Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Guilty As Sin

"You're as guilty as sin!"


We have all, no doubt, heard that saying before. I know while growing up that I heard it many times. When I was caught doing wrong, it was sure to be exposed to me, I got called out on it and shown what wrong I had committed. And after that happened, it brought upon the guilt and shame of committing the act(Sometimes). Although I was only a child growing up, my guilt throughout my life has not changed. I think the crimes have changed a little though. Into my adult life, albeit my 31 years so far, I've committed lots of acts and "Crimes" not only to people in my life but also to the Creator of my life, God alone. I just wish now that I can have the more simple crimes of my childhood more such as beating up my sister, stealing candy or pick up trucks from the toy section at the grocery store, or throwing apples and aluminum cans at passing cars, etc.

When my sin becomes exposed to the world, the shame of it has so much heaviness on my life. Can I turn back and change things that I've done? Nope. To late for that now. Can I change the crime? Nope. Too late for that as well. Many of the rapists, murderers and the like that sit in prison or on "Death Row" would no doubt love to change the crime that was committed that landed them in their current situation. Sadly, the gavel has already come down and judgment has been set. Now, they are just waiting to die.

Funny as it may seem, we are all waiting to die. John Piper said "World death rate holds steady at 100%." We're all going to do that same thing. Die. The shortness, or temporariness, if that's even a word, of this life is the reality as we walk through this world. The current, more updated statistic is that 164,000 people die every day across this world. When sharing with someone the life changing message of the Gospel, I usually use the number 150,000 people. I suppose it comes out easier.

(That's another topic of conversation all together. Click on the "Hell's Best Kept Secret" link up top BUT NOT YET!!!! It's the "Hottest" message going around today.)

Anyway, back to sin. More specifically, my sin. (Use NeedGod.com to help examine your sin.) It's always been my desire to do my best to live a holy life ever since my conversion in August of 1993. That being my "Second" birthday. The more important one. However, and sadly, I fail often. It's been my desire to live a life "Worthy of the Gospel" as the Apostle Paul so well put. I, again, fail often. The point of conversion and becoming a "Born Again" Christian, as if there was a different type of Christian, is a God-given change in direction. It's not a life of perfection. Does becoming a Christian give us a great life? Nope. It could, but that don’t mean it will. That's a false message given by many modern day "Happiness" preachers today and in return, gives them bigger paychecks. (They know how it works)

I think Todd Friel, host of Wretched Radio, put it best. (www.WretchedRadio.com) In a message given years ago he said this:

"The Christian walk is not about perfection (1 John 1:8), but it is about direction. The believer will grow in holiness. If we are not growing in holiness, we might not be a true Christian. We ought to be holier than we were last year. We won't reach perfection until God brings us to glory, but we ought to be moving in that direction."

So that begs the question: am I living a lifestyle of holiness? Biblical holiness? If I died today, God forbid (though I deserve it), could I stand before God and have him look at me and say "Well done Chris. You've done just a wonderful job of living for Me since I called you out of darkness 18 years ago. Welcome to the glories of heaven."

No!!

I deserve hell! I deserve the greatest wrath, judgment, and the most outer, darkest place and the eternal separation from God that one could ever get. Why? Because of my SIN! The violation of God's law, the ten commandments.

I screw up. Alot. My sin puts me at a separation of my relationship with God. However, God tells us to "Examine ourselves and see if we're in the faith...." I do, do that. I do that in two ways. I read God's word. I do my best to be plugged into it daily. After all, we are to meditate on it day and night. Well, I don't always ready daily. But I do read His word given to all humanity more often than not. While doing so, I do my best to compare myself to His word. Although I fail and fall greatly, I try to put myself in Paul's shoes. Walking the walk that he walked. Have I suffered the persecution that he did? By no means. But upon his conversion on the road to Damascus, he became forgiven of every act of anger against God and fellow man (Remember, he was a murderer of Christians) He became sold out, radical, if you will, for the Lord Jesus Christ. He lived a life in such a way that no one else on this earth could probably live. He was so humble. Yet so charged up. He lived a life "Worthy of the Gospel" (His words) but would probably tell you today that he wishes he could have done more. That he didn't do enough. We, obviously, would disagree.

