Over the past year I’ve become a fan of Scot McKnight and his thoughts on following Christ. I don’t always agree with him, but he almost always makes me think outside of my little theology box.
He recently wrote an article for Relevant Magazine entitled, “Why Doesn’t Anybody Talk About Sin?” Here’s a little snippet from the article.
To many, sin has fallen into grace. What does that mean? When we talk about God’s grace, we are assuming the reality of sin—that we are sinners and that God has forgiven us. But in our language today, sin is not only an assumption—it is an accepted assumption. And not only is it an accepted assumption—it also doesn’t seem to matter.
It’s as if we’re saying, “Yes, of course we sin” and then do nothing about it.
Widespread apathy toward sin reveals itself in the lack of interest in holiness. Your grandparents’ generation overdid it—going to movies, dancing and drinking alcohol became the tell-tale signs of unholiness. Damning those who did such things became the legalistic, judgmental context for church life. So your parents’ generation, inspired in part by the ’60s, jaunted its way into the freedom of the Christian life. Which meant, often enough, “I can do whatever I want because of God’s grace.”
That generation’s lack of zeal for holiness has produced a trend: acceptance of sin, ignorance of its impact and weakened relationships with God, people and the world.
I’ll be honest. Sometimes I think I fall into the trap Scot talked about in the article. At times, I’ve been somewhat accepting of my sin and ignored the impact it has in my life. I’ve quickly categorized my sin as “under God’s grace” (which it certainly is) but not taken the time to mourn over the very realistic consequences it has in my life.
Like many of you I grew up in what I perceived to be a legalistic church. And like many of you I swore I would never be a part of that kind of movement again.
But now I wonder if the pendulum has swung too far away from legalism and too far towards grace in the church today?
How about you personally? Does your focus tend to be toward law or grace?
I know right now I focus on grace…..I’m just a bit older than you, Pete, and am just truly realizing how awesome the full grace of God is – raised in the legalistic, Southern, IFB church and feeling like everything in my life was my fault! I desire to live a holy life, not because that is my ‘normal’ way of living but because it is a conscious effort on my part to bring glory to God. That balance is very difficult, though, in day to day life!
This is a terrific post…thanks for making me think!
This very topic has been weighing heavily on me lately as I have wondered the same thing. I just don’t know. I’m interested in other’s thoughts.
Personally, I used feel guilty over every sin I committed and even when I asked for forgiveness I wouldn’t accept it. Then on May 6,2011 I asked Jesus to come into my heart and have authority over my life and since then I have experienced GRACE, and I am so grateful for it and I am grateful for conviction and that mourning in in order to truly understand what God gave up for my sin, HIS SON JESUS! When I forget or become apathetic to that,I’ve lost it all. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Pete,I always enjoy hearing them. God bless.
Sara thanks for sharing your testimony.. a few days back I was reading a *Watchman Nee’s book titled. * The normal christian life* and when he focus on Romans 7 he says this: ** We have been set free from our sins but also we have been set free from sin* notice the word * sin and sins* Jesus forgives us with grace from all our sins at the same time he gives us freedom from sin* that’s deep.. think about it.
God bless & have a wonderful day
That’s awesome Sarah. So very exciting.
Good post Pete.
Reminds me of this old saying:
Until sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.
Thomas Watson (1668)
Dave
That’s great, I must remember that one.
Swindon Spiritualist Church
Love that quote!!
I am great at applying grace to other people – telling them that God no longer recognizes their sin – they are free from their past – go and sin no more! And I am great at applying the law to myself. Beating myself up over sins/mistakes and basically telling God that His grace doesn’t work on me.
So I am trying to find a middle road. People can’t just play the grace card – there needs to be authentic change & accepting responsibility for one’s actions. And I need to swim in God’s grace – it applies to me just like it does to everyone else.
wow! this was punch in the gut for me. I live in the grace of God daily. I too felt like the church I grew up in put to much stock the appearance of sin rather than the real heart of the pain the person was in. So I am sure as a society of over doers we have gone to far in the other direction many times. I will be on my knees more after this post. Thank you Pete!
I am all about grace. I know I’m not perfect and when the Holy Spirit prompts me that I messed up, I ask for forgiveness and do what I need to to fix what I’ve done (angry words or actions). then grace comes in so I can not camp out on a previous sin. I don’t want to leave church feeling like I’ll never make the cut (living by the law). My take on this is when you come to know Jesus, like having a new boyfriend(girlfriend) that you are crazy about, you find out what they like(obedience) and don’t like(sin) and you cant help but do the things they like to make them happy and that makes you happy. I think the grace preaching is correct. If you truly know Jesus, you don’t even want to sin and grace carries you through your imperfections so you can continue to have an awesome relationship with Him.
