What happens when a Christian sins?

But if, in our endeavour to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.

Galatians 2:17-18

What happens when a Christian sins? That’s the question Paul raises in verse 17 - “If... we too were found to be sinners?” He isn’t talking about the non-believer who doesn’t know Jesus. He isn’t talking about the backslider who has turned his back on Christ. No, these are genuine Christians who are “endeavour(ing) to be justified in Christ,” - who are living day-by-day trusting in Jesus, following Jesus and loving Jesus - who are the same people who then fall into sin.

Literally, the phrase means “found out” (heurethemen - discovered). Meaning, not simply, that your friends point it out to you (“Aha! I saw what you did!”), but more so, that you are aware of a particular sin in your own life - an ongoing struggle with temptation, perhaps; or a serious wrong that you have committed against your own conscience and against God.

What do you do then with your sin as a Christian? How are you likely to react to your sin as a believer?

What Paul says next is personal, practical and real. He says to us: You are going to be tempted to do one of two things. You are either going to excuse it or justify it.

Excusing our sin

The first common reaction to sin is to try and excuse it. Paul says to the Christian, “Is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!” What he is saying is: Just because you know that Jesus died on the cross for your sin does not mean you have a free pass to keep on sinning. You need to stop. You need to repent - that is, to turn away from your sin and to face up to God. In fact, it even means that if the sin that you’ve committed is a crime punishable by law, you need to submit yourself to that punishment.

Now, when Paul asks the question, “Is Christ then a servant of sin?” it’s not as strange a question as you might think. When someone gets the gospel for the first time, it always sounds too good to be true. God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins in our place - while we were still sinners. He died to pay for all our sins - past, present and future. Many people are going to hear that and think it is a con. They are going to think, “What’s the catch?” Why? Because it sounds too good to be true. It sounds like God is handing out a blank cheque. It that really happened, what would stop us from taking advantage of God’s generosity and abusing it?

And it needs to be said, that is a real temptation for us as Christians - to take God’s grace for granted and to use it as an excuse to keep on sinning. Paul says, “Certainly not!” That’s the attitude we need to take towards our sin, “No way am I doing that!” “No way am I going to use Jesus as an excuse to keep on cheating on my wife.” “No way am I going to use my church attendance as a cover up for my greed.” Paul is serious about sin, but it is because Paul is even more serious about Jesus. No way is Jesus to be used as an excuse, a free-pass, a licence to sin against other people, against our conscience, against God. No way.

So, that’s the first temptation for the Christian who has fallen into sin: to excuse it, to minimise it or to take it for granted. But the second temptation is the one he really wants us to sit up and take notice of. It is the temptation to justify that sin.

Justifying our sin

For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.

Galatian 2:18

Paul gets personal. If I rebuild; what I tore down; I prove myself (literally, establish myself) as a sinner. Paul is speaking from his experience of struggle with his own sin and openly confesses, “Here is what I am most tempted to do with my sin: To justify it.”

If you have a bible, it’s worth looking back to the context of his argument in Galatians Chapter 2, especially beginning with verses 11 onwards where he mentions the apostle Peter’s visit to Antioch. You see, there, Paul confronts Peter’s sin in public. What was it that Peter did that was so horrible and so serious that Paul had to bring it up on Sunday morning in church in front of all his friends and family? Did Peter embezzle the church funds? Did Peter run away with his secretary? Well no, it was none of that, actually. All Peter did was he stopped hanging out with the non-Jewish friends after church. He was afraid, Paul tells us, of the “circumcision group”, that is, Peter was afraid that word would get around that he was breaking the traditional Jewish laws by mixing with Gentiles (non-Jews) and this would result in problems for the Christians back in Jerusalem. He was afraid that members of the “circumcision group” would use his behaviour as an excuse to carry out hate-crimes against the church in Jerusalem.

So, if you think about it, Peter was acting out of love, out of concern and out of consideration for his brothers and sisters in his home church. Paul saw things quite differently: Peter was acting out of fear. In itself, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that out of fear, Peter decided he would turn to the law instead of gospel, to deal with his fear.

Again, we might read this and say, “What’s the big deal?” Peter didn’t break any laws. Peter didn’t hurt anyone. What was the big deal?

The reason we say that is because we think that sin means law-breaking. That’s the most common understanding of what sin is: It’s breaking a set of rules. We think that sin means breaking the law. But notice how Paul defines sin quite differently here. Look at what he says in verse 18: “For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.” What is he saying? With respect to the law, it’s not the person who breaks the law who is the sinner, it’s actually the person who tries to keep the law. That’s a surprising definition to find, of all places, in the bible, isn’t it? Here is a verse that defines the sinner - the transgressor, as Paul puts it - not as the lawbreaker but the lawmaker.

