The Nature of Sinners and the Justified

The Nature of Sinners and the Justified

Ephesians 2:1-10, Luke 18:9-14 T Trinity 11

INI

In a different text, Jesus tells the ‘parable of the weeds’ in Matthew 13:24-30. But it helps us see what’s happening in our Gospel text. Jesus tells of how the enemy, that is, Satan, sows weeds among the wheat. Workers of the wheat asked the master – “should we pluck up the weeds?” The Master said, “no, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.” And then, at the harvest, the wheat will be gathered, the weeds will be burned.

            The enemy is constantly sowing weeds in Christ’s Church. He’s constantly on the attack against God’s people in what they believe and do. He has many tactics, but one is on display in our lesson for today. His tactic? Convince humanity that sin is something they do, and not someONE they are. And that if they tithe to church – if they love others – if they love their spouse and their children – well, then they’re basically good. They belong to the Lord. They’re worthy to be in His presence. They belong to church because of what they DO.

            Today, Jesus tells us a parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector in the Gospel, illustrating how Satan sows this weed in God’s Church. The Pharisee prayed in the Temple in a way which demonstrated what He really trusted in His heart. He thanked God that He didn’t do sins. He was basically good! Thus, He didn’t really need God. He didn’t see any sins manifesting in his life. He thought he was a “pretty good” person, that He had things under control. He hasn’t done any of the major sins, so maybe that was good enough to be in the presence of God?

But do you see the problem? Do you see how Satan had sowed weeds in the heart of this Pharisee? Satan convinced the Pharisee of the lie that He was ‘basically good.’

That’s self-righteousness, because He saw Himself in light of other’s actions, and not in light of God’s Law. There’s the saying that comparison is the thief of joy. You could also say that comparison is the thief of humility. And how often do we compare ourselves to others? How often do we wish other people acted like us? Because then just maybe, we could get along? Or we could get a lot more done?

Maybe our prayers don’t sound like the Pharisee, but our thoughts do. “Well at least I don’t have a drinking problem like that guy” or “at least I have a good enough work ethic to provide for my family” or “I’m so glad my children aren’t like them.” As the Lord said to Cain, so does the Lord say to us: “sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

It’s easier to rule over sins that you commit. You can discipline your body to not follow the desires of your heart and mind. But it’s almost impossible to rule over your thoughts, and your fleshly desires. As Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, having lustful thoughts is adultery. Harboring anger towards another is murder. Jesus says that out of our hearts come evil thoughts, murder, sexual immorality, adultery, theft, false witness, and slander. We constantly sin in thought, word, and deed. And most often, we don’t even realize we’re doing it. So, even though we think we’re basically good, we’re not. The deadliest spot Satan can get us in is to think, “You know what, I think I have this Christian thing down. I’m not that bad of a sinner at all.”

The problem is that we don’t really know what a sinner is. We think that sinners are sinners because they commit sins. So, if we just get rid of the sin, we’re good, right? We’re righteous? Wrong. We aren’t sinners because we sin. We sin because we are by nature, sinners. Sin isn’t an external thing to us, that we can just take off and set aside. It’s a part of who we are. And that sinful nature must die in us; because what that sinful nature causes is death to God. That’s what Paul teaches the Church in Ephesus, “you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air[…] among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath.”

You are a sinner. That means, you’re spiritually dead. And the temporal wages of your sin ends with physical death. So, don’t believe Satan’s lie that he constantly tries to convince you that you’re basically good. None of us have anything to boast about before the Lord. WE don’t do good. It’s Christ who lives through us who does good. So, before the Lord, we don’t boast of us, or think highly of ourselves. We boast in the Lord, because of His great mercy toward us.

But in and of ourselves, we deserve nothing from God. No grace, no mercy. But God, who is rich in mercy, took a bunch of dead sinners, dead because we are by nature children of wrath, and He made us alive. Not because we’ve earned it. Not because we’ve worked 50% of the way towards God’s favor, and then He came the rest of the way. For even while we were still lost in our sins, God came to us 100% of the way, to change us, to renew us, to make us alive to the riches of His grace and mercy. In doing all this, He saves us. This salvation is not of our own doing. You’re not saved because you were able to stop sinning, or because you sin less now, or because your sin is less offensive than another’s. Your salvation comes by grace and it’s received through faith – a faith that recognizes what the tax collector recognized. In the Temple, he prayed “God, be merciful to me. I need you to make atonement for my sins. I need blood sacrificed on my behalf, that you might be gracious to me! Because I am a sinner, not just because of my actions, but because of who I am by nature, sinning against You in thought, word, and deed!” The tax collector humbled Himself to God in this way. And He went home justified in the sight of God, not the Pharisee.

Why? Because the tax collector asked for the thing which justifies sinners: blood. That’s what he’s asking when He asked for God’s mercy. He’s saying – propitiate the blood of a sin offering on my account. And is that not what we ask for in Church? We ask for the same thing when we begin our church service, “Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.” We’re asking the Lord to cover us in the innocent blood of Jesus, because we need GOD’s works and merits to justify us before the Father.

And the Father has surely given us what we need in the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ. Through the merits of Jesus’ God-pleasing, sinless life, His body and His blood were spilt on the cross to die an innocent death. He became the blood sacrifice, one time for the forgiveness of all sins, through which all sinners have their sins propitiated, covered, and transferred to the innocent Son of God, that we might live in the grace of Christ Jesus our Lord. This is God’s free gift to you. This gift justifies you in the sight of God. So, believe it, and live in it. For when Paul talks about a justifying faith in our epistle, He keeps these three objects together: God’s Promise, God’s grace, and Christ’s merits as the price and atonement for sinners. Faith in these free gifts of God justifies you and gives favor in His sight.

Satan will sow weeds in your hearts and minds. He will cause you to think that you’re basically good, or that you’re at least a bit better than THOSE people. All the while, you sin in thought, word, and deed. In humility, call out to the mercies of God. In faith, receive the benefits of Jesus’ work for sinners. And in joy, go home justified and forgiven, for Jesus’ blood has brought and continues to bring God’s favor upon you.

INI

Pastor Joshua Ralston