We Can Do Better

I am concerned about the attitudes of church folk when sin is the subject. I cannot tell how many times I have heard Romans 3:23 quoted or paraphrased. People say, “Well we all sin.” “Everybody sins.” No one can deny the truth in these statements because Paul writes “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23, NASB). Furthermore, Paul in verses 10-12 Paul quotes the Psalms (14:1-3; 53:1-3) making the point that no one is good, no one understands, and all have turned away from God. So if this is true why does this bother me? In my experiences, I have heard people use these Scriptures to excuse sin. For example: John says, “Business people and politicians are out to take advantage of people.” James, who is the politician in the setting, will defend himself by saying, “yea, this is true, but everybody sins.” You see James’ attitude is that he is no worse than anyone else. This too is true. However, I contend that we do not need to make excuses, and we should not ignore our shortcomings. I believe that we can do better. We don’t have to be satisfied with our thoughts and actions when we know that the Scriptures teach us that we are going against the will of God. The scenario above seem to say to me that people believe that they can do no better, and since all sin one should not be particularly concerned about their own sins. Personally, I deny that these types of conclusions are true. I say to all of us we can do better. We should make every effort to do better. We should do better so that we do not have regrets in the future because of the consequences of our sins. You may ask, how can we (I) do better? Let us examine the Scriptures. First, the verb “have sinned” is past tense. In this text Paul is explaining why all people need a Savior and he is about to make the point that the Savior is Jesus Christ. However, Paul does not leave us in this state of existence. There is hope. We are “being justified by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (v.24). We have been made right with God. The relationship that Adam and Eve had with God before they sinned in the garden (Gen. 3) is restored. The penalty for sin is death, but Jesus redeemed us from the penalty of death by His vicarious death on the cross. Since we have been made right with God, we are no longer sinners; rather we are saints, even though we do stumble and sin. My cousin Barry Johnson says that it is a mistake to tell people that we are sinners saved by grace. This implies that we can do no better. On the other hand, since we are now saints we are sanctified, that is we have been separated and set aside to be holy. Far too many of us have not been taught that being saved means that we are called to live holy lives. How is this possible? Have you ever did something wrong to someone that you had a good relationship with? You felt guilty but instead of trying to make peace with the person you looked for ways to justify yourself. You felt burdened because you knew that you were wrong. You thought of other ways that you could justify your actions. Maybe you tried to find ways to blame the other person. You became bitter towards that person and other people that you believed to be like the one you had wronged. Then, something unexpected happened. The one you wronged came to you and offered you forgiveness. He or she told you that they had forgiven you and they wanted to have a great relationship with you. Yes, you had been wrong, but they saw the potential you had for doing the right thing. If something like this has happened to you, you know the burdened lifted knowing that the person had no intention of doing anything in return for the wrong that you had done. Your attitude toward that person and others like him or her was changed for the better. Your behavior changed in relation to how you treat others. Well, this is what takes place when we experience the forgiveness of God and we are restored to a right relationship with God. We can do better because we have been forgiven of our sins. When Jesus died to save us from the penalty of sin he also died that we would not be controlled by the power of sin. How does sin hold power over our lives? In Paul’s writings he tells us that we are to have a new mind and a new heart. We are to live by this new mind instead of being ruled by the desires of the flesh. One example from Paul is found in Romans 7. Paul tells us that he has an internal conflict. There is a war between doing what he wants to do and what he actually does. “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate (Rom. 7:15, NASB). Paul admits that he sins, but this is not what he desires to do. Paul is looking for a way out of this predicament. He knows that of his own self there is nothing good in him. Paul comes to the conclusion that there is a way by which he can do better. He says, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin” (7:24-25, NASB). Paul continues in chapter 8 to tell us how the Spirit gives the saints a new mind that enables him or her to overcome the flesh. He writes: “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (8:10-11). Thus, we can do better because in Christ Jesus we receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us a new spirit so that we can have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). We can do better if we would start with a willingness to heed the words of God through Paul. We are to surrender our bodies to God and be transformed by the new mind that comes from God (Rom. 12:1-2). When Paul writes to the churches at Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae he uses a lot of words of encouragement to the saints. In Ephesians 4:17-19 he tells the Ephesians to stop living as they had lived in the futility of their mind. Instead, they are to “lay aside the old self” (v. 22) and “be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (v. 23).They are to “put on the new self (v. 24). In Philippians 1:27 Paul encourages the church to strive “together for the faith of the gospel.” In Colossians Paul writes “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful” (3:15, NASB). So, let us remember that we have been saved and set aside unto God to do our best to live holy lives for God. We should not try to find excuses for our sins. We must confess our sins and we are promised that God is just and will forgive our sins (1John 1:9). Do you take satisfaction in knowing that others sin also? Are you willing to live in the power of the Holy Spirit? If you are willing to live according to the Spirit, you too can say we can do better.