“If I rebuild what I tore down,” Paul says. Remember that Paul used to be a Pharisee. He was the Hebrew of Hebrews, who kept the law, perfectly. This was a guy who memorised Genesis to Deuteronomy, word for word. This a guy who knew the rules, who lived by the rules, who enforced the rules. But when Paul became a Christian, he considered everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord, for whose sake he lost all things (Philippians 3:8). What does that mean - to consider everything a loss? (He even calls it “rubbish” - a euphemism, as the word he actually uses much, much more offensive than trash)

What is he referring to? Paul is talking about his confidence in his own track record. That’s what the law represents. For Paul the Pharisee, the law was a way to fix things. But for Paul the Christian, he had come to realise that the law was never meant to fix anything. It was only there to uncover our brokenness and sin. The only solution that God has given us for our sin is Jesus. His death on the cross pays the full penalty of sin and credits our account with the full benefits of his righteousness.

Looking to our Saviour

As Christians we know that. But Paul is saying to us, we tend to forget; and the times when we are most tempted to forget is when we sin. We look to the law for a way to make up for our sin. We look to the law for a solution that will allow us to pay for our sin. We look to the law for a means to feel better about our sin. But all the law does is condemn us of our sin. What does Paul say again? “If I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.”

To turn back to the law, after having known Jesus and trusted in his salvation by grace through faith alone, is to establish ourselves firmly in our guilt as sinners. It is, in effect, to say to Jesus, “Thanks for dying on the cross for me, but I’ll take it from here.” Paul says, “If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21)

And yet, don’t miss the fact that Paul is speaking about his own sin and his own struggles with sin. Verse 19: “For through the law, I died to the law so that I might live for God.” Verse 20: “The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” Verse 21: “I do not set aside the grace of God...”

Why does Paul get so personal here? Just a few verses earlier, Paul had been talking about Peter’s sin of hypocrisy, of fear of man, of compromising the gospel - and Paul mentions how he confronts Peter of his sin. But you see, Paul is confronting sin in a brother’s life not with the law, but with the gospel. And Paul then turns and says to us, “Quite frankly, the only difference between Peter and myself is the grace of God.”

I met a pastor a few years back who was in a counselling situation with someone who had committed a horrible sin. “How could he do that?” he said to me. “How could a Christian sin like that against someone he loves?” Over the years, as friends have shared with me their struggles with sin, I admit that at times, I have been tempted to say the exact same thing, “How could this happen? How could you let this happen?”

This passage from Galatians soberly reminds me that as I encounter sin in another believer’s life, I should be all the more aware of my own sinfulness and I should be all the more aware of the overwhelming grace of God available through Jesus Christ. Like Paul, I should be able to say, “There, but the grace of God, go I.”

If you are a non-Christian, you need to know that the only thing differentiating you and me is not our sin. We are both sinners. That is not to say, however, that there is no difference between the Christian and the non-Christian. We are both sinners, yes, but God has forgiven the sin of the Christian. He has done this not based on the law, not based on the track-record of the believer, not based on the goodness of the Christian, but purely out of his grace towards sinners. Sinners, like you and me.

But if you are a Christian, and you know this gospel - this message of free grace and forgiveness - what this passage is saying to us is: Don’t be surprised by sin. Don’t be surprised by sin - whether it is sin in others or sin in your own life - to the point that when sin happens, you are tempted to excuse your sin or justify your sinfulness. Instead confess your sin to God. Turn to Jesus alone who died for your sin and rose for your justification. There is forgiveness and restoration at the cross.

Most important of all, don’t wait till you are caught in a serious situation of sin before you start looking to Jesus as your Saviour. For Paul, apostle though he was, the reason he was aware for his struggles and sinfulness, wasn’t because he was constantly absorbed with himself. It wasn’t because he was vigilantly looking out for this or that trace of sin. Quite the opposite actually, Paul was constantly focussed on one thing: Jesus. All his life, Paul never got over the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross for him, a sinner. Every day, Paul looked to his Saviour. Every day Paul was conscious of Jesus’s sacrifice, “The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me!” And Paul knew, that in Christ, he was fully accepted; that in Christ, he was absolutely loved.

Alas, and did my Saviour bleed

And did my Sovereign die?

Would He devote that sacred head

For such a worm as I?

