How Do We Overcome Overwhelming Wrongs in Our Lives?

One of the things that we have, I think, a challenging time at this time of the year is the time we have for introspection. And one of the challenges that I think we all face is how do we overcome the things that we find as shortcomings in our life? I mean, you could say, we need to overcome sin. And that sounds really good. And yes, we have to do that. But how do we overwhelm wrong? Overwhelming wrong becomes kind of a mantra I think we could begin to think about. Overwhelming wrong. Wrong is overwhelming. But we need to figure out how to overwhelm the wrongs in our life. If we begin to look at what the Bible has to say about it, there's no doubt we're sinners. We fall short of the glory of God. So what do we do to be just in God's eyes? How do we deal with overwhelming wrong? One of the challenges we face is that sometimes the effects of sin, they're not immediate. Sometimes it takes a long time before some of these wrongs are really discernible. If you think about that for a moment, consider Adam and Eve. What did God tell Adam and Eve if they ate from the wrong tree? We all know. You will surely die. Well, how long did it take for that cause and effect to really come to action?

Hundreds of years. Adam and Eve lived for hundreds of years before they died. But God was right. They would surely die. No doubt about that. And that can be something in our lives that can be a little deceiving.

That there can be a long time period between cause and effect, between sin as the cause and ultimately the effect of sin. Because a couple of things to think about. There are two, what I would call, formidable features of sin.

Sin's formable features. First of all, sin is all inclusive. We can be deceived into thinking otherwise. But we know that passage in Romans 3.23 where it says, All have sinned. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3.23. It's a good reminder of that. But when we recognize it, we oftentimes think of sin more like a disease. Is sin really a disease? Some, especially more recently, have contacted the flu. You come down with the flu and if you hang around other people that have had the flu, you're going to probably get it too.

It has this sense of that, I'll either contract it or I won't. Hopefully I won't. I'll escape the clutches of the flu. But is that the way sin is? Is sin sort of like that? Or do you have a tendency to think of it in that way? Take a look at Romans 5 and verse 12.

Romans 5 and verse 12 gives us an entirely different perspective of sin. It's not like a disease that spreads, if we think of it like the flu or what's the other thing that's going around these days, the mumps. If you've been keeping up on that, mumps has been another one of those diseases that have been spreading.

Some schools have been closing out east, all kinds of... Well, is sin kind of like that or not? Look at Romans 5 and 12. Romans 5 and 12 says, Therefore, just as through one man's sin entered the world, and death through sin, thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. And so sometimes people will read that and say, Oh, there is this initial sin that Adam and Eve contracted. And because Adam and Eve sinned, sin is everywhere. And so they'll look back to original sin.

And so some Christians out there think that, Well, this original sin causes me to be a sinner. Well, is that what this passage is talking about here? No, it's not. When we see this phrase, death spread to all men, this is a complete thing. This is a universal thing. This is an all-inclusive kind of a thing. Not something we go back and we blame Adam for. When we look at this, it's because we're human. It's not because of Adam. It's because of who we are. We are human beings. And as human beings, the whole human race experiences sin because it's our nature. It's our nature.

It's who we are. So if you read this in other translations, like if you read this in, let's say, The Voice, it says this, Death followed us in hot pursuit. Death infects all people as we engage in sin. So we can't go back and just blame Adam for all our problems. It's us. We're human beings. And because we're human beings, we have this natural tendency to sin. It's universal. It's all inclusive. We are human beings and we are susceptible to sin. And so if we imagine what sin is like, it's almost like this, what would you say, the Kraken.

If you've ever seen these movies with the Kraken, this squid that comes out of nowhere to engulf the ship and there's tentacles that wrap around him and just suck them under the ocean. Because that's the way sin is. It is all-encompassing. And it reaches out and it captures us. And we get in its path and what happens? It's going to wrap its tentacles around us and squeeze the life right out of us.

