Are You Wholly True To The Lord? A Sermon on 1 Kings 11:4

1 Kings 11:4:  “For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.” (ESV).

In the life of a Christian there is still a remaining corruption.  That is, when God quickens His people by monergistic regeneration, justifies and sanctifies them, sin is still present with the believing Christian.  There are some people who claim the name of “Christian” and say they are not sinners, and that they do not need to repent.  But the biblical fact of Scripture is faithful repentance.  It was taught by Christ Himself: Repent and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15).  It was taught by Peter in Acts 2.  We are to be faithful people in the matter of repentance.  We are to be consistent in our Christian walk as children of God.  When we were unregenerate, our hearts were calloused, hardened, stony.  We did not posses a heart of flesh, or a heart circumcised by the Spirit of God and the Word of God.  It takes the Spirit of God and the Word of God to change our hearts.  We were made alive by the Spirit of God and the Word of God.  God chose us before the foundation of the world, and He keeps His own as His possession.  Though we go through life’s rough sea; though we go through temptations; though we might fall into sin; we are His possession, and Christ Jesus keeps His people to the end. 

In the life of a Christian, has there ever been a time when you chose sin over against what is right, honest, godly?  Your desire to please yourself; your sin was greater then your desire to please Christ.  You committed nothing less then cosmic treason!  You’re a sinner, and don’t you forget it.  We know we are corrupt people because of the remaining sin in us; we know we are wretched people, but Christ as provided us with redemption.  His all-appeasing sacrifice atoned for the sin of His people to His Heavenly Father, and He expiated the sins of His people, and provided a sufficient ransom for His people.  Without His ransom we would still be in bondage to sin.  We were delivered from the domination of sin, and we have power from grace in the matter of self-control. 

What sin do you struggle with in your Christian life?  Could it be lust?  Could it be you adore others as you would God?  Could it be that you are not wholly committed to our great and awesome God?  When you fell into sin, you took pleasure in it.  When you fell into sin, you committed yourself to it, and rejected God’s law for your life.  You wanted that sin more then you loved Christ.  Don’t you realize that it is foolish?  Do you not know that Christ’s ways are the right ways for your life?  But did you repent?  We ought to praise God for our repentance, but did you do it knowing you would repent afterwards?  Do you knowingly commit sin, knowing you would repent?  You did nothing less then crucify the Son of God afresh!  Did Christ not freely die in your place?  Yes!  But why do you abuse His grace?  As Peter says in 1 Peter 2:16, “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.”  We ought not to use our grace-given freedom for evil.  Romans 6 says:

 1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that 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. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.  (NKJV)

We ought not to lives as people clinging to our sin.  Why?  Because Christ has delivered us from our sin; and it is like entering the mud pit, and becoming filthily, unclean, corrupt.  Not that you are not already sinful—you are, but it drags you further into sin.  There are different degrees of sin, and all sin is lawlessness.  When you engage in the lust of the flesh you dishonor God by your sin.  You knew well what you were doing, but sin got a hold of you.  Yet Christ gives His grace to resist.  With Christ we have self-control.  Without Christ it is impossible to fight against sin.  But since we have Christ we have the power of self-control.  We ought to practice godliness, remain obedient and be faithful.  When you sin, do you not know that it is to glory of sin?  Do you want to glorify your sin and dishonor the God who brought you out of spiritual slavery, tyranny, bondage?  Do you wish to go back to Egypt, and engage in the sin of the Israelites?  We ought to be people of godly disciplines, and live to the praise of His glorious grace.  Yes, we will sin, but we should never take advantage of the opportunity to sin.  We ought to take opportunity of the blessing of His glorious grace.  Stir up the grace in you by the Word of God!  God’s Spirit will guide, direct, help you.  He has not left you as orphans.  Does He not bare witness with your spirit that you are a child of God?  But as a child of God we ought to be instruments of righteousness.  We ought not to be instruments of sin. 

In our verse of study today we see that Solomon, the son of David, was involved in gross sin.  I mean I think we have reason to question His standing before God.  If someone I knew engaged in it I would doubt there salvation.  But I surely hope he was a saved man, and was in a time of sin.  I think it is best to hope he repented.  I couldn’t imagine David’s son in hell, but being David’s son does not save him—only Christ saves, but I shall hope for the best.  But do you recall what King Solomon’s gross sin was?  1 Kings 11:1-3 tells us.  We would do well to read it.

