The Solution

 I want to start by focusing on a problem that started in the Bronze Age as a utilitarian item and evolved in the middle part of the 19th century when it became the modern curse we know today. It's something that has plagued humanity since its inception. I want to voice my chief complaint this morning with the invention of the belt! I have to match it to my shoes, I have to loosen or tighten it according to my waist size. It's an awful reminder every single day that gravity is at work - because if I don't use my belt, my pants will fall down! Belts are the worst!

But some would say in defense - "But why would you be mad at a belt? All a belt does is to provide a way for you to keep you pants up. Why get mad at the solution rather than the problem itself...?" There you go defending the belt! Meanwhile - I still have to go around every single day with this ridiculous restriction!

My guess is - most people do not in fact have that view of a belt. 'Regular people' don't see the belt as the issue or a restriction but rather a 'good thing' that actually helps them. However, there is one 'good thing' that is intended for people's benefit that is still viewed by many like a 'restrictive belt'. Among the top reasons that people give for their reluctance to visit a Church is guilt or feelings of judgment.

"I don't want to go to Church and have some preacher tell me about sin and that I'm going to Hell if I don't change my ways." No one wants to be lectured about their spiritual life or habits. So many people reject God so they don't have to feel guilty about sin. But that's kind of like blaming a belt. The belt's not the problem - it's actually the solution. God is not the source of your guilt - He's the only solution to your guilt.

One of the big things we don't enjoy talking about is sin. We know we sin but we don't want to feel 'beaten up' about it. But here's the Good News we need to tell the world - you don't have to reject God to get rid of your guilt. In fact, it's the exact opposite. It's only by fully accepting God that you can have that sense of peace in this life. So, here's my plan - I want to attempt to talk about sin in a way that doesn't produce the feelings of guilt that drive many away. And I want to start with...

I. What is sin?

'Sin' is one of those words that can bring with it a lot of emotional baggage. But sin simply put is anything that goes against God's will. The Bible says this in 1 John 3:1-4 (NIV)...

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (2) Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (3) Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. (4) Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

Sin is breaking God's law. This is vital information for those outside the Church and an important review for those inside. And breaking God's law separates us from Him and His blessings. It's not that God doesn't want to bless us, but sin is basically us going the other direction away from God. When we sin - God isn't moving, we are - away from Him.

Here's a helpful graphic I've used before in illustrating sin ... ***(Slide - image of chasm)

On one side you have God and on the other side you have man and our sin has created this divide. Our sin puts us at odds with God and His will. By its very nature, sin removes us from God's protection and His blessings. According to the Apostle Paul, sin, this movement away from God enslaves us.

Romans 6:20-23 (NIV)

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. (21) What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! (22) But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (23) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul contrasts 'slavery to sin' which leads to death and our 'submission to God' which leads to life. And something that applies to all sin, all rejection of God's ways - sin is basically...

A. A matter of self pride

At its core, when we choose to sin - we're choosing what we want over what God wants. Sin is a refusal to submit to God's authority. We probably wouldn't say it this way - but when we choose to sin we're acting as if our way of doing things is better than God's way. We're acting as if we're smarter than God in how things work - that's self pride.

When I have to correct my kids - I explain to them, while I may not be the smartest guy, I do know a lot more than them. My experiences have taught me things that they need to know in order to have a great life. I correct them not to be mean - but to explain consequences, and then they can choose. - Respect my authority, follow it and have a good life - or reject it and end up making many of the same mistakes I did, and in turn - hurt our relationship with each other...

The account of the first sin, when Adam and Eve ate the fruit they were forbidden to eat - it was a choice to reject God's commands, to reject their Creator's authority. God clearly said 'don't eat from one tree - or you will die'. He was giving them instructions on how to avoid death. But...

Genesis 3:6 (NIV)

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Adam and Eve were created to live forever, but they chose their way, they sinned. That sin separated them from God's protection and blessings and they eventually died - just like God said they would. They had a choice to obey or not, they ignored God's authority and paid the price. And God's creation in His image was separated from Him, from this perfect relationship in the Garden of Eden. And that's why...

B. God hates sin

Throughout the Old Testament God told His prophets to speak against the sin of idolatry which He hates. The writer of Proverbs 6 lists seven sins that God hates. The prophet Zechariah wrote that God hates a false oath and evil done to one's neighbor. In the Book of Revelation Jesus Himself said He hated the sins of a group of people called the Nicolaitans. Yes, God is a loving God who dearly loves His creation - but God hates sin. Paul wrote in Romans 12:9 (NIV)...

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

God hates sin and encourages us to do the same, not because He's mean - but because sin separates God's creation from Him. And God's intense hatred of sin is in direct correlation to His great love for us.

And it was that great hatred of sin and God's deep love for us that motivated Him to do something about that separation. Sure, He could have just 'zapped' His creation into total compliance with His will - but without a choice to reject God, we wouldn't be able to choose God. And if there's no choice - that's not really love.

So God incarnate - Jesus - demonstrated His love by giving His life on a cross to pay the price for sin and to make a way back to Him. Bring up the next slide ***(Slides). - Which completely changes that first illustration we had. And through Jesus, God provides a way to deal with sin. Paul explains it this way in Romans 3:22-24 (NIV)...