I think my tendency tends to be a mix of the two that falls somewhere between what I am passionate about and what I am ignorant about. For instance, there was a point where I was so overcharged about adoption that when I read James 1:27, I read it as a mandate that if someone called themselves a Christian, they were expected to adopt a child… why? because I felt God said so. I would find myself frustrated when people would give excuses of why they couldn’t adopt because to me, they were just excuses – when in my mind God “clearly” said to do it. I have since backed way off this type of legalism and recognized that caring for orphans can not only mean adoption, but supporting someone else who is adopting, sponsoring a child, helping at an orphanage, supporting an orphanage, being a big brother/sister for a foster kid – there are so many ways to live out this mandate, not solely adoption!
Good point Erica.
Great thoughts Pete. The image of ‘sin falling into grace’ is a beautiful one kept in perspective. But McKnight is exactly right about the lack of emphasis on any kind of holiness in this generation. The pendulum needs to swing back to center. God is holy and as followers of Jesus we must strive to please Him. A contributor to the problem is a wold where more and more, it seems that anything goes. And it’s easy for this kind of attitude to creep its way through our television and computer screens into our hearts if we’re not careful. Thanks for raising it.
Here are a couple of posts I wrote a while ago focused on this ‘anything goes’ kind of mentality in our society.
http://jeffsrandomravings.blogspot.com/2011/01/whatever-happened-to-sin.html
http://jeffsrandomravings.blogspot.com/2011/01/whatever-hapened-to-sin-2.html
Thanks for the links Jeff. I’ll check these out.
At one point in my life I was so concerned with being right that I held tightly to the “rules”. Then, in an effort to better love people, I accepted not just them, but also their sin. What comes with maturity is the ability to love and embrace people while being opposed to sin. That takes a great deal of compassion and mercy with a good dose of justice and humility. Not an easy thing. But we have the ultimate example of Christ to reflect.
That good stuff Susie. Really good.
The balance really shouldn’t be too hard to reach. Much of it is in attitude. In my preaching I try to keep the focus on hope and holiness. Christians should be held to a higher standard than the world, and that needs to be preached. But the reward… ah, the reward is so great that the challenge of living at a higher level should be accepted with JOY!
In fact the word *sin* is being removed from people’s vocabulary, nowadays everything seems to be *normal* or *natural* and the reality is sad because this culture has been filling the church.
I also grew up in a * legalistic* church but i think it’s better to have a little more than lacking the bases. If preachers spread the *grace* then they also have to point the sin in order to show up the grace.
i guess today anyone talk about sin just because the sin has conquered.
thanks Pete. Blessed day!
Pete, The church is in desperate, continuous need of good teaching on an issue as fundamentally important and as easy-to-get-wrong as sin and grace. Taught incorrectly, hearers live lives of shame and guilt or sin-filled lives based on cheap grace.
Taught correctly, we see what a hateful thing sin is and what it does to our relationships (with God and with others) and we seek to flee from it and live in the wondrous, continuous flow of the River of Grace.
Luther: “[Man] is at one and the same time a sinner and a righteous person (simul iustus et peccator). He is a sinner in fact, but a righteous person by the sure reckoning and promise of God that he will continue to deliver him from sin until he has completely cured him.”
I’ve been called a ham by many…and correctly so, for I am just hanging around, waiting to be fully cured.
I read a book not too long ago by this man Wilkinson who calls himself the happiness guru. He referred to the original sin and our sin condition as “ego”. His book was rubbish, really, but I was struck by his inability to call a spade a spade, as if his audience couldn’t handle it. But compare it to Jonathan Edwards infamous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, and you’ve got the pendulum swinging far again. Everyone in the Bible who encountered God, encountered his holiness and was flattened by it. Our view of God has indeed become too low — in considering the man of Jesus, we’ve turned him into everyman and we’ve avoided the holiness of God. Romans 5-8 is where we find our balancing point. The Jewish law was intended to reveal God’s holiness and make plain our inability to measure up, but grace, sweet river of his mercy has always flowed redemption. Sinners drink from that river and get full of grace — why would I want to dip my toes in the river when I can get saturated?
Good point!