I also compare myself to other Christians in my life. Is that always right? No. However, it helps me to evaluate myself. I find a lot of comfort in family. Also in friends. I gets lots of comfort and guidance from my Christian friends on Facebook as well. And also from a person I don't know that well, but have come to know him very well. A man named Tony Miano of Living Waters. He is a great example of a Godly husband, friend, and evangelist. I admire him alot for his knowledge and his walk with Christ. I get much through my pastor and local body of believers. Where I attend church, I have so many wonderful people that I know, trust, and love. I have many people that attend my church that I look to as examples and some of them even mentors. Why? Because from all outward appearances, they live a life that is holy, Godly, free from the bondages of sin, and "Worthy of the Gospel". So, I look to them. I go to them for wise counsel, advice, help with struggles in my life, marriage, finances, my walk with Christ, job situations, and other things. They are always there to lend a listening ear when others don't, and to freely give a non judgmental approach and even a welcomed judgmental approach, to my situations. These are much needed so that I can "Grow" right.

How can I grow "Right"? Well, upwards. I laugh and think about how some trees and plants will grow completely to the left or the right instead of upwards. I find it odd. If my Christian walk was reflected that way, well, I wouldn't be getting anywhere closer to God. And just as a child grows UP, we as Christians are to grow up in the ways and knowledge of The Lord. The more we grow upwards, the closer we get to God and maturity in Christ.

Now, with all that being said, what makes me examine my self? What would be out there in this world that would keep me from growing in holiness? Sin. Gross, disgusting, putrid, vile, ugly, raunchy, tumor causing, life staining, puking habits and non habits of sin. Someone once said selfishness is a good way to look at it. SelfIshNess. See the S...I..N..??? Living for my self. Seeking the desires of my own flesh and body. Wanting to do things my own way instead of the way God wants me to do things. What's the hit song they sing in hell today? "I did it MYYYYYY way!" by Frank Sinatra perhaps. Because it's true. Our bodies want to do things sometimes our hearts don't wanna do. And knowing that they are wrong, we do them anyway and often feeling the guilt afterward. How much more is the guilt that comes even before the sin takes place knowing its wrong? So much more! But man, sometimes we just don't listen to our conscience. Even though we know things and it shows us that we are wrong because of it. (Romans 2:15) Sadly, we just do it anyway.

So as I look back over the years and see my sometimes holy, sometimes unholy walk with Christ and the times of drought and despair and lack of growth in Him, I think to myself......why? Why do I do the things I do? Paul had thoughts like that as well. "I find myself doing the things I don't want and not doing the things I do want to do." (Not sure the reference for it) But I hate it. I hate doing things that don't please God. I hate doing things that don't please my wife, kids, friends, family, and as I learned last week, my own church. I'm accountable to my local body of believers, and my sin truly does effect the whole body. I bring it all on myself though. Do you ever think about even the way a dog crosses the road? I like what Ray Comfort said in this analogy.

"A dog will wander onto a freeway oblivious to the danger. His tail wags as he steps between cars without a second thought. Cars swerve. Tires squeal. The noise is deafening as vehicles smash into each other. The sleepy dog stops wagging his tail for a moment and looks at the pile of smoldering, broken cars on the freeway. His expression betrays his thoughts. His bone-burying brain doesn’t realize for one moment that he is responsible for the disaster."

How true is that?? He does not have the conscience "Bearing with" as we humans do.

