Our Greatest Problem
“Even among Christians, sin is not always seen as our deepest or primary problem. For example, if I were to reflect on the problems of my day, they might include my finances, children, wife, health, weight, reputation, lack of lasting contributions, car, leaky faucet, or environment-endangering lawn mower. Even when I am an obvious wrongdoer, I still can think that sin is not my primary problem. It is one of those problems that come up occasionally; it is not, I feel, a core feature of my very being.
“Yet the fact that I do not feel like sin is my primary problem does not prove anything. Sin by its very nature is more often quiet and secretive than loud and public. For every overt episode of rage, there are dozens of jealousies, manipulations, white lies, and malicious thoughts, none of which immediately register on the conscience. And, according to Scripture, the greatest sin of all is even more covert: I do not love the Lord my God with my whole mind and heart. If our failure to consistently worship the true God is the key feature of sin, we are sinners all.
“Notice what happens when we lose sight of these biblical teachings. If sin is not our core problem, the gospel itself’the thing of first importance’is marginalized. The good news that Jesus proclaimed and offered is that there is forgiveness of sins, not through our own attempts to please God, but by placing our confidence in Jesus himself, in his death and resurrection. If sin is not our primary problem, then the gospel of Jesus is no longer the most important event in all of human history.“
Edward Welch, Addictions A Banquet in the Grave: Finding Hope in the Power of the Gospel (pgs. 20–1)
Being right in your own estimation is the equivalent of not realizing that you are a sinner when you have sinned.De 12:8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes;Pr 30:20 This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, And says, “I have done no wickedness.”(NKJV)This was Job’s sin as Job 32:1 shows us.Job 32:1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.(ASV)Job considered Himself righteous in the beginning of the book that bears His name. At the end of the book he despised himself and repented. So ultimately God led Him to a realization of His own sinfulness through the judgments that He experienced.Sometimes we forget that our righteousness is as filthy rags apart from the Lord. Jesus is our righteousness and we forget that fact at our own risk. The actual meaning of this verse which says that our righteousness is as filty rags is that we are momentarily or intermittantly righteous.Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee earnestly: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.The recognition of our own sinfulness grows as we learn the difference between good and evil, Heb 5:14.Heb 5:14 But solid food is for full-grown men, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.By not keeping the Law of the Lord before us at all times (staying in the word) we/I can quickly forget the precepts of God.One of the blessings of the Lord is to be judged in order to learn righteousness. Unbelievers do what is right in their own eyes. Christians are privileged to have the Law of the Lord to guide them, Deut 4:8. – New American StandardDeuteronomy 4:8 “Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?Most people think that the Judgments of the Lord are severe. Such people do not consider that a loving Father corrects His children to prevent further suffering.– New American Standard1 Corinthians 11:32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned along with the world.
Charles Spurgeon once said, “If you sin is small, so too will you’re saivor be. But if your sin is great, you are in need of a great savior” (paraphrased form Derek Webb live CD).
Hey Chris, I am officially back from project!!! It was awesome!! Fifteen people came to Christ in two weeks. I appreciate your prayer’s and support!!! Anyway, I enjoyed this article. I am in the process of reading “The Ragamuffin Gospel” (what’s your thoughts?) I aagree with you that sin is a huge problem that I think is not dealt with or talked about nearly enough. Well, it is good to know that even with all my sin, Jesus still blesses me with His amazing grace!! Ciao
I’m glad you had a good time. I haven’t heard much about that book except that the author is Catholic (red flag).
The book is great for those that have a problem excepting grace. There is definitely good points in the book, but there were some sketchy things, I thought. I guess crusade staff is required to read it.…
I am so happy to see Christians addressing this issue of sin. We seem to forget that it is at the core of the daily problems we face in life. As someone who came from the field I can now see how Christians have frequently accepted the “psychological” explanations (and solutions) to the problems they face. These constructs often minimize sin and keep God out of the equation. This would explain why the divorce rate is the same (and by some accounts greater) in the “Christian” vs the general population [as an example]. It seems that even among those who profess to have a relationship with Christ people will often choose the path of least resistance over accountability.