Hi Pete,
I agree completely that the pendulum has swung too far on the liberal, Christian liberty side, resulting in the confusion of new converts to Christ and leaving them with a weak, powerless life. (and therefore eventually a church devoid of the power of God, and full of self gratification.)
And of course, GRACE is the reason most often given for this extreme liberality and lack of holiness.
Here is what God recently reminded me about his GRACE:
His GRACE is ENABLING GRACE, not TOLERATING GRACE. People often get confused. His grace enables us to overcome sin and irresponsible behaviors, it doesn’t tolerate and excuse them. Of course we will still fall short, but our heart attitude must be to overcome… not tolerate it. Sacrificial living is the example Jesus gave us. We should emulate it.
Thanks for posting this.. it is right on time for something I am struggling with.
God recently gave me a word as I read Esther 6. Est 6:1
says: “That night the king could not sleep…” I believe God is awakening the hearts of pastors/leaders to this very issue.
I believe the focus should be on grace. When we ask God for forgiveness we are forgiven, and to continue to hold onto guilt from sins or to think we aren’t worthy of forgiveness is no way to live out a Christian life. Now, I’m not saying, go out and continue to sin intentionally and not be held accountable for your sins. But, when asking for forgiveness, accept that gift of grace – Jesus paid a high price so each of us may have that gift – and never let your sins keep you from God or from other Christians. Those thoughts come from satan, not God. He wants us to feel worthless and unworthy of God’s grace – so discern that guilt. God wants us to feel cleansed and renewed in our faith. Also, as Christians we need to be careful not to judge others for their sins or feel that they aren’t worthy of forgiveness. We also need to be mindful not let “religion” into Christianity by judging others for what some legalistic people/churches deem unholy. We all are all sinners in need of a savior, and by grace alone have we been forgiven & saved.
Great discussion! I’m enjoying reading everyone’s comments.
I think there is a big difference in talking about “sin” and talking about “sins”. When the churches, of old, preached against vices they preached about “sins”. Constantly talking about sins is of little good; it’s like treating symptoms while ignoring the illness. True righteousness and holiness isn’t the absence of sins, but the presence of Christ. I think it is healthy for a church to keep looking at their central message as it relates to the life and health of the church. If there is a lot of public sin in the church, it is something that probably needs to be addressed– but the solution isn’t less sinning, it’s more Christ. I don’t think there is ever an occasion to up the legalism in a church, but I think it is possible there can be more “grace” in a church than there is “spiritual growth” and a situation like that isn’t healthy, but it doesn’t require the reduction grace in favor of increasing legalism. As Romans 6 points out, being dead to sin and alive to Christ go hand in hand, you can’t have one without the other. If you want your church to be dead to sin, then you have to figure out how lead them into be alive to Christ– but if that was so simple, Christians would own the market on righteousness and holiness– which clearly, we don’t.
Excellent!! Love it.
Dang!!!
It tends towards grace with the important caveat of viewing my relationship with God as the utmost, and since sins separates, since sin creates distance, since sin grieves Him, I model after David & Paul in their conviction & action, how they dealt with it.
Pete, what a great post!
I believe that our lives are all about grace — however, the need for that grace is urgent, important and desperate. There would be no need for the lavish, amazing and COSTLY grace that is ours in Christ if it were not for our very real sin (and that sin is found even in “thinking”. It isn’t just “the big sins”. The smallest is worthy of hell fire and required the terrible sacrifice of Christ.) Frankly, I do not believe that we can truly appreciate, enjoy or celebrate our freedom as believers and the amazing gift of grace, fully apart from recognizing in a deep heart way the depravity of our sin and the need to repent of it. We cannot walk in freedom or joy or faith when we are held in the stronghold of sin — and that’s what sin is, not an option but a force of the flesh and the evil one. God does not want us to walk in Holiness and turn from sin (true sin — not “man’s” rules kind of sin — but the real “anything not of faith” and contrary to God’s desires and design kind) because He’s a kill joy but because He loves us and He desires for us to know joy, freedom and abundance. Christ came to give us abundant life and that life is one of grace and embracing HIS life…not choosing to live in muck. Why, I wonder do we think that true freedom means being unaffected by sin and “getting to” live in it? We do not earn our freedom or walk in grace by not sinning — we are freed by grace and free to live apart from sin (as a patter) and enjoy the wonder of the life God designed and desires for us by grace. I love the grace of God. How desperately I need it. I have taught against and fought legalism (many years ago before it was popular to do so in a church where legalism was quite comfortable) but having been one who was desperately sinful I also know that grace does not change the nature of sin rather grace covers my sins and frees me to turn from them through the power of the Spirit, grow up in God and Christ likeness and enjoy greater and greater intimacy with and abundance in Him. Grace make way for me to choose God and watch Him work in me to live in His freedom.