Early in chapter 8 of the Gospel of John we see the scribes and the Pharisees bring the woman caught in adultery to Jesus. Starting in vs. 2 it reads:

“Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst..” (John 8:2-3 ESV)

These holier than thou Pharisees wanted to have this woman judged for the act that she had done. Bringing her to Jesus as if to say "Look at this woman! Look at what SHE has done! What a disgrace! Rabbi, you must condemn her!" Did they say that really? No, those are my words. I'm thinking though that was their attitudes towards Jesus about this woman. And just like that dog that Ray spoke of above, when man wanders onto the freeway of sin, his tail wags with happiness. He thinks that this is what he was made for. His thoughts of any repercussions for his actions are shallow, if anything at all. His mind wanders into lust, then predictably he wanders onto the path of adultery. Suddenly a disaster sits before him. His marriage is shattered, his name is slurred, his children are twisted and scarred, and his testimony before men becomes jeopardized and put in question. But like the dumb dog, he doesn’t realize for one moment that he is solely responsible for the disaster by his sin. Sometimes even blaming others not wanting to own up.

I've been there. I've done that. I've been that guy. No, I've not committed adultery in my marriage. Nor would I ever. Am I capable of it? By all means yes. And every other sin. However, I love my wife more than my own life, and would never want to do that to her. But I have done things to hurt her before. And lots of people for that matter. Am I proud of that? No. It grieves me. You (I) don't think about it though. You (I) live for the moment not realizing the consequences of them later.

Let's move to verse 4:

"they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery."
(John 8:4 ESV)

So here they are pointing out the sins of this woman. Was she caught? Yes. Was she guilty? Yes. Was there prideful, arrogant way or presenting her the best way to do it? No. They saw themselves as self righteous Pharisees. They wouldn't admit their own sins and wrongs before Jesus. Although, He already knew them. But just think about how we do that very same thing. We're so quick, atleast I am, to point out the sins and faults of others, the specks in their eyes when I have an entire lumber yard in my own. We've ALL been "Caught" in sin. (Romans 3:23) So this applies to you and I as well. God is a witness to every evil deed we’ve done, and He will bring every work to judgment, including every secret thing, whether it is good or evil. That should terrify us! But nowadays, it just doesn't. Maybe it's just me. I dunno. We should be living our lives in such a way that Romans 2 should be in our mindset. We should live with the mentality of:

"God the Just Judge of all the world is going to judge all people according to what they have done. And He is going to pour out His anger and His wrath on everyone who practices evil deeds and who refuses to repent and lives for themselves. There will be trouble and calamity on that day.” Romans 1:18 - 2:8 (summation)

That should scare us. It scares me. Although sometimes I don't live it. Why? Because I live for me. Myself. My wants. My needs. It's wrong. However, that's not my desire. My ultimate desire to live for Christ. Paul said "For to live is Christ and to die is gain." So are we living the life that we're to be living? It's hard to point those ten commandments at ourselves to examine ourselves. But do it anyway, examine yourself.

So to end this out, as I've forgotten where I've wanted to go with this, I just want to say we need to take seriously the practice of examining ourselves. (Oh yeah! I remember!) Our lifestyle. Does our walk match our talk? Or are we full of deceit? I've come to grips with some lies in my life and I had to address many of them as of late. My heart hurts. I've had to do some changing in my life recently because of them. So over the last couple months, I've been really down a lot in my life. Because of sin. I'm having to deal with consequences of them. I'm now becoming very sensitive to sin. Paul Washer said "If we have a new relationship with God, we have a new relationship with sin." "He who practices sin is of the devil 1 John tells us. So it's had it's way of "Finding me out" so to speak. And I suffer on the inside because of it. Recent stuff? No. I came to this realization many months ago and have been doing my best to live for Him since. However, I thought I could just sweep things "Under the rug" so to speak. And I couldn't.

