by Dr. William B. Knippa
Every once in a while I hear our pastor say how we all sin much daily. What does he mean? What does it mean to repent of our sin?
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I commend you for posing a question that, I suspect, many worshiping Christians ask themselves but feel hesitant about asking their pastor. To say “I sin daily” does not mean God does not love you or that you have no possibility of life with Him. Rather, it is to be honest with God and with yourself about your need for the forgiveness and life God offers by grace through Jesus Christ. People sometimes restrict the word sin to mean only wrong behaviors—words or actions that are morally and socially unacceptable, reprehensible, and destructive to self or others. Thus, one might say, “I am a moral person, I treat others well, and I live a decent life,” and by those standards believes he (or she) does not sin. Such is not the case.
Scripture teaches that we cannot not sin, that our natural human condition, apart from God’s grace and the faith He creates, is a life separate from and hostile to God. In this state, we pursue only self-preservation, self-gratification, and self-exaltation. In his vivid words, Martin Luther described it as having a heart “curved in on itself.” As such, we are unable to live in complete obedience to God’s command to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. The Holy Spirit, working through that holy but unattainable expectation, brings us to cry, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8 ESV). This is being honest about the reality of our condition, and leads to repentance.
In Scripture, the word repent means to “turn.” As a sunflower turns its face to the sun for light and growth, so we, when we repent, turn from our sinful selves and turn to the face of God enfleshed in Jesus. We no longer perceive ourselves as self-sufficient, but as being in desperate need of the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. And God hears and answers our cry: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The bad news is that we do sin daily. The good news is that God forgives freely!
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Could you please clarify the meaning of this sentence?: “Scripture teaches that we cannot not sin, that our natural human condition, apart from God’s grace and the faith He creates, is a life separate from and hostile to God.”
Elizabeth,
We are born bearing original sin. From the moment of conception, we are sinners (Psalm 51:5). That is to say, until we are made new in the blood of Christ, washed by the waters of Baptism, we are “dead in trespasses and sins” and are “children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph. 2:1, 3). As a result of this, we are able only to sin. And, being sinners, we are therefore opposed to the holy and righteous God. It’s not until we are set free by Christ that we are able to walk as children of the light (John 8:36).
Does this help?