. I had to learn that the Christian walk was more about me facing God and Christ one-on-one and learning to listen to, and trust in, what He spoke to me personally and individually. That learning process will not end until I am called to Christ.
Now I want to turn to one more Scripture text which I believe is highly relevant to the matter of conversion:
“Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’
So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.
So Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?’ And He said to him, ‘Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.’” (Luke 17:11-19)
“Your faith has made you well” – what a recognition of conversion by the Lord and Savior Himself.
Are we like this Samaritan, or are we like the other 9 guys who never came back?
We must invite God to examine us whether we have been truly converted, whether our lives show the fruits of that conversion.
As a result of this examination, we might start to realize – as I did in my younger days – that we are really not converted but rather Christians in name only. Even after years and years of life as a believer, we might be confronted with fundamental misunderstandings or deficiencies in our faith.
If that is the case, let us own up to it. Let us acknowledge it. Let us remember how Nicodemus, who received a thorough scolding from Jesus in John 3 for his utter failure to comprehend what conversion meant, is recognized in the same Gospel for later speaking to the Pharisees in Jesus’s defense (John 7:50) and honored Christ by offering a mixture of myrrh and aloes for His burial (John 19:39).
Jesus came not to call the righteous, but the sinner like you and me (Luke 2:15-17). He has come to seek not those who always stayed with God, but to seek those who were lost (Luke 19:10). It is this Jesus, not our ability to make decisions or do good, who converts us. Let us heed His call, respond like that Samaritan who was healed, and follow Him to the end of our days!
Heavenly Father, we are but helpless, wretched sinners in need of salvation, who cannot stop sinning on our power alone. We cannot live one day unless by your mercy and grace. Grant us the humility to confess our utter neediness. Open our spiritual eyes so that we can see You not as an abstract being, but as OUR personal Lord, OUR personal Savior. And teach us to trust you to do Your work as you convert us from our sinful nature into Your holiness. In Christ’s name, Amen.