 1Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, "You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods." Solomon held fast to these in love. 3He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.

Solomon committed the following sins:  First, he out rightly disobeyed the Word of Lord.  Some people nowadays think: “Well, if I commit this sin, God will forgive me.  He always does, so now I will partake of this sin.”  People think like this.  They think they have an easy out.  They think “well, I can take pleasure in this sin, and avoid the consequences because God is a forgiving God.”  How blasphemous!  How foolish!  Don’t be so foolish as to think that there will be no consequences.  Don’t be so foolish as to disobey the Word of the Lord.  There will be consequences to your choices.  The Word of God clearly speaks of law that prohibits sin.  Here God gave a command but Solomon rejected it.   Have you ever heard the Word of God, and said in your heart, in not so many words, “I’m going to do as I please.”  The characteristic of a sinner is to do as his pleases.  He baths in the mud pit, and obtains a filthy garment.  Is your garment polluted and spotted?  Have you washed your robes in the blood of the Lamb?  You better cling to the Cross, and pray for obedience.  God may chasten you and withhold His graciousness for a time to teach you a lessen.  Yes, there is no condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus.  Yes, you can never lose your salvation, and yes, you are kept by Jesus Christ.  But what right do you have to sin against Him, knowingly?  Do you hold fast to your love of sin?  The characteristic of a sinner is that he loves his sin.  Why do you wish to imitate the unbelievers?  Will you willingly break the command seen in Peter’s writings: “do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.”  God gives us His Word as a divine tool to keep us away from evil, sin, corruption.  He loves us and He will discipline His people who rebel. 

Second, why do you hold on to you sin?  Do you love your sin more then you love Christ?  If you love your sin more, what does that say about the state of your heart?  You would do well to turn from your sin, and cling to the Cross of Christ.  Surely that is our only hope!  What is your god?  What sin do you love so much as to cling to it above your love of Christ?  Is it really worth it?  Didn’t Christ die so that we could be free from sin, but not slaves to sin?  And if Christ died for this purpose, wouldn’t we do well to live according to His glorious Word of truth?  If God’s Word is the Word of truth, should we not listen to what it says to us?  Surely it is timeless, powerful, living, active.  Here we see in God’s Word that Solomon was not wholly true to our Lord.  He turned after other gods.  The sin of having multiple ungodly wives was the sinful root in his heart of turning to other gods.  He held fast to his love for these women.  He loved them in his sin more then he loved God.  When we sin we do this.  Gross sin provides the sinner with worse sin.  So it keeps getting worse and worse.  It was not enough that he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives, but also his heart was turned away to other gods.  Do you see the great degrees of sin in Solomon’s life?  If he was obedient what do you expect would he do?  He would haveobeyed the voice of the Lord.  Do you obey the voice of God in Divine Scripture?  If Solomon did, he would have had one wife, and he would have lived as his father David did.  We would do well to imitate King David, but not his son.  But it seemed like it was more important in the mind of Solomon to live for sin and love sin.  So many people live to love sin.  They think it is a way of happiness.  They think they know better.  But it is spiritually irrational and foolish.  Here we see the wisest man in history (before Christ who is in fact Incarnate Wisdom), and Solomon committed gross and extraordinary sin.  Does this wise man think he knew better then Him who is all-wise?  Do you know better then the One who is Incarnate Wisdom, and Who said, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” (John 5:14).  God will chasten you; do not be so foolish in how you live.  Solomon was a foolish man in this instance, and his heart was carried away with sin.  May God gives us the strength to remain holy, obedient people by His Almighty grace.  Moreover, I am not saying that the Cross of Christ is insufficient to atone for the sin of Solomon’s sin.  Surely the Cross is sufficient for His people, but it does not give His people or the wise Solomon any right to engage in sin, and sin like the devil.  Sinning like the devil is nothing of admiration but a way of death and foolishness.  When people do this they bring shame on the name of Christ.  Do not be so foolish as to do this. 

