Cured from the Contagion of Sin

A couple of years ago, my wife and I went to see the disturbingly interesting film Contagion, which has been described as a “medical thriller disaster” movie. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the film is about the rapid spread of a virus that results in a pandemic, until a team of researchers are finally able to produce a vaccine.

One of my friends who did his graduate work in infectious diseases said the film did a good job with the science, except the discovery of the vaccine was unrealistically fast. That’s pretty scary and enough to turn any normal person into a germaphobe.

Maybe that movie wasn’t the best choice for a date night, after all. 

The Contagion of Sin

As scary as infectious diseases are, there’s a more deadly virus that you and I already have – the sin virus. As the 16^th Century Reformer John Calvin wrote in his Institutes of the Christian Religion,“all of us, who have descended from impure seed, are born infected with the contagion of sin.”[i]

The disease is hereditary, of course, passed down to us from our earthly father, Adam. In the words of the Apostle Paul, “just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12, ESV). To put it simply, we aren’t sinners because we sin, we sin because we’re sinners – fallen from our created perfection in our earthly father, Adam. To quote Calvin again, “not only has punishment fallen upon us from Adam, but a contagion imparted by him resides in us, which justly deserves punishment.”[ii]

The symptoms of this disease are apparent to all. Just read check your morning news feed. Politicians are caught lying to their constituents and cheating on their spouses. Yet another Hollywood star has had an affair and is getting a divorce. Violence and war tear apart third-world countries. The streets of our major cities are haunted by the dark specters of crime: drugs, rape, robbery, murder and assault.

But evil isn’t just out there, disturbing our already troubled world. It’s in here, in my heart, my soul.  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the famous 20^th century Russian writer and activist, was right: “the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” That’s what Jesus repeatedly taught, as he relentlessly probed the deepest motives of the human heart. Just try reading the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1) and see if you don’t get nailed.

Sin also infects the entire human personality. It is pervasive. To quote Calvin once more, “corruption subsists not in one part only…none of the soul remains pure or untouched by that mortal disease.”[iii] This means that sin touches us in mind, heart, and will. Our minds are darkened by sin (Ephesians 4:18), leaving us with an innate propensity towards self-deception and denial. But our hearts and wills are also infected, as our slavery to disordered passions and fundamentally self-centered pleasures continually show (Titus 3:3).  

But more than that, the disease of sin is both chronic and terminal. It gets worse and worse and it ends in death. “The wages of sin is death,” writes Paul (Romans 6:23, ESV). And the balance of Scripture shows that this death isn’t just physical death, but eternal separation from God – what the book of Revelation describes as the “second death” (Revelation 2:11; Revelation 20:6, Revelation 20:14; Revelation 21:8).

Perhaps the worse thing about the disease of sin is that it so deadens our moral and spiritual sensibilities that we don’t even see what’s happening to us. Like Hansen’s disease, better known as leprosy, sin so damages our moral nervous system that we persist in devastating, dehumanizing behavior, tragically unaware of the self-destruction we’re causing. That’s why Scripture warns us again and again about the dangers of a hard, or calloused, heart (Psalms 17:10; Hebrews 3:14).

The prognosis, then, isn’t good. We’ve all got this infection and left unchecked it will lead us all, both as individuals and as a society, to destruction.

The Great Physician

The good news is that there is a physician who can cure this deadly disease. When Jesus came, much to the chagrin of the uptight moralists and religious do-gooders, he hobnobbed with social outcasts like prostitutes and tax collectors who were guilty of the worst forms of extortion. When questioned about his poor choice of friends, Jesus said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17, ESV).

The most amazing thing is that our Great Physician heals us, not by prescribing us with an astringent new moral medicine (though, of course, following Jesus always starts us on a path towards genuine moral health) but by becoming a donor who fully gives himself up for our sake, exchanging his own health and righteousness for the fatal guilt of our sins. As Peter says, quoting the prophet Isaiah, “’He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed’” (1 Peter 1:24, NIV).

One of the best descriptions of the healing of sin that I’ve seen, comes from john newton, the vile slave-trader who became a tender pastor and gave us the beloved hymn “Amazing Grace.” In one of his lesser-known hymns, Newton wrote:

How lost was my condition

Till Jesus made me whole!

There is but one physician

Can cure a sin-sick soul

Next door to death he found me,

And snatched me from the grave,

To tell all around me

His wond'rous pow'r to save.

The worst of all diseases

Is light compared with sin;

On ev'ry part it seizes,

But rages most within;

'Tis palsy, plague, and fever,

And madness--all combined;

And none, but a believer,

The least relief can find.