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, (23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (24) and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

This verse exposes one of the greatest misunderstandings among both non-believers and even some believers alike...

II. Salvation is not based on goodness

You don't get to Heaven based on how good you've been and you don't go to Hell based on how bad you've been - you go to either Heaven or Hell based on your relationship with Jesus Christ - period. Jesus is THE Way to Heaven. And we can nod our heads and even say 'Amen!' But this is a truth we still have a hard time getting from our heads to our hearts.

What I've witnessed is this - the further removed we are from our decision to follow Jesus, from our baptism into Jesus - the further removed in time we are from going from death to life - our memories fail us. What I mean is - when we first accepted Jesus, most of us were acutely aware of our need for a Savior. We were acutely aware of our own sin. But as we 'grow up' in the Church, the more time we spend living for Christ - we sometimes forget we're simply 'forgiven sinners'.

We can't earn salvation. God doesn't owe us Heaven because of perfect attendance at Church. God doesn't owe us Heaven because we live pretty good lives. God doesn't owe us Heaven for serving His Church. Those are things we were simply created to do. Salvation does not come by 'goodness' but only by the grace of God through Jesus Christ! God does hate sin, but He also loved us enough, despite our sin, to give His own life for us...

Romans 5:8 (NIV)

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

When that sinks in, and you stop thinking you have to earn God's love, His salvation - that's a very freeing moment. My salvation isn't based on how good or bad I am on any given day - but on my response to God's grace.

Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - (9) not by works, so that no one can boast. (10) For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

God hates sin. We need to learn to hate it as well - but the whole point of Jesus dying on the cross was to free us from the slavery of sin; the eternal consequences of sin. And how we view our 'relationship with sin' affects how we...

A. View ourselves

And this is why many people feel like they're being judged when they show up and the preacher talks about sin. How we understand sin will either leave us with feelings of guilt or gratitude. If you still operate under the belief that you have to earn God's love - sin will make you feel guilty. But if you understand that Jesus took the eternal consequences of your sin, and you accept His grace - you will feel incredibly humbled and grateful and will respond to Him in love.

Yes, when we sin, the feeling of guilt is supposed to motivate us to repent - to stop doing that sin - but that guilt is not supposed to overwhelm us. Many times I see people who feel so guilty about their sin that it drives them away from God rather than closer to Him - which is exactly where they need to be.

Martin Luther once wrote, "Sin and sin boldly!" Did he mean we should be proud of sin? No! That we should boldly continue sinning? No! What he meant was that we should not shrink away from God because of our sin. When we do sin - boldly admit it to God, thank Him for His grace and boldly ask Him for strength to never do it again. You will not get rid of sin in your life if you let guilt keep you away from God - the only source of our strength.

When you hear that voice of guilt saying that you are not good enough to go to God - that's not God's voice. That's not the Holy Spirit. The devil is the one who likes to play the guilt card, not God.

Revelation 12:10 (NIV)

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down."

We are sinners, but Jesus is constantly interceding on our behalf. Jesus didn't come to condemn us but to save us! Jesus died for all the sins you've committed and here's the scandal of grace - Jesus knows all the ones you're going to commit. Because of His sacrifice we are no longer slaves to sin! So let's stop living like we are!

Our salvation is not based on our goodness, and not only does our view of our 'relationship with sin' affect our view of ourselves, but it also affects how we...

B. View others

If we give into the mistaken belief that we have to earn salvation - then all those 'bad people' around us simply don't deserve salvation. They then become people we have to avoid if we want to make it to Heaven. They then become people we wouldn't even think of inviting to Church services... because they become 'the enemy'.

But when you view other sinners, who just like you, are in need of a Savior - that changes everything. Your tendency to judge gives way to compassion. Lost people are no longer to be avoided - they become your mission. They become someone who needs God's grace, the grace that you so desperately rely on. It says this in Jude 1:20-23 (NIV)...

But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. (21) Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. (22) Be merciful to those who doubt; (23) snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear - hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

For most of us here - someone at some point told you the truth about God. Someone told you about Jesus. Someone looked on you as another sinner in need of a Savior. We need to start seeing ourselves and others as God sees us - God's creation that He wants to bring back to Himself; God's creation that He loves so much He would move Heaven and earth to get to us; God's creation that He loves so much He would literally die for us!

So What?

Okay - so I'm not mad at my belt anymore. My belt is the solution, not the problem. When you think about Jesus - you may be reminded of your sin, but Jesus is the only solution to it. Don't let your feelings of guilt ever make you avoid Jesus or His Church.

We need to gain a much higher perspective to understand how much God hates sin and how much He loves us. We need to learn to view sin how God views sin. Don't let sin master you, don't let it drive you away from God.

And also - don't get complacent about sin. Don't fool yourself into thinking that it's no big deal or that you simply don't have very much in your life. And again, this is not about judgment or guilt - but about being very aware of just how much Jesus has done for you. None of us deserve eternal life in Heaven, but Jesus has secured a spot for you anyway. And there's also a spot for that one person you know that you need to talk to about Jesus. How about today...?