We see that Solomon did what was abominable before God:  6So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. 7Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. 8And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.

What happens when we disobey the Word of God?  Simply, we sin.  We commit that which is sin in God’s sight.  We must be wholly committed to God’s Word.  When we choose to disobey God, we will be like Solomon we built a high places for foreign gods who are no gods are at all.  The foreign women lead to foreign gods.  Know this, dear people: you cannot serve God and the world.  You cannot have fellowship with Satan and Christ.  What fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness?  Should you join yourself to the harlot of sin?  What partnership has Christ with gods of the world? 

Now, my friends, what were the consequences of the sinful actions of Solomon?  Remember there are always consequences.  Sometimes when we sin we are so deluded into thinking there are no consequences.  Sin had grasped our thinking, but by the power of Christ we avail.  We repent; we surrender; and we are forgiven.  But if we sin knowing the consequences and so it any way, God will surely deal with us.  He will bring out the rod, and sometimes, He leaves people in their sin as judgment, but maybe God bring His people to their senses. 

Listen well to this: 

9And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice 10and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded. 11Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. 12Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen."

When we sin against God we surely anger Him but He is not like our sinful, human parents.  When He acts it is, it is always in accord with His all-wisdom.  Here Solomon practiced sinful things against God.  The true God is the God of Israel.  Solomon had turned away his heart from the Lord of heaven and earth.  We see that although Solomon had great wisdom, the Lord Jesus Christ was Incarnate Wisdom.  Although Solomon was a mighty king, the Lord Jesus Christ was the Almighty King of kings.  Surely a greater then Solomon was there in Jerusalem about 2, 000 years ago.  Solomon was surely a man of wisdom, but nothing can compare to the sinless Lamb of God, who faithfully and flawlessly obeyed God’s law, without imperfection, sin, blemish.  Christ never angered His Father, but here Solomon angered the God of truth and perfection.  Christ never served an idol, but He always worshipped His Father.  The turning away of Solomon was disobedience, lust, and then came idolatry.  It is a serious crime against God, and we know God is holy.  We would do well if we commit ourselves to repentance.  And let us remember that Solomon’s heart was no wholly true to the Lord, but the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ was wholly true to the Father in heaven and earth. 

Matthew 12:42:  “The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”

We see that Someone greater then Solomon was there.  He was nothing less then Jesus Christ.  He lived a Sinless life, free from original sin, and actual transgressions.  And Christ Jesus loved His own to the end, and paid the debt that His people could never pay.  He sufficiently atoned for our sins, and paid our debt, and freed us from the curse of which He took upon Himself.  It is in the Cross of Christ were guilty sinners become cleansed and healed.  Without the Christ there is no hope for atonement, forgiveness, cleansing.  We desperately need to the Cross, and there was a day when you flew to the Cross in faith.  What a glorious day, and a day of life and forgiveness, but so many do not know Christ.  They do not know of the peace; yes, they heard of His death, but they reject it.  We must proclaim the good news of the Cross for guilty sinners as we, unless the world perish in the gross sins of pleasure, and filth. 

Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ was greater then Solomon because He was Incarnate Deity.  He performed miracles unlike any man, and we ought to follow His example in being obedient.  We see that Solomon had God appear to Him twice, and He still sinned against the Lord.  We do not have the privilege of the appearance of the Lord in our day, but we surely have His Word.  Have you not read Scripture and yet you commit the sin of which was forbidden?  The Divine Word of God must dwell richly within us, and have our minds fixed upon it with great reverence.  You have read Scripture, and the Ten Commandments, but you break them everyday.  What sinners we are, but what over flowing grace we have in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.  We ought never to use our freedom for sin.  We have freedom not license.  We have liberty not abuse of grace.  We have a committed to godly disciplines, but never a taste of the cups of pleasures.  We would do well to abstain from the cups of pleasure of the world.  We would do well to remain apart from lust and the pleasures of this world.  Because sin is far from the heart of God; it does not touch Him; He is free from it.  But we must battle with it, and Christ has not left us as orphans. 

