Chapter Four: The Remedy for Sin
CHAPTER FOUR
The Remedy for Sin
John Newton, who wrote the much-loved hymn “Amazing Grace,” was earlier in his life a slave trader and even captain of a ship transporting captured Africans to America. For medical reasons, he left the seafaring life, became a customs officer, studied theology, and eventually became a minister. However, even as a minister, Newton never forgot the horrible nature of his sin as a slave trader. At the end of his life, Newton said to a friend, “My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.”1
Centuries before, Saul of Tarsus, who became the apostle Paul, was also guilty of grievous sins. Acts 7:54–8:1 describes his complicity in the stoning of Stephen; then in Acts 9:1-2, we read of his personal involvement in persecuting believers. Toward the end of his life, Paul described himself in those earlier days as “a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent [of Christ]” (1 Timothy 1:13). But in that same context, he could also say, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15).
Both John Newton and the apostle Paul saw themselves as great sinners, but with a great Savior. Most believers cannot identify with either John Newton or the apostle Paul in the gravity of their earlier sins. We may not have committed adultery, murdered anyone, dealt drugs, or embezzled from our employers. I myself, reflecting back on my life, can say I was usually an obedient child, a model teenager, a trusted employee, and a conscientious husband and father. In fact, I’ve even been on the staff of a Christian ministry for over fifty years.
However, though I have not committed any of the big scandalous sins, I have gossiped, spoken critically of others, harbored resentment, become impatient, acted selfishly, failed to trust God in difficult issues of life, succumbed to materialism, and even let my favorite football team become an idol. I have to say with Paul that I am the foremost of sinners. Or to paraphrase John Newton’s words, “I am a great sinner, but I have a great Savior.” That is my only hope. That is the only remedy for my sin, and it is your only remedy as well.
Both John Newton and Paul spoke of themselves as sinners in the present tense. Neither of them said I was; they said I am. It’s clear in the context of Paul’s statement that he was reflecting on his earlier sins as a persecutor. Likewise, we know from Newton’s own reflections that he never got over the fact that he had been a slave trader. In fact, with each passing year, he became more horrified at his former life.
Does that mean, then, that though describing themselves as sinners in the present tense, they were referring only to their past sins as a persecutor and a slave trader? It is hardly possible that they would think that way. We know, for instance, that several years before writing 1 Timothy, Paul referred to himself as “the very least of all the saints” and as a minister of the gospel only by the grace of God (see Ephesians 3:7-8). In fact, there seems to be a downward progression in Paul’s self-awareness from the least of the apostles (see 1 Corinthians 15:9, written in AD 55) to the very least of all the saints (see Ephesians 3:8, written in AD 60) to the foremost of sinners (see 1 Timothy 1:15, written about AD 63 or 64).
We can be sure that over the years from their conversion to their death, both Newton and Paul grew in Christlike character. Over time, both of them acted more and more as the saints they had become at conversion. But that growth process involved becoming more aware of and sensitive to the sinful expressions of the flesh still dwelling within them. And so John Newton could have easily said, “I was and still am a great sinner, but I have a great Savior.” And if you and I are to make any progress in dealing with the acceptable sins of our lives, we must say the same.
The remedy for our sin, whether scandalous or acceptable, is the gospel in its widest scope. The gospel is actually a message; here I am using the word gospel as a shorthand expression for the entire work of Christ in His historic life, death, and resurrection for us, and His present work in us through His Holy Spirit. When I say the gospel in its widest scope, I am referring to the fact that Christ, in His work for us and in us, saves us not only from the penalty of sin but also from its dominion or reigning power in our lives. This twofold aspect of Christ’s great work is beautifully captured in Augustus Toplady’s great hymn “Rock of Ages,” with the words,
Let the water and the blood,
From thy riven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Cleanse me from its guilt and power.2
Beginning with chapter 7, we will be getting specific about many of the respectable sins in our lives — what they look like, the damage they cause, and how to deal with them. But before we do that, we need to take a good look at the gospel. We need to do this for several reasons.
