Sin and Salvation: What does the church really need? -PART I-

This post is gonna be a bit long, but on these issues one cannot be too hasty. It takes a little time to give it a proper treatment. And this is really just scratching the surface of the issue. Here is Part I.
              So to ask the question, what is the great need of the church, is really to ask, what is God's will for His own possession? It is interesting but ultimately tragic that our Christian perspectives have shifted from God to man. All we hear from the church these days is about men's ideas, men's problems, the programs of men, the churches of men, the sermons of men; the focus has shifted to men. If you listen to the apostles teaching, and read men like Bunyan, Mueller, Bonhoeffer, Spurgeon, etc, the great and vibrant theme is CHRIST, the FATHER, the SPIRIT, and the Word of God. Ideas for ministry come from the Word and the Spirit, man's basic problem is sin, church programs are simple-if it's commanded in Scripture, then do it. The church is God's possession, planned from all eternity, and it exists only with Christ as the Head; sermons are simply the exposition of God's revealed truth, not the clever speech of men. And the main difference in perspective shift is our attitude towards sin.
            If you ask the average church-goer about their spiritual condition, they would probably say that they have received Jesus, or that they believe in Jesus. Not many will say that they have been 'redeemed', or that they 'belong to Christ'. What's the difference? Why am I making a big deal out of this? The difference is of eternal significance, and it is deadly serious. The first response is from a world-view in which there is not really a need for a Saviour, for a Redeemer. In this view, Jesus is often admired or respected, or seen as a great teacher or an enlightened person. He may even be thought of as deity and thanked for coming to earth. In fact, Jesus said many would come to Him in that Day and say, "Lord, Lord, we cast out demons in your name..." and He will say, "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity..." (Matt. 7:22,23) And a few verses earlier (13,14) He says that the way which leads to destruction is broad and its gate is wide and many enter this gate; but the way which leads to life is very narrow, its gate is small, and few are those who find it. Then in John's gospel, ch. 8:42, Jesus is speaking to Jews who 'believed Him, and they are claiming that they are sons of God because of their physical ancestry, and also that they are not enslaved to sin. Jesus is boldly stating that only the Son of God can make them free, but they don't see a need to be free. Of any nation, the Jews should have understood the reality of their own sin, having been given the Law and prophets. Jesus makes this stunning indictment in vs. 42-47 "Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me; for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." 
        So, they had completely missed the intent of the Law. It was never a remedy for sin. The legal/sacrificial system was never intended to bring about actual atonement of sin. God knew that no animal or human blood could pay the price, the debt of wrath that sin had incurred (Rom. 6:23 The wages of sin is death...) Read Romans 1:18-32; it is a massive and sweeping indictment of the whole human race. Perhaps the key is vs. 21, "For though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks..." And also vs. 23 "...they worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator."
         The second response we rarely hear from church-goers, that of 'being redeemed' is characterized in Luke 5:1-11. Jesus had come to call Peter to be His disciple. When Jesus demonstrated mastery over the sea and the fish and Peter saw who He was, his first response was "Depart from me, for I am a sinful sin, Oh Lord." He knew in a moment that the Messiah, who is holy, could not have fellowship with him, a sinner.He had the prerequisite knowledge for true humility. For all of Peter's faults, one cannot say that he was a self-righteous man. His sinfulness and the Lord's holiness were ever before him, though he often forgot his place and said the first thing that came to mind!
         If we could spend a few months in the NT epistle of 1st John, we might just begin to get a sense of: how God views sin, how the Christian should view it and deal with it, and ultimately how much sin really affects the believer. The main passage we will look at is in ch. 1:5-10, and we will see that John is giving us not so much a set of do's and don'ts, but a series of tests by which one may determine who is a Christian, the first test being one's attitude towards sin. But before we go there, let's pause to reflect on a few passages:
   1. Romans 3:10-20 "For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin..." Pause and consider...what a shattering statement for the Jew AND for the Gentile. We can continue to develop this passage in Part II.

An introduction

Isaiah 40:5-8

"Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. A voice says, "Call out." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" All flesh is like grass, and all it's loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers and flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever."

This is the first post on my blog, The Gold Cord. The name is taken from one of my favorite books, 'The Gold Cord', which represents the weaving together of many gold threads; truths, God's miracles and works, God's servants, which, when woven together and seen in the light of God's sovereign working, form a gold cord in our lives.

I don't have any illusions that this one blog will become a popular site. I do intend to post studies that I am doing in God's Word, and I need to state clearly right now that this will NOT be a forum for debate as to the whether Scriptures are true, whether or not God exists and is the Creator, whether or not Jesus Christ is the sinless Son of God who came in the flesh, died as the propitiation for our sins, and rose on the third day, and is building His church and will return in these "last days" to take up His church and then to judge the earth. These things are cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith and this blog is based upon those truths and will be built on them. If you are an atheist or agnostic, or a seeker and have a genuine question, by all means, email me and I will happily do my best to answer them from God's Word. But the main focus is to encourage and challenge believers, those who name the name of Christ. I have chosen Isaiah 40:5-8 as a theme for this blog because it reminds us of three extremely important facts:

1. God has spoken with the purpose of revealing His glory

2. Man's life is only a whisper, a breath, and our lives are like grass

3. God's Word does not fade or wither; it stands forever