That's the way sin is. And we're susceptible to it because we are human. And it's not something that we might run into. We could contract this disease of sin. No, it's something we will run into it because sin is everywhere. Sin is everywhere. It is in this world. And we are human beings and this sin is all-encompassing.

In fact, as long as you're here in Romans, look to chapter 6. Just go forward just a little bit to chapter 6. And here in Romans chapter 6, I believe that Apostle Paul is inspired to personify sin. Imagine sin personified, and I think we find what Paul writes really applicable to all of us. Romans 6, look at verse 12. He says, So as we look at this passage for a minute, we don't have to be under this penalty of death, under law.

But if sin wraps its tentacles around us and we allow that to happen, we're going down. We're going down. And this dominance of sin is everywhere.

And so sin can wrap around us and exercise this dominion, this all-encompassing nature that it has, to really tear us down spiritually. And in fact, as we look at this, in so many ways, it's almost like you might miss it if you're not careful. You might not recognize sin at work. Because if we recognize it, we'd say, well, we don't want that. That's not what I'm all about. But Paul's presenting it here as though we might miss it. We might overlook it. We might not recognize what it's doing to us. In fact, if we go to chapter 7, look at verse 17, Romans 7, 17.

Notice the way Paul visualizes sin. Notice this personification, like it almost has a life of its own. Paul says in verse 17, Now it's no longer I who do it, but sin who dwells in me. For I don't know that in me that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. So Paul recognizes that. When I look at things honestly and openly, is there anything righteous in me? Am I capable as a human being to be righteous?

No, nothing good dwells. He says, the will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do I do not do, but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it's no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

Now can you imagine that perspective? Here we have Paul striving to be a Christian, and yet sin still wraps its tentacles around him. And he sees such a separation between those, it's almost like that's not even me. That's not what I'm about, that's not what I want. I'm striving to obey God, I'm striving to please him. And yet this sin still is trying to wrap its arms all around me. And so he says, verse 21, I find a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.

But I see another law, another principle, another thing that begins to happen. He says, in my body, in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity, to the law of sin that's in my members. So here's the Apostle Paul visualizing this battle that we all have been called to.

This battle to fight sin and recognize the fact that this sin is not only enticing, yes, it's deceitful, but it's also mesmerizing. It's something that fools us. It's devious. It's beguiling. In fact, if you think about it in those terms and visualize sin, you may begin to visualize Satan himself, because the satanic origins are all there. And so Paul's describing this proximity that we all have to sin. How close are we to sin? Well, Paul's saying right here, it's all around us. It's all around us in this world. And it's ready to extend dominance over us.

That's what Paul was saying here. Sin is waiting and willing and wanting to overwhelm us with its wrongs. And if we miss it, we're not going to see the influence and the impact of what Paul's trying to help us to see here. It is so opposed to us as striving to be godly that it forces us to make a choice.

We choose. We choose between, as Paul puts it here, this evil that is present and the other side of the coin, the one who wants to do good. And so this power that it's work wants to rule us, wants to reign over us. And that's here, this is the Apostle Paul. This isn't just some pagan guy out there that's having a problem understanding sin. No, this is the Apostle.

And he's fighting this battle. And there's no doubt he puts it in terms of an absolute war. And we're called to the resistance. We're called to battle this. And in a sense, if we're not careful, we'll be a POW in this world, prisoner of war. We can't allow that to happen. We have to fight that by the power of God's Spirit. And without the power of God's Spirit, we're not going to be able to be resistant.

We will be overwhelmed. But Paul's saying here, we can overwhelm wrong and not be overwhelmed by wrong. In fact, if we look back just a little bit, chapter 6, verse 6, look at the resistance that he describes here in Romans 6, 6. He says, "...knowing this, our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin." So Paul paints this almost horrifying kind of a picture when you really get down to it.

