PART 1 (CONT.): THE REALITY OF SIN, AND THE GOSPEL
My belief in God began solidifying when I witnessed the reality of sin in myself (which helped me to later see the universality of sin). I distinctly remember thinking when I was younger, “I used to lie sometimes and I remember when I stole a few beansprouts and that musical golf ball, but I don't think I sin anymore. I try to be a good person anyway.” But oh man, God patiently showed me my ignorance. As I seriously examined myself in my actions, speech, attitudes, thoughts, and especially motives, I saw how self-centered I was – unloving, conceited, hypocritical, and so much more. We may think that “oh, those were just a few mess-ups and I felt unwell. I'm generally a good person though”, but our thoughts constantly gravitate toward self-interest.
1 Corinthians 13:1&3 says: “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”
For instance, if I do something that seems selfless, yet I'm actually just doing it to seem altruistic for people to compliment me, then the act is actually of sin. For instance, I saw that sometimes when I was being polite, I didn't do it lovingly nor whole-heartedly, and I became disgusted by this attitude. My mindset, my thinking, my life was changed by God.
So if these are my inclinations, if this is my nature, how could I possibly save myself by living a 'good' life and 'doing good things'? This brings us back to the initial point- we can't save ourselves. The good things we do aren’t nearly enough to make up for it – trying to be generous, listening to parents, volunteering at the homeless shelter, refraining from cussing, etc. Works don't save us. Rather, we are saved by Christ, by what He did and who He is. Works are then a response to this, out of gratitude. We work toward these things by faith, confident that God is the one able to mature us and make us more like Him.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
To explain this, God is just and righteous. Thus, He cannot tolerate sin and injustice. Simultaneously, He is loving and merciful. He reconciled this crisis through His Son Jesus Christ, who was the intercessor and mediator – He lived a sinless life and took our punishment, and His act of saving us is something we did not deserve nor could we ever earn. The people He came to save rejected, hated, beat, mocked, spat on, and crucified Him. Even more, He was severed from God the Father in that moment of time, which is the most unfathomably painful experience. Yet He graciously forgave and willingly died for us! After 3 days, He resurrected from the dead spiritually and physically and reunited with God the Father. Meaning, He subdued sin!