Was it for sins that I had done

He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity, grace unknown

And love beyond degree

My God, why would You shed Your blood

So pure and undefiled

To make a sinful one like me

Your chosen, precious child?

(“Alas, and did my Saviour bleed,” original words by Isaac Watts, additional words by Bob Kauflin, Sovereign Grace Music)

Jacket off, jacket on

In the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid, Jackie Chan plays ageing handyman, Mr Han, who teaches Chinese kung fu to a 12-year old black kid from Detroit, played by Jaden Smith (son of actor Will Smith, who incidentally produced the movie). I liked it, despite protests from my friends saying, “It’s not Karate, it’s Kung Fu!” I still thought it was cool that this version of Mr Miyagi could actually throw a punch. The scene I was looking forward to was the “jacket off, jacket on” moment, where Jackie trains his student to defend himself by making him take his jacket off only to put it right back on, repeating this action again and again, for hours on end. When his student gets frustrated with what he thinks is a pointless exercise and threatens to leave, Jackie reveals that he has been teaching him “real” kung fu moves all this while. Suddenly the skinny black kid from Detroit is able to deflect blows from his shifu by utilising his well-practiced art of blocking - the “jacket off, jacket on” technique. Sounds lame when I put it that way, but it’s a cool scene, trust me!

In today’s passage we find the apostle Paul saying to us, “Jacket off, jacket on.”

You were taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on your new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24

Jacket off: We need to take off our old way of life. Leave it behind. Jacket on: We put on Christ, who covers us with his righteousness and holiness. Paul is teaching us that as Christians there needs to be a radical change. Yet the key to this change is not something we do to ourselves but something that has been done in us through the gospel.

Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.

Ephesians 4:21

“You guys know this, don’t you?” Paul begins. Surely, he says. The English Standard Version has “Assuming that you have heard... and were taught”. It’s like when Chinese people say, Lei ge Ma mo gau lei ah? (“Didn’t your parents teach you this?”) as a kind of rebuke whenever we mess up. Paul is saying to us, “You guys know there needs to be a radical, even visible change in our lives, if you claim to know Jesus.”

It’s really interesting how Jesus is referred to three times in this one sentence, did you notice that? You heard of him. You were taught in him. The truth that is in him. Paul is talking about the radical change in a Christian’s life and he is saying, Jesus needs to be at the centre of that change every step of the way. In our conversion, when we first heard of him. In our obedience, as we were taught in him. In our assurance, trusting in the truth that is in him. We began with Jesus, we grow in Jesus, we continue trusting in Jesus. Focussing on Jesus results in the radical change Paul is talking about. That’s important, because the “jacket off, jacket on” technique are not steps we take to earn our salvation. They are results of our salvation: by-products of our trust in Jesus as the source of our salvation. Whenever we are dealing with situations that require radical change in our lives, Paul is saying, the first thing we do is come back to Jesus. He changes us, we cannot change ourselves. It’s not what we have to do, it is all about what Jesus has done for us through the cross; what he continues to do in our lives by his spirit.

So, why doesn’t Paul just say to us, “Trust in Jesus.” Why the need for the “jacket off, jacket on” reminder? Two big reasons. The first is because we live in a world where everyone still has their old jackets on.

So I tell you this and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking.

Ephesians 4:17

These Christians grew up as non-Christians, in homes and environments that were likely to be anti-Christian. By trusting in Jesus, they have been changed but the world they live in hasn’t. That’s reality for them and for us. And what Paul deals with is the temptation to fall back into that old way of life. “You must no longer live as the Gentiles do,” he says, implying, we were no different at one time. The things they did, we used to do. But no more, “I insist on it in the Lord,” he says. Keep your focus on Jesus.

So the first reason is that we still live in a world that is corrupted by sin. That’s why Paul says, “Put off your old self, which is corrupted by its deceitful desires.” In other words, the sins we need to watch out for are the familiar ones. Don’t be complacent. You might think you have a handle on your weak points, but you live in a world where most people don’t. That is intentional, by the way. God has put us in the world even though we are no longer part of the world to be salt and light. We are called to be different from the world and yet witnesses in this world to the transforming work of Jesus.

That brings us to the second reason. God displays his new creation to us. When we “put on the new self”, it sounds like we are putting on a jacket. Only the actual phrase Paul uses is “the new man”. He is saying you are in fact a new creation, “created to be like God”. In a way you become a walking preview like a movie trailer. When the world looks at the church, they get a glimpse of how God will change the world. Sinners are transformed into into his sons and daughters. He does this by covering us with “true righteousness and holiness”. In other words, he looks at us and sees Jesus who gives us his reward for his work on the cross.