The consequence of it was giving the kingdom to Solomon’s servant.  Solomon practiced his sin and violated God’s commands.  But there is forgiveness, and to the obedient heart men have a way by grace to please God.  We know we are justified by faith alone, and not by works.  We are thankful for God’s doctrine of truth.  It was a doctrine taught by great men in the Reformation, and we see it plainly in Divine Scripture.  But here we see a severe consequence.  It is the outcome of a sinner’s choice against God’s law.  It is the outcome of every disobedient heart of man.  It is the outcome of a rebellious heart.  But if Solomon repented, I am sure he would be forgiven of his gross sin, but God’s people simply should not live rebellious lives.  If you are, you are not true to the Word of God.  And not being true to the Word of God, is sin, and sin is an offense against a holy God.  Why do you wish to offend Him who brought you up out of Egypt?  We must always be on the side of grace, and the side of the gospel.  We are safe on the side of the gospel.  It is the good news for sinners.  Christ preached the gospel, and many people were saved.  May we share this life-transforming message to a world full of sin, evil, lustful pleasures. 

I Samuel 16:7 says, “Man looks at the outward appearance and God looks upon the heart.”  We cannot look into the heart of man and see what he thinks.  God alone looks into the heart of man, and God knows whether someone is a true believer or not.  Are you assured this day that you are a believer?  If you are not, it is probably because of sin in your life.  Sin brings doubts about your true standing before God.  But we must remain on top of our sins; we must repent as we sin, because if we wait we will grow deeper and deeper and deeper into more and more and more sin.  We will displease our Lord, and we will bring shame on our lives.  I suggest to you that it seems Solomon did not keep up date repentance and lingered into some of the grossest sin I have ever sin.  We know that our Savior looks upon the heart, and He searches the hearts and minds of men and woman.  He is the King of this, and He is the bishop of our souls.  God looks upon our hearts, and what does He find?  Does He find obedient men and woman?  Does He find people who repent after they sin?  Or does He find people who do not really concern themselves with repentance?  May this never be!  May we always be people who repent, because we surely need to repent due to the fact of our corruption and sinfulness.  Luther’s first disputation was on repentance.  He understood that we need to live a life of faithful repentance.  But many substitute “true, biblical repentance” with foolishness, worldly designs, sinful ambitions.  We are commanded to repent, and I suggest to you if you are like Solomon, and behind on your repentance, you ought to make a calendar for yourself, and log your sins.  Ask the Holy Ghost to awaken you and to be sensitive to sin.  We must have hearts that are sensitive to sin.  That is, we must repent when we sin.  Some people sin and do not know it.  Their hearts are not sensitive to sin because it would seem their hearts are calloused.  Do not let your heart grow cold; we need the hearing of the Word; the reading of the Word and prayer.  Be committed to repentance, and what would Solomon do if he was here with us when we took part of the Lord’s Supper?  Would he take part?  Surely not!  He would bring judgment upon himself, and you will too if you do not repent.  We need to take the holiness of God seriously, because when we do we find that we are so corrupt and fallen, and we need Christ so desperately.  God certainly takes your sin seriously; didn’t He send His sin for your sake to die in your place?  Do you really sin how God deals with sin and His own perfect justice?  The very Incarnate One died on a Cross so you could be free from the slavery and tyranny of Satan and sin.  And you would do well to repent as He has commanded through Christ crucified, and when He sees in your heart; He has given you the grace to repent, and it is unto His glory.  So be mindful of the sin in your heart for it tasks a shadow on your soul, and the need for cleansing is apparent:

^“For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”  (Hebrews 10:14 NASB).  ^“…knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”  (First Peter 1:18, 19 NASB).  “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.  All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”  (Isaiah 53:5, 6 NASB).  ^“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32 NASB).

