This morning we are going to talk about sin. Sin is a topic that we would like to avoid, as the very mention of it exposes a part of us that we would rather not acknowledge. But this aspect of shame allows us to recognize what the Bible says in Romans 3:23 when it says;
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Lk3:23, ESV)
We know this to well.
We see the verse in James Chapter 2 verse 10 that says;
“ For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” (Jm 2:10, ESV)
Translated to be–if you have never sinned, but sin one little time, you are guilty as anyone else.
We are all sinners.
We look at our sin and begin to realize that sin has permeated every area of our life, of our community, and of our world. We are sinners.
Webster’s dictionary says that sin means “an offense against religious or moral laws”. Another definition it gives is that sin is “a transgression of the law of God.” Child Evangelism Fellowship has written my favorite definition of sin which reads; “sin is anything you think, anything you say, or anything you do that makes God happy. “ And this all encompassing definition brings to us the to understand that sin has infected our lives and as James says;
“sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (Jm 1:15, ESV)
Romans 6:23 says;
“For the wages of sin is death,” (RM 6:23a, ESV)
We are sinners and we are doomed to die because of our sin.
But the verse continues it say;
“The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rm 6:23b, ESV)
Sin brings us to our knees sin makes a hardship in our life. Daily I read the newspaper and I see in the wars people are involved in. We look at the human tragedies, of oppression, of senseless killing, and suicides.
We see the headlines that tell us about sin. Then we look closer to home and we see some experiencing the pain of divorce, friends betraying one another, and the moral failings of people we once trusted.
But only leads us to examine our own personal lives. We look at the heartaches that we caused others by our anger, by our pride, by our lust, and we see truly that we are sinners. And as we examine our sin in the light of his perfect Word, we truly see that we deserve death and we deserve hell because we have said things, we have thought things, and we have done things that make God happy.
And we come to this passage in Luke chapter 23 verses 39 through 43. Here we see Jesus on the cross placed in the middle to men.
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Lk 23:32-43, ESV)
What makes the difference is how we get rid of our sin. We make a difference for eternity when we look at this man’s life and see the example of this man in dealing with his sin:
1. He Confess his sin
Verse 40:
40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds…” (Lk 23:40-43, ESV)
What this man is doing is he a saying is; “I do deserve death because I’m a sinner.” Before you are able to handle your sin and allow Jesus to come and wipe away that sin– you have got to come to the point when you realize that you are a sinner.
It is critical that we understand this. We need to move away from our pride and realize that we are living outside of the law of God.
One of the scariest prayers is that you can make is to ask God to expose the sin in you and start opening doors where those sins are hidden.
A couple weeks ago I took the time to polish up my truck. I wanted to do more than just wash it. I wanted to focus on the details. I had been in a class that taught how to detail a car and I wanted to do that with my truck. So I got out the polish, got out the cleaning supplies, got out the rags, and went out to polish my truck. While the biggest areas to polish, of course, is the chrome and chrome wheels. I had forgotten that I had chrome wheels actually—because my truck had never been detailed. As I placed the polish on the chrome and began to polish it out it began to shine. The large areas were fairly easy to polish until when I had to reach into the creases and the folds of the hub to remove the dirt.
Confession is when you allow God to see the deepest most hidden places of your life. It is there that you can call out to God and realize that you deserve death and hell because of the sin in your life.
We see this man hanging on the cross come face-to-face with the realization. He sees that what he had done was wrong and that the very essence of him was sinful. He took a moment to compare to Christ and realized that he was hanging next to a man who was without sin.
The first thing we do to deal with our sin is to confess that sin.
The second thing that we do to deal with our sin is that
2. We need to repent.
Repentance means to turn whatever you were doing and go the other direction. We see this man hanging on the cross–he has lived a life of sin, so much so that he has become condemned to die by the Roman government and as he hangs there; we look at verse 42 and he says to Jesus
42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”(Lk23:42, ESV)
Here is a man who has lived his life without God. Here is a man who has lived his life in crime. Here is a man who has lived his life in sin, and he turns—authentically, desperately–he turns to Christ and he says “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom!”
