I have sinned against You

I said, “LORD, be merciful to me; Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”

Psalm 41:4

The Psalmist speaks what is true.  David, when confronted with his sin of adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11-12) likewise spoke when he said, “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13; see also Psalm 51:4).

It is the humble of heart that trembles at the Lord’s word and acknowledges that any goodness and righteousness does not at all belong to self.  This is not an easy word to swallow, as all of us have the innate tendency to justify ourselves, even against God Himself.  To not do so is to go against our human nature.

Yet this is exactly what Christians do.  They struggle with their sinful flesh, with the world, and with Satan himself.  They despair of themselves, however weakly, and look to Another for help.

Again, the Psalmist cries out, “Give us help from trouble, For the help of man is useless” (Psalm 108:12).  There is none other that can deliver but the Lord.

We, however, want the quick fix, the immediate “recovery,” the cessation of struggle, and the trials to end, esp. with ourselves.  We devise ways of helping ourselves to ease the pain.  We try to escape, if even for a bit, from the cold hard reality in which we live (i.e. movies, books, food, etc.).  We deny that we are that bad off or that there is nothing that we can do.  Yet deliverance does not come by avoiding the truth, but facing it—head on.

Yes, it is true, our words and our actions, our silence and our inactions, these demonstrate our disobedience to the God of gods and Lord of Lords (Deuteronomy 10:17).  Out of our own hearts come “evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19).

It matters not if we consider our sins to be small or large.  Before God, sin is sin, regardless of our “interpretation” of them.  “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) the Bible says.  And “The Scripture has confined all under sin…” (Galatians 3:22).  Being confined under sin, whether thought of as large or small, or grand or minute, judgment is our lot before God.

But Scripture has confined all under sin “that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”  In other words, confined under our sin and not able to save ourselves, it is God who does the saving—through faith in Jesus Christ—of those who believe.  Thus is salvation of faith, not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9).

And what does this mean?  This means that yes, your sins are damnable before God.  But Jesus Christ bore your sins and became damnable before God for you.  This is nothing but Gospel.  And it shows God’s abounding love for you.  Because of Jesus, the Father’s condemnation has been placed on Jesus, no longer yours to bear.

Jesus’ death does indeed save you.  It also shows you the enormity of your sin.  But seeing your sin more clearly, as it is in truth, against God Almighty, you also see Christ more clearly.  Because of Jesus, you are no longer in your sin.  Because of Jesus, you have nothing but peace with God (Romans 5:1).  Thus do you, as God’s people, acknowledge the greatness of your sin before the Holy and sinless God, and rejoice in His abiding mercy unto you, for Christ’s sake.  Amen.

 Luther

“The main knowledge and true wisdom of Christians, then, is this: to regard as very serious and true these words of Paul, that Christ was given over to death, not for our righteousness or holiness but for our sins, which are real sins—great, many, in fact, infinite and invincible. Therefore you must not think of them as minor or suppose that your own works can remove them.  Nor must you despair on account of their gravity if you feel them oppressing you either in life or in death.  But you must learn from Paul here to believe that Christ was given, not for sham or counterfeit sins, nor yet for small sins, but for great and huge sins; not for one or two sins but for all sins; not for sins that have been overcome—for neither man nor angel is able to overcome even the tiniest sin—but for invincible sins. And unless you are part of the company of those who say “our sins,” that is, who have this doctrine of faith and who teach, hear, learn, love, and believe it, there is no salvation for you.”  (Luther’s Lectures on Galatians, LW 26, p35).

Prayer: Heavenly Father, forgive me for looking at and interpreting Your Holy Word through my eyes that I justify myself before You.  With the prophet, I also cry, “I am undone” (Isaiah 6:5).  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10).  For Christ’s sake, grant me your unmerited forgiveness and help me to  hold on to nothing but Your righteous Word of deliverance.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Christ Opens to Us the Scriptures

…Though everything else seemed contrary to what the Lord had said, Jesus was then dead three days, and sadness and sorrow filled the air, it was what the Lord had spoken that would surely come to pass. Though Jesus truly did die, as He had said, so would He truly rise from the dead on the third day. It would be no other way. Otherwise, Jesus is not God and you are still in your sins.

This is not the case, for Jesus has risen, just as He said. For you He died. For you He rose, that sin no longer overcome, and that eternal death you not face, all your sin being put on Christ. You bear that load no more. Jesus, having taken all that was yours that was against God, has become your Savior. Those things God knows not any longer, for they are far from Him, as far as the east is from the west, says the Psalmist (Psalm 103:12). They can harm you none. We stand completely reconciled and at peace with our God.

This is the joyous Easter message that permeates the Christian church loud and clear. It cannot remain hidden. Its sound cannot be muffled. Though the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ fall on deaf ears, on hearing ears will the good news also fall. There, the Word will be planted, sprout and grow, bearing fruit and producing, some thirty, some sixty, and some hundredfold (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23).

Where the Word is, there also Christ will be. Where Christ is, there will also be faith. That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name, God gives the Holy Scriptures (John 20:31). He opens to you His Word and there reveals your Savior. If He not do this, your eyes would remain closed and blind…

Lk24.13-35, Easter 3, 2011A.pdf