February 22, 2015
Innocent!
As we continue to
look into Grace based on The Grace Course by Steve Goss, Rich Miller, and Jude
Graham, I want us to think of the word "Innocent".
So many times we as
followers of Jesus Christ fail to believe and realize what grace - getting what
we do not deserve - really means in God's eyes.
Let's think about the word innocent.
Innocent - not guilty of a crime or
other wrong act, free from guilt or sin, blameless.
In Genesis chapter 3, we all
know the story - Adam and Eve disobeyed God - and God pronounced them both
guilty and told them what the debt of their sin would be. Remember God had created them to live
forever. The debt he told Adam was this:
Genesis
3:19 You will
eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you
were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust."
Paul uses the same
words in Romans:
Romans
6:23a For the
wages of sin is death' (in other words
with sin came a debt to pay - death, and we are all descendants of Adam, we all
are his offspring. David says this:
Psalm
90:3 You
return mankind to the dust, saying, "Return, descendants of
Adam."
We all have that
debt to pay.
Think about our
National Debt -
As of January 8, 2015, the U.S. is $18.1
trillion in debt. That’s $56,378 per individual. To get an idea of what that
debt is - if you were to count to a million it would take one week; if you wanted to count to a trillion it
would take almost 32 thousand years.
Debt -something owed, obligation - in many cases- unable to pay off, a state of owing, sin,
trespass.
In many languages the word
debt and sin are the same thing. In the
Lord's prayer we find that.
Matthew writes Jesus's words
this way:
Matthew
6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our
debtors.
Luke writes Jesus's
words this way:
Luke
11:4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive
everyone in debt to us.
Who can release or forgive a
debt? In the Old Testament we read this:
Deuteronomy
15:1 - 2 "At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is how to cancel debt: Every creditor
(those who the debt is due) is to cancel what he has lent his neighbor. He is
not to collect anything from his
neighbor or brother, because the LORD's release of debts has been proclaimed.
The purpose for forgiveness of debts
every 7 years was for a renewal of hope, a renewal of life in a new start.
In Matthew Jesus used a story of a man
who owed a debt and was unable to pay:
Matthew
18:25 Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that
he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.
Jesus was making a
point that debts are to be paid back one way or another even to those who didn't
create the debt to begin with.
It's hard to
believe that Ellie, Eric, Sveya, Ava, Alex, and Bella, when they were born
already had a National debt to pay back, sorry to say a debt they will never be
able to afford to pay back.
Scripture says
there is another debt that none of us can ever pay back either - the debt of
sin, a debt that all are guilty of. What
was guilt: committing a
crime that is defined by the legal authority who has laid down the law.
Remember the 2 criminals on the cross on
either side of Jesus and their thoughts on being guilty or innocent.
Luke
23:39 - 41 Then one of the criminals hanging there began
to yell insults at Him: "Aren't You the Messiah? Save Yourself and
us!" But the other answered,
rebuking him: "Don't you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same
punishment? We are punished justly,
because we're getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man
has done nothing wrong."
The second robber
knew they were both guilty and deserving of the penalty of what they had done -
death because they had broken the law.
If you are found
guilty of a crime in human court you also incur a debt. Either a fine, time in jail or prison, or
death is required as payment for the debt.
You go in a court
room and you will see a statue or a picture of the scales of justice. The weight of the crime outweighs the scale
and until the penalty is paid and the scales are equal again in weight will the
justice have been served.
When Adam sinned he
had no resources to pay the debt of sin, which was passed down to his
offspring, then to the next generation, and the next and the next till it
reached us.
Paul writes it this
way:
Romans
5:19 For just
as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners,
In Roman times if
someone was found guilty of breaking the Law and sent to prison, an itemized
list was made of everything they had done wrong and the time they had to serve
in order to pay the debt. It was called
a "Certificate of Debt", and was nailed to the cell door.
Everyone born after
Adam came with a Certificate of Debt to God.
We don't know it at first, but gradually we become aware by guilt
feelings, by a sense that we just don't measure up.
There are 3 ways a
person tries to get rid of those guilt feelings, 3 ways a person tries to be
justified:
1. We try to justify ourselves with God by good
works - just like the older son we talked about last week. We try by doing good things, keeping the
commandments, reading the Bible, going to church, giving money, and the list
goes on...
Think about the
scale of justice to the Heavenly Judge.
The weight of sin on one side, is there anything man can do to tip the
scale in God's direction? No, many try
by good works, but it doesn't happen.
Galatians
2:16 because by the
works of the law no human being will be justified.
2. We try to justify ourselves by our religious
background. God will accept you because
or your religious upbringing, or religious acts that you do. The Jewish leaders tried this telling Jesus
that Abraham was their father - they were part of God's chosen people. Look what John the Baptist told them:
Matthew
3:9
And don't presume to say to yourselves, 'We have
Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that God is able to raise up children
for Abraham from these stones!
Paul shares he once
felt that he was justified by his religious acts:
Philippians
3:4 - 6 although
I once also had confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds
for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised the eighth day; of the
nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding
the law, a Pharisee; regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the
righteousness that is in the law, blameless.