Thanks again, Pete for this post. Isn’t our God wonderful!!!!
Very!!!
I grew up in a church that didn’t teach about sin or grace, and in a family where we didn’t apologize and take responsibility. I also didn’t learn about the holiness of God. This has affected my life, faith, and relationships as an adult. A couple years ago I went through a time of learning what it meant to come to the end of myself. I finally saw my sin for what it truly is, and I broke. Then I saw the Lord in a whole new way and found grace and forgiveness as I had never known. I don’t think we can understand sin or grace without the other, or without understanding the character of God.
Sin is often viewed as breaking a standard, or not living up to rules, but really it is about opposing a holy God who loves us tremendously. Learning about His holiness has completely changed my understanding of grace and sin.
I would suggest Studying and Listening to the teaching of Joseph Price on the subject of Grace, I thought I knew about Grace, but after listening him , he is on another level. I promise you will ne amazed. It has changed by life, as well as those I speak to.
So glad to see you post this. I think it is a scary time in the church right now. Many popular pastors afraid to address the issue and/or say the word “sin”.
I think conviction of sin is a beautiful thing, actually. When I feel guilt over my sin, immediately following is hope that He will help me change- because otherwise, He wouldn’t bother tugging my heart strings.
Addressing the sin in my own life has never bound me–it always FREES me!
It’s wonderful to be able to be “transparent”, however, we need to go the step further and begin the cleansing. NEVER one without the other. Don’t stop at the confession of sin. Repent. Turn from of it. Get help from brothers and sisters in Christ while you combat.
I don’t think you can swing too far towards grace; but grace is not the opposite of legalism, liberalism is. The verse that states, all things are permissible but not all things are profitable, I think states the problem with liberalism. Grace and mercy can be perverted to mean what human beings want them to mean instead of what God defines them as. It is merciful to send your child to rehab – kicking and screaming, or kick them out if they refuse to stop their destructive lifestyle. By God’s grace the Prodigal Son’s father was able to let him walk away, because allowing him to stay AND ruin his life would NOT have been grace. I am in this place right now.
Liberalism is the same mechanism you spoke of Pete that allowed a generation to swing away from legalism but not to some form of a healthy balance between the Law and the Lamb. Leberalism is that same beast that makes sin an undefined abstract oddity of antiquity; it is a wonderful tool of the Enemy of our Souls and our God.
Liberalism is a state of mind
Grace is a state of being.
Excellent distinction between liberalism and grace!
Good discussion. This has really been bothering me lately as my husband and I recently has a talk with a good friend who grew up in a very legalistic church and now has a habit of watching porn often. He told us that he’s tried to stop and is tired of feeling guilty and has come to the conclusion that “sin is not such a big deal”. He believes that it’s already covered by Christ’s blood and that one day when he meets Jesus, he’ll be totally understanding of his weaknesses. I honestly just made me feel sick. We talked about the blessings and freedom he’s missing out on in his life and marriage by not taking it seriously, our call to live holy as God is holy. I know of course that we all keep sinning even when we’re following Christ, but to just not even be convicted anymore and want to forget about trying to live holy, I just don’t understand. That to me is a swing too far towards grace…
Hey Pete, thanks for addressing this important issue. A couple of points. Legalism is sin. Flesh trying to become holy is a recipe for spiritual disaster. Next, sin still being a persistent problem means the pendulum hasn’t swung far enough towards grace. Paul said it best in Titus 2:11 — it is the grace of God that teaches us to say no to sin and live righteous upright lives in this present generation. We need the reality of God’s grace, not the watered down version the church is throwing out these days but the power of Christ’s resurrected life, to flow through us transforming us into the image of Christ.
We should never try to balance the teaching of grace with law. Paul warned about this in his letter to the Galatians. Grace and grace alone has the power to change us inside and out. We need more grace, not less. Those who are full operating within His grace are learning to say no to sin and yes to Jesus. May their tribe increase.
I agree Bob.
The funny thing is when I get closer to God the more and more I realize how unholy I am then I thank God for his Grace. I realize that in my life I will make many mistakes but if I focus on God then my life and how I act is going to change.
