The following words are for sinners only. If for whatever reason you believe yourself sinless, if to you sin is meaningless to your life and in the life of others, nothing more than mere perception, so that no consequences result from sin, what follows will be of no benefit and a waste of time. But I must caution you: “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:7).
If, conversely, you know that you are a sinner, that sinful acts and thoughts that you have participated in or pondered have hurt you and others both physically and spiritually and worse of all that your sin has deeply offended God, then what follows is truly good news that you must examine—it is the Gospel. Why? Because, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). And your contemplation of this truth, “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15) will surely work to point you into the way of inner peace, even though you be the most cold-hearted and reckless of all sinner; no matter who you are and regardless of what you have done. All sin, no matter how society tends to trivialize lawlessness and wickedness, which sin can be defined as, is ultimately committed against God. And no one should be so irrational so as to imagine that God, though perfect in holiness and justice, does not punish sin in perfect holiness and justice. Of the holiness of God it has been said: “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You can not look on wickedness with favor” (Habakkuk 1:13 ). Sin is so terrible in the sight of God and so damaging to His creation (cf. Rom. 8:21), that God himself, and He alone, provides a remedy for sin—“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16, 17).
No one can save himself from sin and its horrible effects that have ravaged humanity. But the Creator who loves humanity can save and freely He offers salvation as a gift to all who believe that in Jesus there is life and, “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
The following extend quotation by Dr. Ray Stedman does much to clarify God’s solution to humanities inability:
If you were the sole possessor of a cure for cancer, would you be quiet about it? Or would you share the secret with everyone around you? Paul [the apostle] was intensely aware that he possessed the secret that everyone needs. He had the cure for the sin disease, and he was determined to share that cure with everyone he met. What is this cure for sin that Paul feels driven to preach to the nations? He describes his message in the next two verses: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith” (Rom. 1:16-17). Paul closes with a quotation from the Old Testament: “The righteous will live by his faith” (Hab. 2:4). This is the phrase that gripped the heart of Martin Luther. This great truth, Paul says, is the life-transforming message of the Christian gospel: If you want to live a righteous life, then you must stop trying to achieve it by your own efforts. The righteous life can only be achieved by faith—that is, by a trust-relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This is a transforming truth, and Paul says he is not ashamed of it. In fact, he is proud of it. He proclaims it boldly everywhere he goes. He can’t wait to get to Rome so he can preach this message there. Paul is especially eager to proclaim this gospel in Rome because the Romans appreciated power, just as Americans do today. Roman military power had conquered the entire known world. Roman knowledge was power—their road-building technology, their war-making technology, their legal knowledge, their literary and artistic skill. Roman economic power had brought the wealth of the world to Rome through both trade and conquest. But Paul knew the Romans were powerless when it came to changing hearts. Even with all its wealth and military might, the Roman Empire was riddled with violence, corruption, despair, and suicide. The “noble Romans” lived meaningless lives; their wealth and power gave them no inner peace. That is why Paul is proud of the gospel. That is why he is eager to preach the gospel in the capital city of the Roman Empire. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God—power to do the very things that Roman power could not do.*
At the time Paul wrote his most extraordinary letter to the church in Rome, it has been estimated that a full one-half of the population of the Roman Empire where chained in slavery; just property belonging to another human being. Slave owners had legal rights to use, abuse and exploit their chattel in anyway they pleased. Without going into sickening details, slavery is a heinous example of the depravity that existed in great Rome, the jewel of humanistic advancement. During the time of ancient Rome’s dominion on earth, mankind was sunken in the darkness of despair. Idolatry had spread through the whole world and hopelessness and misery shrouded the earth, but at this darkest hour Christ was revealed from heaven and came to give us light (cf. John 8:12). Once again, in our modern times, history repeats itself as our humanistic world attempts to create a better society. But even with all our collective powers of intellect we have not made much improvement upon what the ancients achieved. Some would even say we have sunken into even greater degeneracy and I tend to agree with this latter assessment.
Against the growing darkness of our own time we need the Gospel message to ring out as clear as possible, because only the Good News holds the key to God’s way of breaking through the sin-caused human inability and to bring peace, joy and gladness to the hearts of mankind. This is the Good News: “He will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Yet the wonder of the sin-soaked human heart and the absolute hallmark of our twisted, human reason is that we cling to our pasts and refuse the supernatural healing power of God.
Against the growing darkness of our own time we need the Gospel message to ring out as clear as possible, because only the Good News holds the key to God’s way of breaking through the sin-caused human inability and to bring peace, joy and gladness to the hearts of mankind. This is the Good News: “He will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Yet the wonder of the sin-soaked human heart and the absolute hallmark of our twisted, human reason is that we cling to our pasts and refuse the supernatural healing power of God.
A court is in session, a verdict is in
No appeal on the docket today
Just my own sin
The walls are cold and pale
The cage made of steel
Screams fill the room
Alone I drop and kneel
Silence now the sound
My breath the only motion around
Demons cluttering around
My face showing no emotion
Shackled by my sentence
Expecting no return
Here there is no penance
My skin begins to burn
(And I said oh) So I held my head up high
Hiding hate that burns inside
Which only fuels their selfish pride
(And I said oh) We're all held captive out from the sun
A sun that shines on only some
We the meek are all in one
I hear a thunder in the distance see a vision of a cross
I feel the pain that was given on that sad day of loss
A lion roars in the darkness
Only he holds the key
A light to free me from my burden
And grant me life eternally…
…I cry out to God
Seeking only his decision
Gabriel stands and confirms
I've created my own prison…
…Should've been dead on a Sunday morning
banging my head
No time for mourning
Ain't got no time…**
*Ray Stedman, at electronic media, http://www.raystedman.org/romans2/romans3.html
**Scott Strapp & Mark Tremoti, “My Own Prison,” Wind-up Records, released August 26, 1997.