The Lord Jesus Christ said, “I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”  Surely you understand that your works are tainted, flawed, corrupt in the sight of God.  There is no work in all creation that a sinful human being can do to earn his standing before God.  It is only in the righteousness of Christ imputed to us by faith that we can stand before God in the righteousness of Another.  We need His matchless, purified, perfect righteousness otherwise we cannot stand before God.  But we also need to do what is right in the sight of God in sanctification.  I surely do not mean we need to earn our way to heaven but I am saying we need to simply do the right thing.  Sin is the opposite of what is right, but God uses all things to work for the good of His people.  Some would think if all things work together for our good for the believer, it is good to sin, but why would God command us to repent if that were true?  God commands His people to repent, and do we gladly say, “Oh, Lord I see I need to repent, and I joyfully submit in godly contrition.”  When we do the right thing we please our Lord.  We do not do the right thing because we want to earn our way into heaven, but we do the right thing because God commands us, and His Word is true, timeless, trustworthy:  Here we see God questioning God about doing what is right in Genesis 4:6, “Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”  Doing the right thing is acceptable in the sight of God.  But when we first repented, and as we repent now we do what is right because it is by God’s Almighty grace.  We were empowered by the glorious grace of God, and we actually do what God’s grace is intended for.  It did not fail with us.  The Spirit of Grace regenerated us and made us alive.  Now by grace in satisfaction we are able to do what is right, and we must be responsible to do what is right.  Did Solomon do what was right in God’s sight?  No, what he did was evil in the sight of God.  How we ought to dread the day when we do what is evil in God’s sight.   How we ought to pray against it, and live and depend on God’s grace.  He is the God who is there, and He watches over our souls.  He is a Faithful Shepherd and He is to be trusted as trustworthy and faithful.  We also know that when we were in the flesh—unregenerate, unsaved—we did nothing that pleased God.  We had nothing good indwelling us, because we were at enmity with God.   We could please Him, but thanks be to God through Jesus Christ that God has appointed us to be free from sin by taking it away by the Cross of His Only Beloved Son.  So let us do the right thing in the sight of God, and please our Heavenly Father, the God of glory, grace, peace. 

In Genesis 18:18-19 it says, “Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."  We see that God blesses Abraham because of doing what is right: we must do what is right in God’s sight.  He chooses His people unto holiness, and not unto sin.  He blesses His people who do what is right in His sight, and we bring Him glory when we practice doing rightly.  God wants us to do what is right, but if we transgress His Word, He will not deal with His treacherously, but as a Loving Heavenly Father.  So let us do what is right.  In Acts 10: 34-35 it says, “Opening his mouth, Peter said: "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.”  Wouldn’t Solomon be welcome to God if He did what was right in His sight?  Who should we look to who does what is right?  We ought to look to the Lord Jesus, because He never failed to do what was right.  He never repented nor sinned, and He always pleased the Father.  May we imitate Him in our daily lives, and commit ourselves to practicing what is right. We see in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”  In 1 Peter 4:19, “Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.”  So let us use these Scriptures as a way not to imitate Solomon but to live according to the Word of God.  We ought to acknowledge our sins:  “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; and You forgave the guilt of my sin…”  (Psalm 32:4 NASB).

God knew the heart of Solomon, and the calloused heart of Solomon brought forth disobedience.  God knew his heart was corrupt, and he turned aside to other gods.  We see today that many Protestants have turned their hearts to the God of Romanism.  They have gone after other gods, unknown to the Prophets and the Apostles.  We see people embracing heresy and living according, not with the Word of God, but with Rome’s Tradition and Scripture.  Surely what they did was evil in the sight of God, and they have wholly turned aside to Roman authority.  But what captures your heart?  Is it the Word of God, or traditions of men?  Is it gross sin and corruption, or is it godliness and holiness?  Choose this day who you will serve.  Solomon chose the gods of his day which were an abomination before God and His people.  Have you choose what is an abomination before God and His people?  Have you engaged in the same of the foolish sins of Solomon?  Here David speaks to his son about the God who knows the hearts of men: “And thou Solomon my Son, know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing man for the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts.”  Here Solomon failed what David, his father, desired for commanded him to do.  David does say this to Solomon, “David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.  The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the work on the temple of God, and every willing man skilled in any craft will help you in all the work. The officials and all the people will obey your every command” (I Chr 28:20-21).