I think that leaning in either direction, whether legalism or ‘grace covers all, I can do anything I want’ is always a misunderstanding of what Grace truly is. Seems like is by Grace we are forgiven, by Grace we are convicted and by Grace we are healed. The important part of that is that it is God’s grace that convicts us of the damgage of the sin in our life, to ourselves and others. Grace is the reason we feel convicted. Seems like if you are feeling conviction for the sin in your life, you aren’t living under the umbrella of Grace at all. Likewise if you are living in the condemation of legalism, you are also not living in God’s grace.
correction:
This sentence:
“Seems like if you are feeling conviction for the sin in your life, you aren’t living under the umbrella of Grace at all.”
I meant to say:
“Seems like if you aren’t feeling conviction for the sin in your life, you aren’t living under the umbrella of Grace at all.”
The pendulum has swung too far in the grace direction. I mean, we have people that deliberately ignore sections of the Bible because it doesn’t line up with what they want to do. Sometimes they go against the very things Christ taught and still call themselves Christians because it’s “all about love” and “we’re under grace.”
The fact that sin is what will send us to hell hasn’t changed. Without accepting Christ, we go to hell. If sin is powerful enough to make that happen then we can’t gloss over it as if it’s nothing at all. If anything, knowing the depth of sin and truly recognizing it makes the gift of grace that much more powerful.
I would disagree with one thing Scot said which you quoted: “acceptance of sin, ignorance of its impact and weakened relationships with God, people and the world.” I would say the relationships with the world would get better because we’re no longer pointing out anything they do which conflicts with God’s teachings. You can’t help but like someone who never tells you that you’re doing something wrong.
These are all great thoughts and a excellent post. I think we have swung the other way towards grace but not in the Biblical sense. People use the excuse of grace to not feel Godly sorrow for their sin. One of our campus pastors did an awesome message in our RE series at Lifechurch.tv regarding repentance. He contrasts worldly sorrow which is I’m sorry I got caught, God forgive me, let’s move on to Godly sorrow which leads to life change because you realize you’ve hurt the heart of God…the One who has done so much for you. It really changed the way I think about sin and repentance. So I think the answer may not be in swinging back to the law but talking about what true repentance of sin means. We all have been given grace…but we take advantage of grace when we don’t have Godly sorrow over our sin with a desire to change. And might I add we can’t change on our own…it’s God’s power and grace that does it all…all we have to do is obey what He tells us and God will take care of the heart change!
I think about this all the time. I don’t think we (the church) address sin enough… at least in the way that is focused on dealing with it instead of just forgiving it.
To me, to seek to live like Jesus is to also live in response to Gods grace (not just in it). That response includes repentance (turning from the sin that we know exist). Doesn’t mean we’ll get it right or that we won’t stumble from time to time but at least we’re pursuing something more instead of just living with.
Does that make sense?
I always lean towards grace, because I hate the thought of God being a jerk, and so I avoid the law because the shame it brings scares me.
Then, anytime I look to the law, I realise that without the law, we wouldn’t really understand our need for grace.
And that is exactly the point. When we lose sin in our theology, we lose grace. And on a broader level, eternal salvation is an empty promise if eternal punishment is an empty threat. Balance is needed not for their own sake but for ours.
Great post! I do focus on grace rather than law, however, while our sins are covered under the blood, the consequences of sin are sometimes still going to be part of our lives. And there are no degrees of sin in God’s eyes, but there are definitely degrees of consequences… sometimes in His grace, we are spared those as well; sometimes not.
I had a tough time with Scott’s article, but in the end I feel he made some very valid points. Still, part of me feels like it’s better to err on the side of grace.
I like something Martin Luther once said about himself: “[he is] simultaneously justified and sinful” which led him to seek salvation daily from sin’s power. Tullian Tchividjian wrote a good book called “Surprised by Grace” where he explored this idea of salvation being ongoing, not just a once off activity. That’s what “taking up our cross” everyday is all about – letting go of our “I am” and acknowledging God as the only “I AM”.
Yes, I too believe sin has got lost in amongst the chatter. I love the advice Paul gave Timothy: “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (2 Tim 2:22). We’re called to live holy lives, which means we need to deal with our sinfulness everyday..
Good discussion Pete.
We need the law to make us conscious of our sin.
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. – Romans 3:20
Until you’re conscious of your sin, you can’t see your need for grace.
I think it was Spurgeon who said “The law is the needle that draws the thread of the Holy Spirit through the heart.”
I tend toward the legalistic side when it’s someone else’s sin and the grace side when it’s my sin to be completely honest.