The Reason that there is so much divorce is that Christian women are deceived by the aborant culture of this world. They are in a constant and continual pursuit of masculine authority in the marriage. Jezabel is alive and well in the Christian marriage relationship.
Brian; I would like to respectfully suggest that your statement indicating that women are responsible for failed Christian marriages is an overgeneralization. Whereas I would agree that women’s pursuit of their husbands authority is a common problem I do not think that the blame can be placed entirely on her shoulders. God held Adam accountable even though Eve ate the forbidden fruit first. Remember that Adam watched Eve do something that he knew God told them would bring them harm. Not only did he not intervene to protect Eve, he then joined in her sin…thereby essentially acknowledging Eve as a higher authority in his life than God. There is plenty of sin to go around and we are each accountable to God for the choices that we make (or fail to make). The issue of authority is just one of many complex issues faced by marriages today. Whereas I agree that the culture has had a tremendous (and destructive) impact on Christian marriages, I don’t think it can be distilled down to one particular sin.
+1 for Kari there.
You deleted my last comment. You are socailly acceptable.
Kari — I have to say not all — only the vast overwhelming majority of divorces are women problems. If women were really the helpmates of their husbands do you think there would be a prorblem? Would you ever consider making your present or future husband your Lord. Be honest. Now is that not what the Bible says to do. I will answer — yes — Sarah did. Did this depend on weather Abraham met the expectations of Sarah, Answer — No. Does our submission to Jesus depend upon our approval of what He tells us to do.Adultry is another matter as is the husband not loving the wife. However wives generally want to be pampered and not loved.Your desire to argue and cloud this obvious issue is telling — The husband is told to wash the Christian wife with the word and not the other way around. Now did God allow this to be in the bible because He was unloving or more loving than we understand.Does it apply to all women or some? Answer = All.I or anyone does not have to understand or be able to explain why the Bible is right. We are blessed or cursed through our obedience to the word of God. So God is the Judge as it should be. I will repeat not all divorces are caused by rebellious women - but the vast majority. Consider the marriage example of Jesus and the chruch — if mankind did not rebel would Jesus divorce them or allow them all into heaven.By the way Adam and eve never divorced but God and Isreal did.
Brian – I was a little taken aback by the implication in your last response that my willingness to dialogue on this subject might indicate a flaw in my character. Undeterred, I will again attempt to clarify my point by turning to the scriptures, because I think that it is an important point to make.
In the original Genesis account, God directly commanded Adam, “the man,” not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and He explained the consequences, “you will surely die”. We have no account of whether, in addition, God told Eve this, or whether He relied upon Adam to tell her since He had appointed Adam to watch over (Hebrew ; Samar – which means to keep, guard, protect) the Garden of Eden, and presumably his wife as well. After Eve ate the forbidden fruit it says “She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it”. You will notice that when confronted with his sin, Adam immediately blamed Eve (which is still going on today), and indirectly blamed God “The woman you put here with me…”
What must have been going through Adam’s mind to stand by and watch his wife eat something that God had specifically told him would bring death? This was certainly not an act of protective love (I wonder if he would have followed Eve’s example if she had dropped dead on the spot). His decision to eat it himself was a direct violation of God’s instruction to him when God assigned him to the leadership role (as caretaker of the Garden). I think that a lot can be learned from this story. The fact that Adam’s sin (rather than Eve’s) is recorded as the sin that impacted all of humanity is telling (see Romans 5:12–14; 1Cor15:21–22).
In response to your question about my own personal submission to my husband I will tell you that a number of years ago God convicted be that I needed to learn to submit to my husbands authority, even though he is a non-believer. Like Daniel, I have had to learn to submit to an ungodly authority and still preserve my integrity and dignity. This has been an incredibly humbling experience but I know that my 25 year marriage would not have survived without it. I have felt passionately enough about this issue that I have taught a women’s bible study on a wife’s submission to her husband.
You call for women to submit to their husbands. I have never given an indication that I disagree with this, but I think it is just as important to call for courageous men who will submit to God and truly love their wives. I cannot imagine any earthly joy greater than submitting to a Godly and loving husband and pray that some day I may be blessed with this opportunity.
kari — It is easier to agree than argue continually. You are right it was an overgeneralization.Brian
Nice Kari! I even quoted you!