Two reasons why Paul calls us to put off our old selves and put on the new: (1) As witnesses in a world still corrupted by sin; and (2) As a display of God’s plan to renew the world through Jesus’ work on the cross.

Though, if you have been paying attention, I’ve missed out a step in between. It is verse 23.

To be made new in the attitude (spirit) of your minds.

Ephesians 4:23

Verse 23 is probably the most important step of all, simply because it is a statement that says we cannot change ourselves. Only God can renew us from the inside out. But notice the location of that change and renewal - it is the attitude of our minds. The biggest change that happens in a person’s life are not his actions or behaviour, it is in his mind. Literally, Paul says the “spirit” of our minds - referring to the totality of our thinking and decision-making.

Look back to verse 17 and notice that Paul highlights the non-Christian manner of life in terms of their thinking. It’s futile, Paul says. He goes on to tell us they are darkened in their understanding, that there is an ignorance in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Those are not descriptions of actions but reactions towards God - their thinking. It it teaching us that sin is first and foremost an attitude towards God. It eventually results in sinful actions, yes, from which we get “bitterness, rage, anger, malice, brawling, slander” (Ephesians 4:31) but those are only symptoms. The disease is a heart that rejects God.

Therefore, it probably won’t surprise you to know that metanoia, the Greek word for repentance, means a change of thinking. At the centre of the transforming work of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ are men and women who don’t simply obey his word but love his word, who don’t merely submit to him as Lord but call God their heavenly Father. The reason why Christians want to change their lives is not simply because they want to get better and happier, it’s not because we like a change in fashion so we put on new jackets and take off our old ones. It’s because we love Jesus and his love changes us to be more like him.

Chow Sing Chi and repentance (Luke 15:11-24)

I will set out and go back to my father and say to him:
Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
The Prodigal Son in Luke 15:18

Chow Sing Chi

Every time I read these words, I can’t help but think of Hong Kong actor Chow Sing Chi. I’m a big fan of Stephen Chow movies (which is weird considering how I don’t speak or read Cantonese. I have to read the subtitles!).

Fight Back to School. God of Gamblers II. Kung Fu Hustle. Have you ever noticed how every Chow Sing Chi movie has the exact same storyline? He starts out a jerk (usually with his hair messed up), gets into serious trouble; but ends up always the hero (with his hair gelled and combed back)! Every Chow Sing Chi movie has exactly the same beginning, middle and end!

Some people can’t stand that! I was having dinner last week with friends from church and one of them said, “I don’t like Chow Sing Chi movies. He just seems so full of himself.” Which is true. You’re meant to pity him when he is down in the dumps. Then you’re supposed to admire him when he overcomes all the odds.

And many people think the same way about the younger brother in this famous story told by Jesus. They just can’t stand him. First he insults his father by asking for his inheritance. Then he blows it all in London – a distant country, the bible says – on wild living. We’re not at all surprised when he comes to the end of his cash, ends up working in a pig farm, hungry and penniless, abandoned by all his friends.

But it’s really when he then says, in verse 18, “I know what I’ll do – I’ll back to daddy!” that many think: This guy hasn’t changed one bit. He doesn’t feel sorry at all. You can’t seriously say he’s changed, can you? I mean, he’s just out to con the old man. Again!

What do you think?

I preached this passage 3 years back. It was one of my first messages. Right after, a friend came up to me to confront me about something I said about the younger brother. I had said that this parable was about repentance; and that Jesus was pointing to this younger brother to show us a picture of what repentance looks like. And my friend seriously disagreed. He said the younger brother couldn’t have possibly, sincerely repented. He was just desperate and hungry. Furthermore in verse 19, his plan was to ask his father to make him a “hired man”. Meaning: he wanted to earn his way up. The hired man was the lowest rung of the working class, even below that of a slave. These workers were skilled and paid according to their labour. So what the younger brother was really proposing to do was to save himself, by his own efforts.

I wonder what you think. Has he changed? Is he sorry for what he did to his own father? Or is he just thinking with his stomach – only feeling sorry for himself, and taking advantage of his father’s pity?

The thing is: whatever you think, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. Because of verse 20.

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him.
Luke 15:20

While the son was a long way off. Still in the distance. As soon as the father saw his son across the horizon, making his way home... he already forgave him in his heart.

Before the younger man had any chance to put his plan into action. Before he said a single word. His father already forgive him. My son. My son is home. The father runs out to the son, throws his arms around him and kissed him.

Repentance

What does repentance mean?