I sin, we all do. (Romans 7:24)
My understanding is that trough obedience (which is the resistance of sin, and thank God for the help of His Spirit) that we come to truly have a relationship with Christ our Lord and friend.(Hebrews 12:4, Mathew 7: 21-29)
The author pretty much summed it up by “ignorance”. Which of course is not of own doing (mostly) but from the “wiles of the devil”.(Ephesians 6:11)
I pray for an awakening, for a generation of seekers. That tend there focus on who and what our God is.
For His Glory!
My focus tends to be toward grace. God has already given us all things that pertain to “life and godliness”. We do not need a new revelation for a new age it’s provided in the gospel. There’s the motivating power of the” fear of the Lord”2 Cor.5:11 and the constraining power of the “love of God”2 Cor.:5:14. If we truly believe the Bible to be God’s instructions for man to obtain life and godliness we need to recognize its authority to obtain it. I look @ Peter and what he’s saying here in 2 Peter 1: 12-14 and I think he’s talking about a counterfeit christianity where people aren’t understanding the importance of studying the Bible personally and that it can be understood, known and obeyed. For me personally it’s the goodness of God that I focus on.
I wouldn’t frame the issue in terms of a pendulum, swinging away from judgement (sin!) and toward libertinism (grace abounds!). But I agree with you that our discourse on sin has somehow been lost. We do not know how to name what is wrong with our world in an articulate, sensitive, and convincing manner. Some will say that this is not possible. No one wants to hear that they are a sinner, no matter how gently this is said! But I disagree.
Our doctrine of sin, a well developed, theologically coherent, and intellectually compelling, might just be one of the greatest gifts the evangelical community can give to the world. Why do I say this? Because it will help us to name our problems as human shortcomings, not accidents or misfortunes. It will help us to humbly engage with our issues as fallible beings. It will help us to face the world as it is–often chaotic, often messy, yet not without hope. Naming sin as a reality has been a comfort to me and to others I have worked with pastorally. It helps them to face themselves, face their shortcomings, and rely more fully on the grace of God.
Seeing you have a pulpit (and a broader platform), it seems you might be able to respond to Prof. McKnight’s challenge.
Pastor Wilson, Thanks for this great post!
There are many that have the perception that since Jesus died for our sins and has forgiven us that we are no longer responsible for the way we live. This could be no further from the truth. We are free from sin in that we have refuge in Him, we have Him to hold on to for strength to avoid those same sins. Of course we will never be perfect here on earth, but because of Christ we have an example of how to live and protection from the enemy!
I grew up in a very legalistic environment. That tends to stick with me today. When I read about God’s goodness, it seems kind of foreign to me. As a child I was afraid of God, and that emotion still lingers a bit. Grace is so hard for me to grasp. I think that us humans will never be able to find a perfect balance between accountability and grace. We’re flawed; God is perfect. I think we will always be wrestling with that difference.
I really appreciate this post. I have spent the better part of two years wrestling through this. There have been several things that have shaped my thinking where this is concerned. First is Tim Keller’s sermon, The Two Prodigals. Because of my past, when I first became a Christian, I seized onto grace. I saw myself as a prodigal. Then, the longer I followed Christ, I began drifting into “self-righteousness” but it was subtle and almost undetectable. I realized after listening to the sermon by Keller that I had become the righteous elder brother. I was so focused on works that I had forgotten grace. The trouble with that is that even my good works were shot through with mixed motives. When I realized that I found myself in despair. I was not experiencing godly sorrow, but worldly sorrow. Reading Richard Sibbes’ book, The Bruised Reed, really helped me see the difference between these, followed by reading A Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent. Eventually I began adopting “the third way”, which I think is either attributed to Keller or Paul Tripp. The third way is to get off the continuum altogether and instead on the Gospel. I love John Newton’s quote because I think it sums this up quite well, “There are only two things of which I am sure: one is, that I am a miserable sinner; and the other, that Christ is an all-sufficient Savior.” I love that because it offers such freedom. It’s not one or the other – it’s both. Christ died for sinners, of whom I am the worst but for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me Christ might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who will believe in Him and receive eternal life (1 Tim. 1:15-17) Isn’t that freeing and fantastic?! Sorry for the long comment but this post totally touched on where I’ve been for some time. Yes, I am a miserable sinner but He is an all-sufficient Savior!!!
Sorry, I didn’t mean Richard Sibbes’ book, but C John Miller’s book, Repentance – but Sibbes’ book is excellent!
I love Tim Keller.