Does God's Forgiveness Make Sin a Bigger or Smaller Matter to You?

True Repentance Extends to the Heart

Well, number one, he says, evangelical or true repentance extends to the heart as well as to the practice. And that's pretty simple. And I find that to be one of the simplest and most penetrating tests of hypocrisy.

The hypocrite, okay, so a church member who keeps everything clean on the outside but is not a true believer in Christ, not a real follower. One of the evidences is that the sins of the heart that nobody knows about except God do not plague their conscience.

It's the outside stuff. It's the stuff that embarrasses. Whereas Davey says that for the believer, it is often the heart sins that no one knows about that we could say, well, I haven't seen that they've actually affected anybody or they've manifested themselves yet.

These are the things that sometimes grieve the believer most deeply.

So you could live in a way that everyone watching is impressed and happy with your conduct and no question whatsoever, and yet you're still grieved because you see what's on the inside and people would be shocked to know that you're bothered.

Sin as Offense Against God

Yeah, and that leads to the second thing. Chuck, you want to hit that?

Yeah, it includes a deep sense of the evil of sin and sorrow for it because it is against God. So not just the sorrow that fears damaged reputation, etc., but that God himself is offended, and that's why you would be bothered about the heart and not just the externals.

Yeah, so in one sense we could say that evangelical repentance or true repentance includes a clear sight of the real nature of sin. You know, sin is not a... We have a friend, Mr. Roberts, who has reminded us sin is not primarily a ticket that you grab hold of and you get on a train and it takes you someplace you don't want to go.

Like, you know, I lose my marriage if I behave this way. I lose my job if I behave this way. I lose my friends or ultimately I get to go to hell if I keep living this way. Sin is a thing that is against God and it robs him of the glory due to him in our life.

And for the person who has seen Christ on the cross by faith, it breaks our hearts that we would continue to treat him in that way. And so we see sin for what it really is.

If that's not you, if that's not how we feel about sin, then it may be that we've not really experienced evangelical repentance. He mentions that for that person it's not sin they hate but hell. Were it possible for them to enjoy their sins and yet be happy, they would never think of repenting.

And hence, repentance is really a hardship in their view. It's not a joy that brings them to God but a burden that they have to deal with because of the consequences of sin.

Repentance as Mercy Through the Cross

Yeah, I think of repentance as the open door that Christ purchased because repentance is not legal. It's a gift. It's an expression of God's mercy. It's not justice.

It's mercy.

You know, so justice has been satisfied in the work of Christ and the result is there is now, it's like being on the edge of a cliff and like there's a wall behind you, you know, and it's pushing and pushing and pushing and this wall is, you know, this life of self-centeredness and eventually you're going to fall off the cliff and perish forever.

And in this wall, there is a door opened and Christ calls you, come to me. And we think, when we're thinking correctly, we think, can it be true? Is there really hope for a person like me? I mean, I brought myself to this situation.

Why would you open the door? And he did through the cross. So you either view it like that or you view it like this terrible heavy burden like, oh, I have to do all this repent stuff so I can help pay for my sins.

Some really good questions to ask ourselves because it's hard to know what you really think. You know, when we're in church settings, we just automatically spit out the church words, whether you're a preacher or it's the first time you're in church, you know, you kind of think, well, I ought to say something churchy at this point.

But think of it this way. He already asked, would you be happy to have heaven and take your sins with you? You know, would that be okay with you? And for the genuine believer, the answer is no. I do not want Christ to become what Rutherford called my pack mule to carry me and my favorite sins to heaven together.

You know, I want those sins put to death. But another question we could ask is this. When we think of God as the sin-pardoning God through the work of His Son, rather than the sinner-destroying God outside of Christ, does the fact that God pardons sin, does that make sin to you a smaller matter or a greater matter?

Does it make it easier on your conscience? Well, you know, don't worry. I mean, God will forgive it. All you have to do—I cannot tell you how many times I prayed 1 John 1, 9. If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And I would shoot that up to God at the end of a day of living for myself as if that were like a magical formula that kind of controlled Him, you know. Like you have to do it because you said it. And so to me, for many years, I grew up thinking that sin was not that big of a matter because 1 John 1, 9 existed.

After really being saved and tasting the kindness of the Lord, then 1 John 1, 9 didn't make sin a smaller matter. It made it a bigger matter.

Forgiveness That Makes Sin Grievous

Yeah, if sin is grievous to God and you love God, then you're going to be bothered that you're grieving the one you love.

You're going to be bothered.