Many people hear the word “repentance” – when they walk into a church and they hear the pastor say, “You must repent!” They think they have to respond by feeling really, really bad about themselves. There must be tears and wailing. “I’m a horrible person! I’m soooo sorry!! I repent!”

The passage does not say – anywhere – that the younger son was in tears. Or that he felt really morose and depressed. If anything the description in verse 17 sounds more like he finally sobered up. “He came to his senses,” the NIV puts it. He came to a rational, clear understanding of what he had done; of what was really going on around him.

This is not to say that repentance should not be accompanied by tears. To be confronted by our sins and the consequences of our sins (especially to those around us) is an overwhelmingly emotional weight. But tears are not what the bible means by repentance. It is not what Jesus means by repentance. Repentance simply means turning back.

I will set out (anastas) and go back to(wards) my father.
Luke 15:18

So he got up (anastas) and went to(wards) his father.
Luke 15:20

[The Greek anastas, meaning leave occurs in both verses – rendered “set out” in verse 18, and “got up” in verse 20. Also elthon in verse 20 – went to(wards) is the same word in verse 17. He went/came to his himself. He came/went towards his father.]

Twice it emphasises the same thing. He left he current direction. He went back to his father. In other words: he turned back. That’s repentance! Repentance in the bible is the turning away from sin, a turning away from our own way of living; and turning towards to face God. A verse in the bible that crystallises the meaning of repentance is found in 1 Thessalonians 1:9

For they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.
1 Thessalonians 1:9

Repentance means turning back – going back – facing God, your heavenly father. Which is why so many people find true repentance such a hard thing to do. It is hard not simply because it means facing up to their sins or the consequences of their sins. It is hard because it means facing God. And we are afraid to face God because we’re afraid he will punish us. We are afraid he will scold us and tell us what a horrible person we’ve been. We’re afraid we’ll see his face of anger. Of disappointment.

That’s why so many people, even when they realise they’ve messed up their lives and truly, honestly feel sorry for their mistakes to the point of tears and sincere regret, still do not repent. They are afraid that if they turn to God, they will just feel worse. But that isn’t the God of the bible. That isn’t the Father that Jesus talks about in this parable.

The love of the father

You know, Chinese culture is very similar to Jewish culture. Both the Jews and the Chinese uphold respect for their elders. Especially respect for fathers. The father is the head of the household. He earns the money. He feeds the family. He sets the rules.

And the father in this story would have been especially revered, in his household, but even in his community. He was elderly. Moreover he was wealthy. People would have looked up to the father; respected his success in business. He would have been an important member in the village and well-known to everyone.

Stanley Ho is name my Hong Kong friends instantly recognise. The 13^th richest man in Hong Kong, Stanley operates the one and only casino in Macau and is known as the “King of Gambling”. His is estimated to be worth 3.1 billion US dollars.

Stanley is very, very rich. He is very, very well-known. But recent news about Stanley, is very, very sad. This year, Stanley will be 90 years old and his four wives and many children are in a legal struggle with one another to control his assets; to get their share of the 3.1 billion dollars. It’s hard to keep such news under wraps. The local and international media are having a field day covering every statement, every legal maneuver, every embarassing development in the family drama.

It’s the same with the father in Jesus’ parable. You don’t think everyone knew what the younger son did? “Hey, did you hear about that spoilt brat? What kind of things he is up to?” You don’t think the whole village has been gossiping about the incident?

And yet does it seem at all like the father cares about what the whole village thinks? Of course not! He runs! This old man dashes across the high street in full view of everyone to embrace his son. What is more, he has a big celebration so that everyone knows that his son is home!

‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
Luke 15:22-24

What kind of father is this?

A good father. A father who loves his son. A father who forgives his son.

That’s God. I mean, you know that is who Jesus has been talking about all this while, don’t you? That’s God, your heavenly father.

The question is: do you know this?

You know, when Christians say that “God is good” or that “God is love”, I’m always worried that people think what we mean is, “God loves me so much, he’s given me my health, my money, my food, a good happy family, the sunshine, birds to chirpy chirp in the air, the rainbow... and my iPod.”

No. What I mean when we say the God is good is this: he forgives us. Even when we break his heart. Even when we live our lives like he doesn’t exist; take him for granted and insult him. God forgives us, embraces us and call us his son; his daughter.

The question is: do you know this God? Will you turn back to the Father?

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

[This excerpt is taken from a sermon preached at the Chinese Church on Sunday, 6 February 2011]

Do you fear the wind and chill?

Do you fear the wind and chill?
Colder still the unbending will;
A frozen heart unmoved by grace,
Treasures not His love, Seeks not His face