We need to repent of our sins, in the same way. Repentance is not popular in our prideful world. Repentance is a dangerous road for us. To turn from our sin requires is first to confess our sin and admit that we are wrong. Then we must humble ourselves. None of those are popular in our society. When you repent of your sin, you are turning the direction of your life. You are going one way and suddenly you are going another way.
It’s kind of like being a Cowboys fan all of your life and suddenly becoming a Redskins fan–a complete change of direction. One day all of your clothes have stars and blues and whites. The next day they have Redskins on them and they are now red and yellow. Even the stickers on your car changed. You’ve suddenly changed direction.
That is how repentance is. It is a complete change of your life. Repenting and turning to live only for Jesus Christ is how to effectively deal with the sin in your life. You must confess it, but I can confess my sin all day long, but unless I repent has been no change. It is very popular for us to say “nobody’s perfect”, we understand that– what is important is that we understand that were sinners that we also turn from sin and turn to Christ.
So this brings us to the third element of dealing with our sin and that is
3. to be accepted.
Verse 42 again:
42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he (JESUS) said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Lk 23:32-43, ESV)
What started out as a man doomed to hell is now a man on the road to paradise. In spite of who he was, in spite of what he has done, Jesus lays down his life and promises that he will be with him.
It is interesting, as I read this passage that he didn’t say right now you been. He said today you will be with me. Because the sin had not yet been paid for, this man was looking forward to the expectation of Christ to pay the penalty for that sin. And now as we look back 2000 years later, we see that our sin was paid for on that tree on the cross. And if we confess our sin, if we repent of our sin, he will accept us into his heaven.
Jesus accepted this man and he will accept you. No matter what you’ve done. He will accept you when you turn from your sin and call on him.
Many times when we are presenting the gospel, we talk about our accepting Christ–there is a point that it is important. It is important that we accept the free gift that Jesus paid on the cross for us. But, in the story that were looking at today, we see a different type of acceptance.
We see that Jesus accepts us.
One of the biggest needs that we have is to be accepted. In the Army, we travel every three or four years to a new unit–we have to build new friendships, we have to be integrated to the unit, we have to be accepted as a member of the team.
Jesus accepts us when we confess our sin and we went we repent of our sin. This morning some of you may be struggling to be accepted. We do things based on peer pressure. We may even do sinful things to be accepted by our group. But, to be truly accepted by the son of God, we confess our sins, and we repent, and he says; “truly I say to you—today, you will be with me in paradise.” As he accepts this man into his kingdom, we could be accepted through Christ. We can be accepted in spite of our sin, in spite of our shortcomings, in spite of everything that we have–all the baggage that we carry, we can be accepted.
So this morning, as you look at the sin that is in your life–as you realize that you deserve death and hell. When you do, the Scripture is quite clear. In the example of this man we are looking at today we see that we are to confess our sin, we are to repent of our sin, and we will be accepted by Jesus Christ.
We are able to be accepted because Jesus paid the price in our place for our sin. We still deserve death and hell, but Jesus died on the cross–a sinless man to pay for the sins of each person everywhere, through all time. If we would just call on him, if we would just confess and repent of our sin and turn to him he says he would accept each of us.
The Bible says Jesus said;
“come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28)
He also says;
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rv 3:20)
He is the salvation that we crave. He is the acceptance that we desire. You can have this acceptance today by repenting of your sin, by confessing your sin and accepting him as your Lord and Savior.
Today the question is what you can do with your sin. Sin is the biggest problem that you have in your life. It is infecting every area of your soul. Today is your opportunity to turn from your sin and turn to Christ. It is also a day for you to be accepted.
If you never accepted Christ before this is your opportunity. Today is the day where you can reach out to him confess and repent.
After the service I’ll be around and I’ll be happy to talk to you about your commitment to turn from your sin. There are other chaplains around they will be happy to talk to you as well. But don’t let this day stop without you taking this message of God’s Bible to heart.
Sermon Preached 0n 21 November 2010.
All scripture marker ESV: From The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.