HF097 - Sin, Forgiveness, and Accountability
To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2003 16:29:43 -0500
Subject: Bible Study HF097 - Sin, Forgiveness, and Accountability
Hebraics,
It is time to move on with another Bible study. This study should generate some questions and observations. I'll try to keep it relatively short so that it can be expanded on with contributions from others.
There is a Scripture often quoted that tends to make folk nervous. Moses said, "Be sure your sin will find you out." Let's see what Moses meant by this, and how this statement may fit into new covenant theology.
This is Bible Study HF097 - Sin, Forgiveness, and Accountability.
Here is the full quote of what Moses said: "But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out." (Num32:23)
The tribes of Reuben and Gad desired to settle on the east side of the Jordan, and struck a bargain with Moses. They would settle on
the east side, but their warriors would help Israel conquer the rest of Canaan. This is where Moses says, "But if you will not do so,
behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will
find you out."
The tribes of Gad and Reuben gave their promise to Moses, and the high priest, and to all leaders of Israel, of what they would do to help conquer the land. It was because they gave their word before God, that Moses said what he did.
Certainly there is a lesson here for believers in that we must always be people of our word. This is why Jesus cautioned against making oaths; "But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes ' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil." (Matt5:37) In short this means that God holds us accountable for our words. Covenant breaking is always a sin before God because it involves our words. We will always be what our word is, no more, no less.
But how does all this apply to sin in general? The basic premise is that if we will not forsake our sins, these unrepentant sins have a way of returning to mock us. This is why it is crucial to deal with sin as sin, and not call it by another name. Jesus did not die for our excuses. John said, "If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us." To confess and forsake is where the blessing and the cleansing of the Lord comes in.
A second issue is that sin is not simply something we do. Sin is a corrupting power. This is why Paul speaks of it as a 'principle.' He
said, "But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer
the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good."
(Rom7:20,21)
Here Paul admits that we cannot overcome sin in our lives on our own. And this is the root cause of people accumulating
more laws. But is there a key to all this? Yes, it is in the new covenant work of redemption.
In another place Paul says that the power of sin is the Law. Isn't that a shocker? How can this be? The Law is holy. The Law is spiritual. The Law is good? How can Paul say that sin gains power by the Law? This brings us back to sin as a power in itself.
And this is why no person can ever be saved on the basis of keeping the Law. No one can keep the Law. Sin would never allow it. The Law simply magnified sin. The purpose of the Law was to bring men to Christ. And through Christ we would receive our justification by faith.
Of course this brings us to the work of redemption. Sin is so serious with God, that He sent His only Son to die in our place for our sins. The Bible says, "[God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2Co5:21) Sin had to be dealt with both as a power and as a subject of condemnation. The condemnation was, 'You will surely die.' The Law intensified this by including in it a curse.
I'm afraid this is so often little understood. All souls belong to God. There is a blanket condemnation upon the human race. In speaking through the prophet, God said, "Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son. The soul who sins will die." (Eze18:4) Of course this took in the human race. God's point was look to yourself. Do you not need a Redeemer?
Then this statement of Jesus being made sin in our place reflects off of something else the apostle wrote. Paul wrote, "For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh." (Rom8:3)
And so the work of the cross dealt with the sin issue, with the life issue, and with eternity issues. Every person who turns to Jesus, God causes his or her entire life to pass through the judgment of the cross. In turn they are given the righteousness of God in Christ. This means that no condemnation can ever be made against them. (Condemnation, that is, katakrima speaks of a damnatory sentence.) At the cross we have a life exchange. We become in a twinkling of an eye, what Jesus is, that is, holy and blameless.
Before we go any further, this area has to be nailed down. Once again, when a person comes to the cross, they are given life as new creatures before God. What they were, including all their sinful past is no longer of any account. It is as though they never existed as a sinner. Their existence now is as a child of God. And from this moment on they are dealt with as children of God. This includes sin, forgiveness and accountability.
Now that we know sin has been dealt with, and forgiveness has been dealt with, what of accountability for how we live in this present world? Two things stand out. First, every person who truly comes to Jesus is given a nature that is Christ like. This means that sin will always be contrary to their nature of holiness. This does not mean they cannot sin. It means they cannot sin without it affecting their spiritual life deeply.
But the second thing is that if a child of God enters into an area of sin with no repentance or remorse, then they will come under certain disciplines of the Lord, which over time can become quite severe. These disciplines (punitive judgments) have one purpose in view. They are designed to produce repentance and holiness of heart and life of God's child.
There are two Scriptures that direct themselves to this area of God making us accountable for attitudes that are ungodly. Listen to them both:
"For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world." (1Co11:30-32)
Without getting into a serious word study, let me simply point out that the term 'judged' here speaks of our dealing with our own sins is a proper manner. If we will not deal with our wrongful attitudes, then the Lord will bring a corrective judgment. The word 'disciplined' means to be taught a thing. (Simply defined.)
The other Scripture is in Hebrews 12. Let me extract just a bit; "For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives." Again, "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." And again, "He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness."
Keep in mind that all this talk about discipline has a purpose in causing God's children to become Christ-like in how they live.
I'll bring the study to a close for now. Feel free to make contributions. If there is an area that you wish to address that was not covered in the study, place it on the table.
The Lord bless you,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.christianchallenge.org/
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)