2007-01-10 - He's Lying

Romans 6:11, "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

In Radnor, Pennsylvania, Police interrogated a suspect by placing a metal colander on his head and connecting it with wires to a photocopy machine. The message "He's lying" was placed in the copier, and police pressed the copy button each time they thought the suspect wasn't telling the truth. Believing the "lie detector" was working, the suspect confessed.

It is awful when people don't believe we are telling the truth and we are. One truth that many people are readily willing to admit is that they are a sinner. I don't think anyone would deny that that they have done something, at some time in their life, that was wrong. The words "I am a sinner," actually flow fairly easily from the lips of the godly and ungodly alike. But do we really know what that means when we say it? If it was really known what is meant when the admission, "I am a sinner," floats across our lips, many might be more hesitant to give voice to such an admission.

It is rare that we turn to our friends, or even a stranger and say, "I am a criminal." It would be fairly shocking to hear someone say it. However, what is the difference between being a sinner and being a criminal except that being a sinner is the worse of the two? A criminal is someone who has broken the laws of men, but a sinner is someone who has broken the laws of God. We commonly think that being a criminal is a horrid thing, but shrug off the fact that we are sinners by saying, "Everybody is a sinner." It is true that everyone is a sinner. However, do we ever stop to think that being such is even worse than being a criminal?

Now if you have read the above and given it any thought, is it not a truth that should knock us off our feet that God offers mercy to sinners? This truth should change everything about us. It should change how we live and even how we look at life. We are sinners. We have offended a holy God, whose standard is holiness, and yet in Christ He has offered us mercy. We never will fully understand the wonder of this truth until we have breathed our last, but knowing that by repentance for sin and faith in the Christ for forgiveness of our sins, we are reconciled to God, we really should have a new perspective on everything. We can admit that we are sinners, and it is my hope that all those who are reading this can also say with just as much certainty that they are sinners who have been saved by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ through faith in his death for sin and resurrection for our justification.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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