Because sin isn't going to give up on us. And its appeal can be blatant. It can be obvious. But then on the other hand, it can be very subtle. And it wants to brainwash us. And if it's not consciously and consistently stopped, it will master us. It will overcome us. And we then can become proficient at sinning. And it can be our way of life.

And over and over again, Scripture describes sin just like Satan. Full of wickedness. Getting to a point that you can't discern between the truth and error. And the way that Paul discusses it, it's right to the heart of us. Right to the heart of God's people. If you turn to the book of Jeremiah, here Jeremiah was warning God's people about not shying away from God, staying close to God, doing His will.

And in Jeremiah 4, verse 22, Notice what Jeremiah was inspired to write. Yes, to God's people at that day, but it applies today just as much. Jeremiah 4.22. Look at the picture that Jeremiah paints for God's people. Look at the description. And notice the similarities to what Paul wrote and what Jeremiah was prophesying about. Jeremiah 4.22.

For my people are foolish. They have not known me. They're silly children. They have no understanding. They are wise to do evil. But to do good, they have no knowledge. Jeremiah is describing that same battle that the Apostle Paul was describing. If we're going to fight this battle and not be foolish people, if we're not going to let evil overcome us, if we're going to be fighting this battle of overwhelming wrong, we better understand the enemy. Do we really understand the enemy? If we had to define the enemy, in what terms would we describe that?

We know ultimately Satan and his demons are out to get us. Ephesians describes them as evil spirits in high places that are undermining our faith. Yes, we know that. Absolutely. But when we recognize what takes place in our life, we talked about Romans 3.23, we're sinners. How do you define sin? What does sin look like in your life? If we're going to fight this battle, we better understand what is sin. What is sin? In order to overcome wrong, we better understand what wrong is. So if you had to define sin, where would you begin?

Where would you begin in defining this enemy that we have to overcome? I know many of us would probably begin in 1 John 3.4. Let's take a moment and just define the enemy. Defining this sin that we face, certainly this is a good place to start. Often times, this might be one of those memory verses that we put to mind to at least recognize what we're up against. 1 John 3.4. If you put this one to memory, 1 John 3.4 says, whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness.

And sin is lawlessness. So that's kind of one of those traditional passages we'll often go to. Sin is lawlessness. What does that mean exactly? Lawlessness, literally here in the Greek, is a nomos. No law. No law. Pointing to God's law. God's law. And so sin is outside of God's law. In fact, if we look down just a little bit further, look at verse 8. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. So we see sin of the devil, lawlessness, not willing to come under God's law.

In fact, if we flip over a page, at least in my Bible here, look at chapter 5. Look at chapter 5 because it adds to this definition of sin. Not just being lawlessness, but let's put a little bit more meat on the bones. We recognize Satan has no truth in him. His behavior is opposite of what is right and what is good. It is a no-mos. His behavior is lawless. He's known as the lawless one. He is the apposer. He opposes God. But here in chapter 5, notice the terms that it puts as it defines sin a little bit further.

In chapter 5, verse 17, 1 John 5, 17, it says, all unrighteousness is sin. It says, a sin not leading to death. Of course, a sin that doesn't lead to death is a sin that's been forgiven. A forgiven sin doesn't lead to death, but all other sin, like we read in Romans 3, 23, the result of sin is death.

So in order to short-circuit that death process, we have to be forgiven. There is a sin not leading to death, meaning a forgiven sin. But we see this category expanded, not only a sin lawlessness, but it's the opposite of righteousness. The opposite of righteousness is sin. Now, I don't know about you, but that's still pretty vague. Is that pretty vague? Do we really grasp the aspects of what the transgression of the law is? What exactly is unrighteous? Well, we could say things that are against God. Absolutely, no doubt. But to put it into practical terms for us, we can continue to add to this definition of sin, because the Bible doesn't stop there.

This isn't the only description of what sin is. If you turn with me over to the Proverbs, look at Proverbs 10, verse 19. Proverbs 10, verse 19 gives a little bit more specific aspects of what sin is.