The book of James talks of "Confessing your sins to one another, praying for one another, and healing will begin." I think about that verse a lot now as I’ve had to live it recently. What good it has done to be able to do it though. To live it. I want to live a life that is pleasing to God. I want my life to show the assurance of being born again. Assurance of repentance. One that is continuing to repent even today. One that is "Upward" bound. One that is continually walking with Him every day. I don't want my children to bear the load of their daddy's life. I don't want my wife to have to deal with the hurt, sorrow and pain of my sin. I am responsible for me and also for her as my wife and my children. But the only person that I can truly change is me.

I like the old saying "You're never closer to God than when He is pruning you and cutting off the dead limbs." (John 15) That implies as a tree farmer having to be right there at the tree or bush and in direct contact with it as he is pruning it. And that's true. God works in the lives of His people to work "All things together for good." And He is certainly doing a work in me for my good. So I take comfort knowing that He is that much closer in times of need and also of growth.

So,in closing, I want to encourage you to learn patience. If you’re a Christian, you already have it. (Galatians 5) So learn it. Live it. I need to as well. Probably more than you. But learn how to put it in to a true practice in your life. I’m trying. Do you ever think about the patience of a farmer? Put into practice the patience of a farmer. It helps. Learn to be patient even when your circumstances are beyond your control.

James 5 gives us "Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits....."

How much control does the farmer have about how much sunlight will come and how much rain? Zero. I don't know when the rain is going to come. I don't know how much. I don't know if there is going to be sunshine, or cloudy days. All I know is that there is a God in control of it all. So in my life of "Farming", there are some seasons that are a gonna be little dry. Some are a little rainy. But as I look back over time, I didn't put seeds in the ground and if nothing produced, I didn't get up and move or leave. I waited until the cycle. In doing so, I learned that there are seasons to life. There are seasons to crops. There are seasons to marriages. There are seasons to jobs. There are seasons to ministries. There are seasons with children. And if you bail out early, you may have planted a seed and will never reap the reward for it. So take a lesson from the farmer. He waits. He waits for the land to do it's valuable work. He waits for the crop. It may be autumn now, but spring is coming. So don't give up. Don't give in. God is in control and you are OUT of control. It's hard to own up to that but it certainly changes your perspective when you do. I am learning to learn it today and I will tell you....it's not easy! It's tough! Examine yourself. Step back and take a look at your walk and life. Make sure you are in the faith. Make sure that your lifestyle matches up to it. Live a life of holiness. In Gods eyes and in the eyes of everyone around you. Do the right thing all the time no matter what your flesh wants. Kill it. Die to it. Daily. And take up your cross, daily. It will take patience but with patience comes perseverance.

I've learned alot through a man named Chip Ingram and Living on The Edge. Among many things are these:

We are commanded to be patient even when circumstances are beyond our control. (James 5:7-9)

We are commanded to be patient when our circumstances are unfair and unjust.
(James 5:10)

We are commanded to persevere even when we don't understand why God is allowing
such adversity in our lives.
(James 5:11)

We are commanded to demonstrate our patience and perseverance by keeping our vows and commitments. (James 5:12)

Patience! How are you doing with that today?

I like what my pastor told me recently. "He makes all things beautiful in His time. Not easy, but it pays off in the end." He's certainly right. It's not easy. But it's worth it. God is good. Through it all.

Finally, I leave you with this....pray. Through all your storms in life and all trials, cry out to God. More often than not and without ceasing. Communicate with Him all day long. Express your thoughts, desires, fears, loves,hurts, wants and everything about you to Him. He will exalt you in due time if you humble yourself and submit to Him. Also, pray that in the end, God will use the current season in your life for His glory above all things. Because it will pay off in the end. After all, Romans 8:28 is a believers promise. :)


Katangello,

Chris Salter


This is a song by Tenth Avenue North. I found it a few weeks back and have been listening to it a lot recently. It reflects a lot that is happening in my current "Season". Take a listen and think about it.............



1 comment:

Judy said...

Very well said Chris. Thank you for the post and I'm praying for you. God will always see you through for His glory.

~Judy