First, the gospel is only for sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (see 1 Timothy 1:15). Most Christians tend to think of the gospel as applicable only to unbelievers who need to be “saved.” Once we trust in Christ, so the thinking goes, the gospel doesn’t apply to us anymore, except to share it with others who are still unbelievers. However, though we truly are saints in the sense of being separated unto God, all of us are still practicing sinners. All the ethical commands and exhortations addressed to believers in the New Testament assume there is still sin present in our lives that needs to be addressed. Among the four uses for which Scripture is profitable, as described in 2 Timothy 3:16, are reproof and correction. Again, these uses assume that we still have sin that needs to be reproved and corrected.
So the first use of the gospel, as a remedy for our sins, is to plow the ground of our hearts so that we can see our sin. Stepping forward to accept my place as a sinner in need of the gospel each day drives a dagger into my self-righteous heart and prepares me to face up to and accept the reality of the sin that still dwells within me.
Second, not only does the gospel prepare me to face my sin, it also frees me up to do so. Facing our sin causes us to feel guilty. Of course we feel guilty because we are guilty. And if I believe, consciously or unconsciously, that God still counts my guilt against me, my instinctive sense of self-protection forbids me to acknowledge my sin and guilt, or, at the least, I seek to minimize it. But we cannot begin to deal with a particular manifestation of sin, such as anger or self-pity, until we first openly acknowledge its presence and activity in our lives. So I need the assurance that my sin is forgiven before I can even acknowledge it, let alone begin to deal with it.
By acknowledging my sin, I mean more than a halfhearted admission to myself that I acted selfishly in a given instance. Rather, I mean a wholehearted, defenseless admission, “I am a selfish person, and that particular act was only a manifestation of the selfishness that still dwells within me.” But in order to make such an admission, I need the assurance that my selfishness is forgiven — that God no longer holds it against me. The gospel gives us that assurance. Consider these words from the apostle Paul: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin” (Romans 4:7-8).
Why does God not count my sins against me? Because He has already charged it to Christ. As the prophet Isaiah wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (53:6).
To the extent that I grasp, in the depth of my being, this great truth of God’s forgiveness of my sin through Christ, I will be freed up to honestly and humbly face the particular manifestations of sin in my life. That’s why it is so helpful to affirm each day with John Newton that “I am a great sinner, but I have a great Savior.”
Third, the gospel motivates and energizes me to deal with my sin. It is not enough to honestly face our sin. If we are to grow in Christlike character, we must also deal with it. To use a scriptural term, we must “put it to death” (see Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5). But as has been well said, the only sin that can be successfully fought against is forgiven sin. We cannot begin to deal with the activity of sin in our lives until we have first dealt with its guilt. So here again we go back to the gospel and its assurance that God through Christ has dealt with our guilt.
The assurance that God no longer counts my sin against me does two things. First it assures me that God is for me, not against me (see Romans 8:31). I am not alone in this battle with sin. God is not watching me from His heavenly throne saying, “When are you going to get your act together? When are you going to deal with that sin?” Rather, He is, as it were, coming alongside me saying, “We are going to work on that sin, but meanwhile I want you to know that I no longer count it against you.” God is no longer my Judge; He is now my heavenly Father, who loves me with a self-generated, infinite love, even in the face of my sin. That assurance greatly encourages me and motivates me to deal with the sin.
Further, the assurance that God no longer counts my sin against me, and that in my struggles with sin, He is for me, produces within me a strong sense of gratitude for what He has done and is presently doing for me through Christ.
This twofold effect of encouragement and gratitude together produce in us a desire to deal with our sin. Make no mistake: Dealing with our sin is not an option. We are commanded to put sin to death. It is our duty to do so. But duty without desire soon produces drudgery. And it is the truth of the gospel, reaffirmed in our hearts daily, that puts desire into our duty. It is the gospel that stokes the fire of our motivation to deal with our respectable and subtle sins. It is the gospel that motivates us to seek to be in our daily experience what we are in our standing before God.