When Christians commit themselves to disobedience there will be consequences.  The consequences of sin are because you have sinned against God.  If you have sinned against God, you have offended a holy God, and you must repent.  Consequences are serious enough to happen because God is holy and just and good.  Sometimes we may be involved in secret sin, and it is heinous before God.  The heinousness of sin should awaken our hearts to the seriousness of sin, or the seriousness of sin should awaken our hearts to the heinousness of sin.  Some people think that the stoning of Paul was because he stoned Stephen, but not because God atoned for sin in the stoning of Stephen.  Our sins were paid on Calvary; the debt is paid in full, completion, total.  But the Cross of Christ paid for the debt of His people, and all our sins (however God decides to use them for our good) was punished upon Christ Jesus.  This is no small matter; the issue of sin is eternally significant.  Let us listen well that there was never a time when Christ suffered for sin or because of the consequences of sin.   Christ always obeyed His people, and the Devil has found nothing in Christ because Christ is sinless.  Let us be aware of sin and know that when we sin there will be consequences.  People without Christ will go to hell if they die in impenitence; we need Christ because He is the perfect Savior.  In the affirmations or denials in The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration it says: “We affirm that the Gospel diagnoses the universal human condition as one of sinful rebellion against God, which, if unchanged, will lead each person to eternal loss under God's condemnation.  We deny any rejection of the fallenness of human nature or any assertion of the natural goodness, or divinity, of the human race.”  Do you see the affect of sin?  How it bring separation with God!  But thanks be to God that we have Jesus Christ who has reconciled us by His atoning death and He has verified His atoning work and teachings by His bodily resurrection!  “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (Second Corinthians 5:21 NASB).

We were conceived in sin (Psalm 51:5) and born in original sin (Job 14:4).  We entered this fallen world of sin and depravity (Romans 5:12, 16) on a cold fall morning in original sin (Psalm 51:5).  We are in a fallen condition (John 3:6) because through one man (Romans 5:12) all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  Being a sinner brought spiritual consequences.  These spiritual consequences were death through sin (Romans 5:11-13), separation from God and spiritual blindness (Ephesians 4:18), which means mankind is at enmity with God (Romans 5:10), because of the actions of Adam (Genesis 3), which meant all mankind is completely sinful (Titus 1:15) with Jesus Christ as the Sinless Exception (First John 3:5).  Therefore from the time we were conceived, and from the time of my birth into the world, to the very end of my life (First John 1:8), through the disobedience of Adam, sin will be present in me (First John 1:10).  We are totally depraved sinner; a hill of dung, spiritually blinded, a stinking sinner, foul, corrupted and totally polluted, and just because we are sinners does not mean, in anyway that, that is an excuse to sin more in anyway.  We were spiritually insane individuals who had an eternal debt I could not pay (BUT Christ paid the debt for us; He is my Incarnate Redeemer).  We all were once servants of the devil (whether we acknowledge it or not) in our pre-converted state.  Some of us were greater servants of the devil then others.  “If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?”  (Psalm 130:3 NIV).

When we sin we ought to cry out like the Psalmist:  “Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, let the bones which You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare Your praise. For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. By Your favor do good to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem. Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, in burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.” (Psalm 51:1-19 NASB).

We know God is faithful to forgive:  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 NASB).  “…but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (First John 1:7 NASB).  Because Christ was “…delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.” (Romans 4:25 NASB).  “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach…” (Colossians 1:21 NASB).  ^“…to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace…”  (Ephesians 1:6, 7 NASB).

Christ came to save His people from their sins:  Matthew 1:21, "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."  He says to all His people:  Mark 2:5, “…your sins are forgiven."  His enemies understood well that He was God in the flesh because of His claim of forgiveness of sin:  Mark 2:7, "Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?"  He Himself did not need to repent because He sinless, and He called sinners to repent:  Luke 5:32, "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."  When you feel like you want to condemn guilty sinners remember John 8:7, “But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  We must repent; in Acts 3:18-23; it says, "But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.  "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.  "Moses said, 'THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you.”

Let us heed what Scripture says and live our lives in conformity to His Word by His Almighty grace by the power of the Word of God and the Spirit of God.  Let us understand the perversity of sin and the necessity of grace.  Let us walk in light of God, following our God in light of the Gospel.  Let bring up our children in light of the Word of God, not turning to the right or to the left but walking straight onward to heaven, where there is no more death nor sorrow.  Let us be people who walk worthy of the Gospel, and we surely can by His glorious grace.  Amen.