Maybe that's you,
just look at my background. Paul then
goes on to say what all of that got him:
Philippians
3:7 - 9 But
everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of
Christ. More than that, I also consider
everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus
my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider
them filth, so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a
righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in
Christ--the righteousness from God based on faith.
Paul says all those
things that he once considered gain to him he now considers them filth,
rubbish, the King James says dung!
3. We try to justify ourselves right with God by
comparing ourselves with other people.
Well at least I don't act like so and so. At least I don't do this like so and so. At least I don't live like so and so. At least I don't - fill in the blank with the
sin that you think is worse than anything you have ever done so you can feel
better about yourself. Listen to the
parable that Jesus told:
Luke
18:10 - 14 ""Two men
went up to the temple complex to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax
collector. The Pharisee took his stand and was praying like this: 'God,
I thank You that I'm not like other people--greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or
even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.' "But the tax
collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept
striking his chest and saying, 'God, turn Your wrath from me --a sinner!' I tell you, this one
went down to his house justified rather than the other; because everyone who
exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be
exalted."
We try to remove our
guilt by works, we try to remove our guilt by our religious activity, we try to
remove our guilt by being better than the other guy, and none of it works. So what is God's remedy for our guilt?
Many people find it
hard to believe that by one man's sin all are made sinners. Paul shares that truth:
Romans
5:17a Since by
the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man,
Then Paul also
shares that that truth works both ways:
Romans
5:17b Since by
the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more
will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness
reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Colossians
2:13 - 14 And when you were dead in trespasses and in
the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all
our trespasses. He erased the
certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to
us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.
How can Jesus'
death on the cross cancel out our Certificate of Debt and resolve our
guilt? Normally a guilty Roman criminal
had to pay for their own debts by spending the allotted time in prison. But if they were a Roman citizen, it was
possible to find someone else who would take their place in the cell and serve
out the required time on their behalf as their substitute.
That is what Jesus
did for each of us. His sacrifice is
enough to balance the scales for every sin.
When He created us and chose to give us free will, He knew that it would
inevitably lead to the point where God Himself would choose to lay down His
life out of pure grace, to give each of us what we don't deserve.
When the Roman
prisoner had served out the full sentence and his debt to society had been
paid, a judge would take that old - probably tattered Certificate of Debt which
was nailed to the door of his cell, and write PAID IN FULL across it and he
once again became not guilty - innocent of those crimes.
But we on the other
hand could never pay off our sin debt to God, so Jesus took our penalty of sin
Himself and paid it. Listen to Jesus'
last words on the cross.
John
19:30 When
Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is
finished!" Then bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
The book of Matthew
tells us Christ shouted them. Those last
words that Jesus said were the exact words that that Roman Judge wrote across
the released criminal's Certificate of Death - PAID IN FULL. Through the death on the cross our debt is paid
- we are innocent.
None of us can live
up to God's expectations. But Jesus has
lived up to them on our behalf as our substitute.
Hebrews
10:17 - 18 He adds:
I will never again remember their sins and their lawless acts. Now where there is forgiveness of these,
there is no longer an offering for sin.
Jesus said I
will never again remember their sins and their lawless acts. We are
declared innocent.
In Luke 7: 36 - 50
we find Jesus invited to eat with one of the Pharisees. After sitting at the table, a woman in the
town, a prostitute came in and stood behind and started to cry. She went to her knees and began drying the
feet of Jesus with her hair. Then she
took a flask of very expensive perfume, perfume that she used for her trade,
and poured it on His feet.
Scripture says the
Pharisee thought if this man were a prophet he would know that this woman is a
sinner.
Look at Jesus'
response:
Luke
7:40 - 50 Jesus replied to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."
"Teacher," he said, "say it." "A creditor had
two debtors. One owed 500 denarii, and the other 50. Since they could not
pay it back, he graciously forgave them both. So, which of them will love him
more?" Simon answered,
"I suppose the one he forgave more." "You
have judged correctly," He told him.
Turning to the
woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I
entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she, with her tears,
has washed My feet and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss,
but she hasn't stopped kissing My feet since I came in. You didn't anoint My
head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I tell you,
her many sins have been forgiven; that's why she loved much. But the one who is
forgiven little, loves little."
Then He said to
her, "Your sins are forgiven." Those who were at the table with Him began to
say among themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?"
And He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."
Can you picture
these 2 there in that room, the one a Pharisee the other a prostitute. The prostitute is declared innocent, the
Pharisee is not. Why? Did it have
anything to do with the good status of the one and the bad reputation of the
other? Did it have anything to do with
the amount of sin or even the type of sin each had committed? No, it simply came down to one responded to
Jesus in faith and the other did not.
Luke
7:50 And He
said to the woman, "Your faith has saved
you. Go in peace."
This woman entered
that house guilty with a sentence of death on her shoulders, no way in herself
to pay off that debt. But she left an
innocent child of God, only by faith.
Remember the 2
thieves at the cross – the one believed by faith and was declared innocent –
the other did not. God never forces us
to accept what He did for us. It's our
choice. No matter whether we have never
believed or we find ourselves messing up, the answer is the same. Can we by faith like the sinful woman, throw
ourselves at the feet of Jesus and by faith trust His payment?
Have you been
declared innocent this morning?
Will you accept His
payment of your debt?
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