We can see, then, that the continuous day-by-day appropriation of the gospel, as it assures us of the forgiveness of our sins, is an important part of our dealing with sin in our lives. It is not the only part — and we will consider some others in later chapters — but for now, I urge you to commit yourself to a daily, conscious appropriation of the gospel.
Some years ago, I heard a man use the expression, “Preach the gospel to yourself every day.” That is what we must do in order to daily, consciously appropriate the gospel. We must preach it to ourselves every day. Not only that, we need to personalize it to ourselves, as Paul did when he wrote of “the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, emphasis added). It is also helpful to personalize the Father’s love in a similar manner. For example, we can paraphrase 1 John 4:10 to say, “In this is love, not that [I] have loved God but that he loved [me] and sent his Son to be the propitiation [to bear the wrath of God] for [my] sins” (emphasis added).
The good news that God no longer counts my sin against me, that He has in fact forgiven me of all my sin, is so radical, so contrary to our normal way of thinking that, frankly, it seems too good to be true. Especially on a day when circumstances have made you vividly aware of your selfishness, impatience, or resentment, it does seem too good to be true. Even while writing this chapter, I had such a day, and I had to go to the Scriptures, actually read the assurances of God’s forgiveness from the pages of the Bible, and “preach” them to myself. But it doesn’t matter if we’re having a “bad” day or a “good” day. Even on what seems like our very best days, we still need to preach the gospel to ourselves. The truth is, there is never a day in our lives when we are so “good” we don’t need the gospel.
At this point, you may be wondering, If preaching the gospel to myself is so important, how do I do it? There is no set way, so I will share my practice only as an illustration. I am by nature a methodical person, so my way will not suit everyone, but hopefully it will give any reader some idea of what preaching the gospel looks like in one person’s life. So here is my way.
Since the gospel is only for sinners, I begin each day with the realization that despite my being a saint, I still sin every day in thought, word, deed, and motive. If I am aware of any subtle, or not so subtle, sins in my life, I acknowledge those to God. Even if my conscience is not indicting me for conscious sins, I still acknowledge to God that I have not even come close to loving Him with all my being or loving my neighbor as myself. I repent of those sins, and then I apply specific Scriptures that assure me of God’s forgiveness to those sins I have just confessed.
I then generalize the Scripture’s promises of God’s forgiveness to all my life and say to God words to the effect that my only hope of a right standing with Him that day is Jesus’ blood shed for my sins, and His righteous life lived on my behalf. This reliance on the twofold work of Christ for me is beautifully captured by Edward Mote in his hymn “The Solid Rock” with his words, “My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” Almost every day, I find myself going to those words in addition to reflecting on the promises of forgiveness in the Bible.
What Scriptures do I use to preach the gospel to myself? Here are just a few I choose from each day:
As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12)
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” (Isaiah 43:25)
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. (Romans 4:7-8)
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)
There are many others, including Psalm 130:3-4; Isaiah 1:18; Isaiah 38:17; Micah 7:19; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 2:13-14; Hebrews 8:12; and 10:17-18.3
Whatever Scriptures we use to assure us of God’s forgiveness, we must realize that whether the passage explicitly states it or not, the only basis for God’s forgiveness is the blood of Christ shed on the cross for us. As the writer of Hebrews said, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (9:22), and the context makes it clear that it is Christ’s blood that provides the objective basis on which God forgives our sins.
This, then, is the first part of the good news of the gospel; God has forgiven us all our sins through the death of His Son on the cross. To refer back to Toplady’s hymn “Rock of Ages,” this is the first part of the “double cure” — that is, being cleansed of sin’s guilt. But Toplady’s “double cure” also included being cleansed from sin’s power, and that is the subject of our next chapter.