Being saved from sin involves seeing sin and having God forgive and cleanse it. The process is like pruning a tree. The arborist first uses an ax to remove dead branches, the obvious. Then he uses a small saw to rid the tree of branches that do not bear fruit. Finally, he takes a smaller pruning knife and cuts off the little things that interfere with its health.
This illustration also shows how Christians tend to put sin in categories even though sin is sin, regardless of how it is identified. Any sin is a serious issue with God. For one thing, it puts a barrier between me and full fellowship with my Lord. He wants to hear my prayers of confession before other requests and my cleansing is more important to Him than my prayers for other people.
However, there is a wonderful remedy for sin and for the way I feel when I sin. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). As soon as I realize it and want to be rid of it, God is quick to show mercy. Not only does He forgive and cleanse (1 John 1:9) He also comforts me.
Satan, the enemy of my soul, wants the opposite. He wants me blind to sin, enjoying it rather than mourning over it, arguing with God about it (‘It really isn’t so bad. Everyone does it.’) and certainly not repenting or enjoying comfort and full fellowship with God. He knows that my prayers have great power when my sins are confessed. So does Satan.
Being aware of sin is both easy and hard. David took another man’s wife and had that man killed. His sin was a big, dead branch and he could say, “My sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51:3). Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.” (Isaiah 6:5) He saw the holiness of God and realized he and all people did not measure up.
Peter didn’t think Jesus’ knew anything about fishing but obeyed anyway and caught fish. He said to Jesus, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8) when he realized the Lord is never wrong, but he had argued that He was. Paul called himself “the chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15), aware of his sinfulness and that he did not earn or deserve God’s mercy.
Today is Good Friday. We call it good because this day we remember the enormous price Christ paid to free us from sin’s bondage. The gospel is a constant reminder that I am a sinner, saved by grace but nonetheless bought with a price. This keeps me in a place to see and mourn over my sin.
My sin affects others too. While it is not always an excuse for those who sin, it can be part of their lost condition if I have selfishly disobeyed God in my relationships. Not only that, the NT says,
And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:15–16)
Unconfessed sin keeps me from praying in faith. It could also prevent those who need my prayers from being forgiven, healed, and experiencing God’s power. Sin ruins everything. How vital to confess deliberate sin, pride, presumption of grace, and taking ‘little’ sins lightly for even those will dull my spiritual senses and give my enemy an opening to lead me farther from God and the experience of His goodness.
Jesus, I thank You for the comfort and joy You give when sin is confessed and I turn from it to You. Guard my heart. The psalmist prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23–24) On this day of gazing at the cross and focusing on Your amazing sacrifice, reveal anything that hinders my walk with You.
MORE: Remember Saul’s sin described in 1 Samuel 15. What excuses did he make? What happened because he did not mourn over what he had done?
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