Understanding My Sinfulness

Simon, the Pharisee (Jewish religous leader), had invited Jesus to his house to eat with him and while there, a woman (a sinner, it states) came to Jesus and, as she wiped his feet with her hair and anointed them with ointment, she wept. Well, Simon was indignant that Jesus would associate with such a sinner. Part of Jesus' answer to Simon was, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little loves little." - Luke 7:47

It wasn't that Simon's sins were not that great and this woman's sins were. The point here is that the woman understood what a sinner she was, and therefore, knowing who Jesus was, and that through Him was forgiveness of sin, she loved Him very much. Simon, on the other hand, didn't see himself as very sinful at all, and therefore he loved Jesus very little.

In my last post I shared that understanding God's sovereignty in my own salvation was one way that my love for Him has grown. When I began to see the Biblical reality of God's electing grace, that He chose me, and that if He hadn't I would never have come to Him in faith, the depth of my own sin became clearer. But another thing that helped me to see the depth of my sin was God's law (the 10 commandments) and Jesus' expansion on this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. I'll give a brief over-view and close with some final comments.

1. You shall have no other gods before me
2. You shall not make yourself a carved image or bow down to it
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy
5. Honor your father and your mother
6. You shall not murder
7. You shall not commit adultery
8. You shall not steal
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
10. You shall not covet anything that is your neighbors

As I studied the 10 commandments, and Jesus words in the Sermon on the Mount, I realized that I had broken every single one of them repeatedly. I began to see the depth of my sin, which increased my understanding of God's grace in sending Christ to take the punishment for the sins I committed. Most of us think that we're not that bad. We compare ourselves to really bad people, like Hitler or Saddam Hussein, and we think we're not really so bad. We think maybe God is going to grade us (judge us) on the curve. Not so. Jesus said that if we are angry with our brother, we will be liable to judgment. If we say, "You fool!" we are liable to the hell of fire (Matthew 5:22) He said that if we sexually lust after someone other than our spouse, we are guilty of adultery. God will not judge based on deeds only. He will judge thoughts, words and deeds.

If I added up all the times I broke the first commandment alone (not loving God every single day of my life above everything else in my life), my sin record is overwhelming (and that's not even touching the other nine). As the magnitude of my sin has become clearer, the magnitude of God's grace in Jesus Christ, and my need for Jesus has become clearer, and my love for Him has increased greatly.

"Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."- Romans 5:20