Let's notice what Proverbs reminds us about when it comes to things that are unrighteous, things that are opposed to God, things that are transgressions of God's way. Proverbs 10, verse 19 definitely describes an aspect of sin. It says, in the multitude of words, sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise. So we could say, not only is sin transgression of the law, not only is unrighteousness sin, but talking too much is sin.

Not controlling the words that you say. Saying anything that comes to mind. Getting into disagreements is sin. You don't restrain what you say. That's showing you're not restraining what you think. And that is sin. That is sin. And James even adds a little more to that.

I just write down James chapter 3, verse 2. James 3, 2 says, if you don't stumble in word, you're a perfect man. Well, that's the goal. That's the goal. But we're not perfect. But we're striving for that. And so we see this whole aspect of just controlling the things that we say. Because all too often, in all of those words that we say, there is sin. There is sin. But we can't be found in that mindset. In fact, maybe we can make our way over to James for a moment.

James chapter 4 adds to this concept of the multitude of words. Being sin, being a transgression of God's way, being unrighteousness, not controlling the things that we say, offending others. Certainly, all of those things add meat to the bones of lawlessness. But take a look at James chapter 4. James chapter 4, we'll pick it up in verse 17. Now, he just got done talking about our words and how the tongue is an offensive thing. And just past that, he even adds a little bit more to this concept of what sin is. Not just being restricted to the things that we say, but look at what James chapter 4 reminds us of in verse 17.

He says, therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Boy, that's a whole different concept than just transgression or lawlessness or saying bad things, offending others, a multitude of words. Now, this is a lack of action, a lack of doing what's right and good, a lack of exhibiting the character of Jesus Christ. If we know to do good and we don't do it, that rises to the level of sin. In fact, a similar thought is one that Paul mentioned in Romans 14.23. That's where he said, whatever is not of faith is sin.

Whatever is not of faith is sin. Yeah, we have to act in faith. In fact, if we took the time today to try to go through every passage in the Bible that describes sin, we'd be here till sunset, at least. We won't do that today, but when we recognize, we have to expand our definition of what sin is all about. This transgression, this lawlessness is certainly one aspect of this. In fact, we're kind of nearby. Maybe we should go over there. In Ephesians 2, it says it a little bit differently.

When we talk about lawlessness certainly being one aspect of a definition of sin. Ephesians 2, verse 1 talks about two different things that equate to that level. Notice the way that Paul put it to the church in Ephesus here. Ephesians 2, verse 1, he delineates between two different things here. He says, he's made you alive who were dead in trespasses and sins.

Trespasses and sins. I believe he's pointing to sins being more like this lawlessness kind of an aspect, being outside of God's law. But this trespass is a little bit different. It's a little bit different aspect of what sin, especially being a nomos, outside of the law, is all about. Here in the Greek, this word trespass can literally mean to walk off the path.

So I'm going on this path to God's kingdom and I step off the path, or I slip. I'm on this mountain pass and I slip, or I wander. It can mean that. I can wander off the path. We've all heard the stories of the hikers who wander off the path. And what happens? Well, you get in trouble right away. Because they've deviated from what was right and they wandered off.

And so this word here in Ephesians 2.1, trespasses, is pointing to that. We wander off. We deviated from the right path. We went off the path and we've stepped off. And so sometimes it's not necessary this conscious decision that we made. We've messed up and we got off. We got off. Over in Galatians, he uses this same aspect here as he points out an example of what this looks like. Look at Galatians 6, verse 1. Galatians 6, verse 1. This word is a little hidden here in this particular passage because it's not translated trespass here. But going off the path or slipping or deviating, wandering off.

Galatians 6, verse 1 describes it a little bit differently. Notice it here. It says, brethren, if any man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. All right, where's the word here? It's the word fault.

