Chapter Twenty-One: Where Do We Go from Here?
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Where Do We Go from Here?
If you have stayed with me this far, you know that we have worked through some pretty bad stuff. We have looked in detail at many of the subtle sins we tolerate in our lives. At times, this may have been painful. I hope it has, because that means you have been honest enough and humble enough to admit the presence of some of these sins in your own life. And in this, there is hope. Remember, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).
The opening statements of the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5:1-7) should encourage you. The poor in spirit and those who mourn are those who are conscious of their own sinfulness. Because of this, they are meek and merciful in their attitudes and actions toward others, and they hunger and thirst for the righteousness that they realize they have not yet attained. Their whole demeanor is exactly opposite that of the proud, morally superior, self-righteous person. Yet Jesus said that they (not the self-righteous people) are the ones who are blessed.
In telling His parables, Jesus created the characters to make His points in a most forceful way. Consider the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple (see Luke 18:9-14). In the eyes of the Jews, the contrast between a Pharisee and a hated tax collector could not have been greater. And in the parable of the prodigal son (see Luke 15:11-32), the son’s despicable actions would have scandalized His Jewish audience. Yet in the two parables, it is the self-righteous Pharisee and the self-righteous older brother who receive the implied condemnation of Jesus. Meanwhile, the tax collector goes away justified, and the repentant prodigal son is received into the warm embrace of his father. Does this not tell us something about how much God hates the sin of self-righteousness and how He responds graciously to a humble and contrite spirit?
I concluded the last chapter with a reference to Thomas Chalmers’ sermon “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection.” The question naturally arises, “How can we grow in this new affection?” The answer is that it comes from an increasing awareness of our still-remaining sinfulness and of Christ’s love for us in dying for that sin.
In Luke’s account of the sinful woman who washed and anointed the feet of Jesus (7:36-50), Jesus said, “He who is forgiven little, loves little” (verse 47). The opposite is also true, as Jesus clearly indicates in verses 41-43; that is, he who is forgiven much, loves much. Simon the Pharisee did not realize how sinful he was and how much he needed to be forgiven, so he loved little or actually not at all. The sinful woman realized how sinful she was and how much she had been forgiven, so she loved much. The way to grow in our new affection [for Christ] that Chalmers preached about is to grow in our awareness of Christ’s love for us as revealed to us in the gospel. The apostle Paul wrote that it is Christ’s love for us that constrains us to live for Him (see 2 Corinthians 5:14-15). Such love for Him that will drive out our love for the world can only be a response to the deep, heartfelt sense of His love for us.
So we need to be honest and humble enough to admit our subtle sins in order to experience the love that comes through the forgiveness of those sins. But we must also face them in order to deal with them. The worst sin of all, in practical terms, is the denial of the subtle sins in our lives. We cannot deal with them until we admit their presence. The first step in dealing with any sin is to acknowledge it and repent in one’s attitude toward it. This doesn’t mean we will make rapid progress in getting those sins out of our lives. The flesh doesn’t give up that easily. Rather, to use Paul’s term, these subtle sins must be “put to death” (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5). Furthermore, we have developed habits of sinning. We have developed habits of ungodly thinking: anxiety, self-indulgence, critical attitudes, gossip, and the like. So where do we go from here? How can we apply the overall message of this book?
I hope as we’ve been going along over these so-called “respectable” sins that you have honestly prayed over each one, asking God to reveal to you any evidence of them in your life. But, at this time, it would be good to take a prayerful review. To facilitate this, here is a skeletal outline of the subtle sins we have discussed:
Chapter 7 — Ungodliness
Chapter 8 — Anxiety and Frustration
• Frustration
Chapter 9 — Discontentment
Chapter 10 — Unthankfulness
• Thankfulness in difficult circumstances
Chapter 11 — Pride
• Moral self-righteousness
• Pride of correct doctrine
• Pride of achievement
• An independent spirit
Chapter 12 — Selfishness
• Our interests
• Our time
• Our money
• Inconsiderateness
Chapter 13 — Lack of Self-Control
• Eating and drinking
• With one’s temper
• Personal finances
• Television, hobbies, impulse buying
Chapter 14 — Impatience and Irritability
Chapter 15 — Anger
• Anger toward God
• Chapter 16 — Weeds of Anger
• Resentment
• Bitterness
• Enmity and hostility
• Grudges
Chapter 17 — Judgmentalism
• Over differing convictions
• Over doctrinal disagreement
• A critical spirit
Chapter 18 — Envy, Jealousy, and Related Sins
• Envy
• Jealousy
• Competitiveness
• Controlling
Chapter 19 — Sins of the Tongue
• Gossip
• Slander
• Lying
• Harsh words, sarcasm, insults, and ridicule
Chapter 20 — Worldliness
• Money
• Vicarious immorality
• Idolatry
As you go over this list, continue to ask God to open your eyes to sins you have been tolerating or have even refused to acknowledge as being present in your life. There is no substitute for humility and honest confession of our sin as the first step in dealing with it.
Have you asked others for their evaluation of the presence of these subtle sins in your life? If not, this would be a good time to do it. Set aside time with your spouse, your brother or sister, or a good friend. Ask for their honest feedback. Assure them you will not become defensive or question their evaluation. Just listen but don’t respond. You might ask them to rate you in each area according to a scale something like this:
• Not a problem
• Occasionally a problem
• Frequently a problem
• Characteristic of your life
Even if you don’t agree with their assessments, take them to heart in humility. God may be using the other person to open up areas you have been in denial about.
Go back and review the six directions for dealing with sin set forth in chapter 6. And if you are overwhelmed at this time, pay special attention to the first direction to always address your sin in the context of the gospel.
Remember that our progressive sanctification — that is, our putting off sin and putting on Christlikeness — rests on two foundation stones: the righteousness of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Always look to Christ and His perfect righteousness for your standing and your acceptableness to God. Remember, if you are united to Christ, God sees you clothed in His perfect righteousness. And always look to the Holy Spirit to enable you to deal with sin in your life and to produce in you the fruit of the Spirit.
The world around us watches us even as it ridicules our values and rejects our message. We may think our subtle sins are hidden from their view, but in some way they see them. They pick up our self-righteousness, our anger, and our judgmentalism. They think of us as “holier-than-thou” people or else they see us as hypocrites who do not practice what we preach. Dealing with our “acceptable” sins in humility and honesty can go a long way in dispelling that image. Finally, let me repeat the words of 1 Peter 5:5: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”