As we look around us in the world, we see a lot of things that are not right. The headlines on the St. Louis Post Dispatch website on Friday related to abortion, the upcoming election, an ethics complaint against the County Library, a new casino in Cape Girardeau and the arrest of a serial robber in St. Louis. What do most of those items have in common? All except the election news have to do with sin, people doing things that are wrong and hurt others.
Sin is the biggest problem in the world. All the hurt, violence and pain that people do to one another is a result of sin. If you think about your own life and the life of your family this morning, what causes problems in relationships and other difficulties? The answer is sin. Even when you think about problems like health issues, natural disasters and financial difficulties, the Bible teaches us that the root cause behind them is the presence of sin in the world.
And the problem of sin is not just confined to the pain and evil between people. Sin separates people from God, their creator. And this makes the sin problem is worse. Not only are people separated from God in this life through sin, but their sin means that they will be separated from God in eternity as well. The problem of sin is so big and so widespread, it seems hopeless to do anything about it. So where can we turn?
Today, my message is entitled “God’s Solution for Sin.” Today, we’re going to talk about God’s wonderful solution for sin. It is really the most incredible solution you could imagine. But before we get to God’s solution for sin, let’s think about how people try to solve the sin problem on their own.
On a personal level, each person on this planet knows that they do wrong things. And what do we do? We try to do right things and stop doing the wrong things. The problem is that no matter how hard we try, we just can’t stop doing the wrong things. So our relationship with God remains broken.
Romans 3:20 (NIV) Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
God has given us His law, written down in the Old Testament, best summarized in the Ten Commandments. Those are the things we try to do when we try to do good things and not bad things. Even those who have never read the 10 commandments, have God’s law written on their consciences. When we do wrong, we have a guilty conscience. Yet, God’s Word here says that no one will be declared righteous in God’s eyes by observing the law. Why? Because no one can perfectly keep the law.
What does it mean to be righteous? It means that when God looks at us, He sees no sin. To be righteous means that a holy God can have a relationship with us. Yet, we just cannot be good enough to be righteous, because we all sin in many ways. It seems to be a hopeless situation, doesn’t it? But remember, today, we’re going to talk about God’s Solution for Sin.
Listen to or watch my October 28, 2012 message God’s Solution for Sin.