The word fault. If you were overtaken in a fault, which kind of sounds like, whoa, this thing attacked me and overwhelmed me. Well, no, it's not really saying that you're going along living your life and now you misstepped. You went the wrong way. You got off the godly path. And so he says, when that's the case, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself. Lest you be tempted. You see, lest you step off the path. And so this idea of deviating from God's way is certainly a part of what sin is all about.

Wandering off. You see, because if we don't recognize the enemy, we don't recognize sin in our life. What it looks like to me, because we're all on our own paths. We're all running our own race, as Hebrews talks about. That may look different in your life than it does in mine. And I might wander off a different way than you might.

But I better recognize that, or I'm going to be so far away from the true path that I might never find my way back. And so I've got to recognize that deviation, that trespass.

In fact, there's another aspect of this that we might find if we turn over to 1 John. 1 John 1, verse 8.

And this word comes up many times throughout the New Testament. But because we're English speakers, we're not going to recognize it here.

But let's just notice what it says in English, and then we'll recognize what the word really means when we dig a little bit deeper. 1 John 1, verse 7. It says, if we walk in the light as he's in the light, we have fellowship with one another. So there's the path we're to walk on. We're to walk on this godly path, emulating Jesus Christ, having his characteristics. Verse 8, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. And he says, confess our sins, and he's faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So when we read this section, we read this word sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. Well, is that this walking off the path kind of sin? Is this the sin that we're just completely lawless? And we're so far removed from God that we're removed from the truth? Is this unrighteousness? Is this... Well, no, this is something a little bit different. The word for sin here is a word that's in Greek, harmartia. And it's different than a trespass, and it's different than lawlessness. This particular word ultimately means to miss the mark. To miss the mark. In fact, the Greeks would use this word in a military sense. Because they had their marksmen, of course they weren't using rifles like they use today, they used bows and arrows. And when they would practice shooting these bows and arrows, if they missed the bullseye, they would harmartia. They missed the mark. They were shooting for the center of that bullseye. This sin that John is talking about here is just that. We missed the bullseye. We failed to live up to the standard. We might have kind of hit the target, but is that good enough? No, we're shooting for the mark. We're shooting for the center. And we may miss that mark in the way we live. And so what I hope we begin to see here is there are so many different facets to the sins that we're surrounded by. And this reality of sin is something that we've got to recognize. That it's not just a lawless attitude or even this satanic kind of an approach to things. Sometimes it may be as simple as walking off the path or just missing the mark. And as we begin to recognize that, I think we see a bigger picture to sin. The whole central idea of sin is falling short of the goal, falling short of what God would have in mind for us. And it's not just this limitation to conduct. It's not just the results of sin, because how we act, how we talk, okay, that's the result. That's what happens on the outside. But these things like trespassing or deviating or wandering off or missing the mark also have an inward aspect to them, don't they? What's going on on the inside? And as we recognize sin tries to get its tentacles into every single facet of our life, we've got to recognize, as the Apostle Paul talked about, it can so cleverly conceal itself, and it's an inside kind of a thing. Isn't that what Christ talked about? When he talked about sin, he said, what comes out of a man, that's really something that defiles him. He said, it's not just the outward actions, but it's what comes from within. And Christ talked about that very thing. So when we combine the concepts of lawlessness with trespasses, with this missing the mark, I think we begin to see a bigger picture of the battle that we've been called to. So it's pretty tough to say, well, that's just kind of a minor thing, or that's just kind of a lesser sin, or that's just an unimportant thing.

Because that's not the way it is. In fact, when Paul described it in Ephesians chapter 4, let's notice what he says here. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 13, I think it helps us to see the big picture of this calling of ours to a standard of life that is all-encompassing. So in Ephesians chapter 4, notice the way that Paul has described this battle that we're called to, and the standard we need to strive to live up to. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 13, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 13, he describes it this way. We should no longer be children tossed to and fro, carried about by every wind of doctrine. Okay, we can't be that. So this is verse 14. Ephesians 4, 14. Well, how are we going to stop that from happening? How are we going to stop being fooled by wrong teaching? How are we going to stop from being fooled by lawlessness or trespasses or missing the mark? Well, we better be equipped. We better be properly equipped to take on the battle. And so the ultimate goal, then, is what he says in verse 13. Here's the standard we live by. He says, coming to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

So if we're going to be sure we don't miss the mark, if we're going to be sure we don't go off the path, if we're going to be lawful, righteous individuals, this is how we measure ourselves. By the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That's the goal. Because, yeah, we're all sinners and we all fall short. And that's the goal. This is our standard. This is our measure. Not what we used to be like. Not the standard of how I was before God. Called not the standard of, well, look at them and what they're doing. At least I'm not that bad. That's not our standing. That's not our calling. This is what we're called to. We're called to measure ourselves by the stature and the fullness of Christ. That's what it's about. So as we look at ourselves, how do we measure ourselves? This is the measure. And you know what we find? This is a pretty tough measurement, isn't it? This is a difficult standard. And yet, at the same time, God's not called us to fail. He's not called us to fall short. In fact, we go over to Romans chapter 3. One of the things that can, I think, get us into wrong ways of thinking is to think that somehow, by our own power, we can measure up. Let's notice what Paul reminded the Romans. He's reminding us as well here. He talks about the solution. He talks about how we can overwhelm wrongs in our life. Is it possible not to let the overwhelming wrongs take over our life, but actually the opposite happens? That we overwhelm wrong. Yes, we can. Romans 3.21. Let's notice what Paul says here to the Romans. He's telling us the same thing. He says, now the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Of course, the law and the prophets talking about the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, the prophets, the prophetic books of the Old Testament. It stands as a witness for us. Well, what is the witness? The witness is about righteousness. And that's what we're about. How can I be righteous? Is it by keeping the Sabbath? Is that what makes us righteous? Is it by overcoming this bad habit that I have? Is that what it's about? Is that how I can look good in God's eyes? No. He says there's more to it than that. He says the righteousness of God apart from the law. Does doing the law, law-keeping, make me right with God? Well, I'm a human being. I am fallible. I fall short of God's way. Can I, as a human being, ever measure up to the standard? I can't. And no amount of Sabbath-keeping or tithing or not eating pork is going to get me there. That's not going to get me. Do I have to do those things? Well, absolutely. But here we see something different. Let's notice what Paul says. Of course, verse 23 we read earlier, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Verse 24, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. How am I made right with God? How am I justified? Justified is all about being right in God's eyes. How am I acquitted of sin? How can I have a right relationship with God? That's what justification is all about. How can I stand in God's eyesight?

It's only by the sacrifice of Christ. It's only by His grace that God favors us and has called us to His truth through Jesus Christ. By Christ's sacrifice. And so we are justified. We are made right. We are forgiven of sin. We stand acquitted. We are pardoned by the sacrifice of Christ. And our faith in that sacrifice applied to us. So it's not because I don't eat pork. It's not because I keep the Sabbath. It's not because I tithe that make me right with God. Does that earn me points to the kingdom? That now, God, you've got to let me in the kingdom because I didn't miss the Sabbath service. No, that's not what it's about. We needed a sacrifice. And that justification comes through Jesus Christ. And so, verse 25, it says, God set forth Christ as a propitiation by His blood through faith. Propitiation is a great big word that means a sacrifice, an atoning sacrifice. I needed a sacrifice because I can't measure up, no matter how good I am, no matter how much I've overcome even to this point, without the sacrifice of Christ, it's not good enough. It's not good enough. And so it's through the sacrifice of Christ and our faith in it that we can be made right. We can be justified. We can be acquitted and pardoned of sin. And so we see it's through Christ, through the blood of Jesus Christ, through His sacrifice, our faith in it. Verse 25, that God demonstrates His righteousness. It says, because in His forbearance, God passed over the sins that were previously committed. So we have this Passover connection that because we have faith, confidence, absolute trust in God, that He will apply the sacrifice of Christ to us, that we're forgiven. And so He passes over those past sins. And verse 26, He demonstrates now, at this present time, His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the One who has faith in Jesus. And so Paul makes this very powerful point. We are surrounded by sin. And nevertheless, when we commit our lives to God and we have faith in that sacrifice, we are justified. We are made right with God. We are forgiven of sin. And then we recognize the purpose of the law. What's the law about? Why does God give us His law? What shows us what sin is? The purpose of the law is to reveal what sin is. It shows us our sin. It condemns sin. The law doesn't forgive sin. The law doesn't earn us points with God in that way. The point is made over and over and over again. In fact, you're here in Romans. Just go over to chapter 3. Romans 3, verse 20 makes it very plain. Makes it very clear when we recognize that very fact. He says, Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. The law shows me what sin is. I recognize sin because of God's law. And so God's law exposes sin. So sin's got its tentacles wrapped around this world, but we can see it. We recognize it. We realize it's there because the law shows us that. But its purpose is not to forgive us. Its purpose is not to save us. That only happens through Jesus Christ. It only happens with Christ. Now with that understanding, most of the religious world goes off the rails and says, Well, I'm justified by grace and now I'm done. I'm finished. I'm over. No, that's not the case either. How do we stay justified? How can we claim to be justified? How can we say we're striving for righteousness? Take a look at Galatians 2.

In Galatians 2, Paul has a pretty long treatise about this whole aspect of justification and righteousness. You see, when we claim that we are justified, when we go before God and we pray and ask Him to forgive us, He justifies us through the sacrifice of Christ. He forgives us. He, like Abraham, declares us righteous. He doesn't hold us guilty any longer. So we're acquitted of sin. We're justified. And here in Galatians 2, verse 16, we see very clearly that a man is not justified by the works of the law. Not the works of God's law, not the works of any law, for that matter. That's not what makes us right with God. But, He says, by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of law. Law doesn't cut it. It's faith in the sacrifice of Christ. So we get this clear picture. I can't earn it. I can't earn it. I can't overcome sin on my own, and I can't earn righteousness before God. And so what we begin to see is this whole sequence of what faith is all about. First, God opens our minds to His truth, and we come to believe. And as we believe, we have faith in God. We have faith in the sacrifice of Christ. And we recognize that. And now we continue to grow in the faith. In fact, we know Christ said we have to repent and believe the gospel. We have to believe what this plan of God is all about. And we recognize it. In fact, since we're very close, Romans chapter 5, go back to Romans once again.

Look at Romans chapter 5, verse 9.

What a great reminder this is. As God has called us to His truth, and we believe, we know the requirements for baptism. Our belief and repentance. Faith is intricately tied with belief, and so is obedience. So here we see in Romans chapter 5, verse 9, it says, "...much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." We have a Savior. And because we are forgiven through the sacrifice of Christ, now what do we do? And this whole process of recognizing sin and beginning to root it out in our life is the challenge that we've been called to. Now that we're justified, we have to stay that way. We have to stay that way. And the Bible will often use the word righteousness. Righteousness for remaining justified. Sometimes it'll use the word justified, but mainly uses the word righteousness. Righteousness. In fact, when you look at 1 Corinthians, I think there's a good description here of this whole concept.

Did I say 1 Corinthians? I think it's 2 Corinthians 6. Let me get there quick and see if that's correct. Yeah, 2 Corinthians 6. 1. We remain righteous in God's eyes when we obey and we live by His law. We don't allow sin in our life. We don't practice sin. We don't go off the path. We don't miss the mark. We strive to live by God's laws, and we leave false things behind us. Because this points to our behavior as we're justified. As we're declared righteous, we have to stay that way. And so, chapter 6 of 2 Corinthians, I think, just says it so beautifully.

It says, All right, how are we justified? Because God gives us His grace. He loves us. He favors us. He's called us. He pardons us. But it's possible to have grace that is useless. That's what this word, vain, means.

Don't receive the grace of God uselessly. So because we're justified by the grace of God, the sacrifice of Christ, which we don't deserve, we didn't earn it. Lawkeeping doesn't earn us the kingdom. It's not going to happen that way. But because God's extended His grace, what is our response to that grace?

Has to be obedience. Has to be obedience. That's why James says the things that he does and says it so beautifully. James, chapter 2 is a powerful section of Scripture that puts the whole picture together as we consider being justified, being forgiven and acquitted of sin by God's grace. And yet our response to that grace, God's favor. In James, chapter 2, notice how James puts it together here at the end of the chapter. James, chapter 2, verse 24.

James 2, verse 24. James writes, you see then a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. He used his example of Abraham before and then following. He says, wasn't Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and set them out another way? And so here we see this aspect of, yes, we're justified by the grace of God, by the sacrifice of Christ and our faith in it. But we have to stay justified, and that's what James is talking about here. Our actions don't forgive us of sin. That's the sacrifice of Christ. But we have to continue to walk in righteousness.

And so James uses this word justified just like righteousness. We have to stay justified. And that then flows from our actions. So we're justified. We're showing we have been forgiven of sin by walking in righteousness, by our character, by putting on the character of Christ. That's what he's saying here. We're showing this very fact that we are right with God.

And so when we recognize this, it's faith in action. And so then that is keeping the Sabbath. That is worrying about what we eat. That is tithing. That is putting on mercy and justice. That is controlling the words that come out of my mouth.

That is making sure I stay on the path. You see, because that's our response to the grace of God. Because God has given us our favor and forgiven us our sins, now we've been called to walk the path of righteousness. And that's what James so beautifully describes throughout this whole chapter, all of chapter 2. So as we are forgiven and God applies that sacrifice to us, we continue to walk in a justified way.

We continue to walk in righteousness. Because God set this course of our life. And He helps us in our walk. He helps us to grow the faith that we need. And if we claim to be God's people, we claim to be Christians, then we must walk this way. Because it's faith that's required in order to be justified. And then it's confirmed in our actions.

It's confirmed by what we do. So once we're forgiven by the grace of God and He applies the sacrifice of Christ to us, our response is to continue to walk. Righteous living. Absolute requirement. How do we do that? Only by the power of God's Spirit. And submitting our lives to Him. And so God set the course. God set the standard. We read about the standard, the fullest, the measure of Christ. That's our standard. And so we're to follow Him. We measure our lives by Him.

We live by His laws, His right way of life. Not our own ideas, not our own thoughts, not our own ways. And when? When we slip? We exercise that faith. We put that faith and repentance into action and immediately get back on the path. And that's where this whole season of the year comes into mind. That that's our measurement. That's our goal. Because even if we look outside today, it's a beautiful day. Spring is almost here. It's time for new life.

It's time for the flowers to start growing and beginning to... It's time for us, as well, to begin to rededicate ourselves, to follow God in every aspect of our life. And take off any tentacle of sin that might have its little arms wrapped around us. And cast it off. And renew that commitment to God. Because at baptism, we claimed the sacrifice of Christ. God applied that sacrifice to us and washed away our sin. And we committed our lives to get up out of that water and put on Christ and be a new creation. And so, let's dedicate our lives to recognizing how all pervasive sin is.

But more importantly than that, recognize God's given us the power over sin. He's given us the ability to overwhelm wrongs. Not to allow them to overwhelm us. He's given us the solution to sin. The solution to sin is our Savior, Jesus Christ. And in Him, we can be righteous. We can be declared righteous in His sight. So let's take the challenge. Let's take the challenge and submit our lives to Him and His Spirit. And if we do, there's no doubt we can overwhelm wrong.