From men, great skill professing,

I sought a cure to gain;

But this proved more distressing,

And added to my pain;

Some said that nothing ailed me,

Some gave me up for lost;

Thus ev'ry refuge failed me,

And all my hopes were crossed.

At length this great Physician,

How matchless is His grace!

Accepted my petition,

And undertook my case;

First, gave me sight to view him,

For sin my eyes had sealed--

Then bit me look unto Him;

I looked, and I was healed.

A dying, risen Jesus,

Seen by the eye of faith,

At once from danger frees us,

And saves the soul from death;

Come, then, to this Physician,

His help he'll freely give,

He makes no hard condition--

To Jesus look and live![iv]

 Newton’s experience of God’s healing grace, revealed in Jesus and applied by the Spirit, changed his life. It can change yours, too. “To Jesus look and live!”

_______________________

[i]Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Ed., John T. McNeil, Trans., Ford L. Battles. Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster Press, 1960. Bk II, chap 1, sect 5; p. 248.

[ii]Ibid., II.1.8, p. 251.

[iii]Ibid., II.1.9, p. 253.

[iv]Newton, John, “How Lost was My Condition,” from Olney Hymns inThe Works of John Newton, vol. 3. Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1988 reprint of original 1820 edition, pp. 375-376. 

Exterminating the Pests in Your Life

I recently had to call the exterminator. My father-in-law was visiting and thought he spotted termites. I tried not to panic, hoped insurance would cover the costs, and had someone come inspect the house. Thankfully, no termites. That was the good news. The bad news is that we do have carpenter ants. And, based on this fella's look in our crawl space, a few mice to boot. When I got home that day, Holly (my wife) was ready to sell the house. She doesn't do mice. So, now I'm on a quarterly pest control plan and am a few hundred dollars poorer.

Dealing with pests is annoying. I don't have time for this kind of stuff. Why did God make ants and mice anyway?

But not dealing with pests is dangerous. Carpenter ants (along with termites) eat wood and can cause serious structural damage to a house. And mice carry diseases. If you don't exterminate the pests, they just might exterminate you. Or make you really sick. Or cost you a lot of money in home repairs later on. Better deal with the pesky pests now than ignore them and pay for it later.

It kind of reminds me of what a seventeenth-century theologian named John Owen once said about sin. "Be killing sin or sin will be killing you." Sins are the termites of the soul, the carpenter ants that eat away at our hearts, our inner lives, the subterranean parts of our very selves. Sins are like mice: they may seem harmless enough when you look at them behind glass in the pet store, but they also carry deadly disease.

Having to deal with sin in my life is sometimes annoying. I don't particularly enjoy confession and repentance. But not dealing with sin is dangerous. And the Apostle Paul tells us that they must be exterminated: "If you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live" (Romans 8:12, NIV). Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.

So, how do you kill sin?

Look to the Cross

Well, first we must go to the place where sin has already been slain: the cross of Christ. "'He himself bore our sins' in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed'" (1 Peter 2:24, NIV). Or, to quote John Owen again, "There is no death of sin without the death of Christ." The only way you can really kill a sin is through faith in Jesus, who has already died for your sins on the cross.

Get to the Root

Next, it's important that we get to the root of sin in the heart. Jesus taught that wickedness and sin come from the heart (Matthew 15:18-20) and Paul exhorts us to go after not just sinful deeds, but evil desires (Colossians 3:5). To draw on the pest illustration again, it's not enough to just stomp on the ants when they appear. Our exterminator sprayed the perimeter of our house, our trees, and more. This was evidently the best chance of killing off the nest. Our sinful actions always spring from a deeper nest of disordered affections, sinful motives and evil desires. To kill sin, you have to go deep.

Make No Provision for the Flesh

Of course, that doesn't mean you can ignore the behaviors themselves. Paul, in fact, tells us to "make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires" (Romans 13:14, ESV). If you struggle with lust, you may need to cancel your Sports Illustrated subscription before February. If the temptation is drunkenness, then stay out of bars. Or, if it's gluttony (and almost no one ever talks about that weighty sin), maybe you need to avoid fast food restaurants and the snack aisle in Walmart. But whatever your sinful tendency is, you've got to pay attention to where and when you're tempted and avoid those times and places.

Depend on the Spirit

But don't think you can exterminate sin on your own. You can't. That's why Paul says that it's "by the Spirit" that we put to death the misdeeds of the body (Romans 8:12). This doesn't mean no effort on our part is required. It means, rather, that all of our effort must be dependent effort. It's kind of like parachuting. You can't parachute unless you jump. But you still have to trust the parachute to work. In the same way, you and I must act. But we act in reliance on the Spirit's power to carry us. 

Remember it's an Ongoing Battle

Finally, realize that this will be an ongoing battle. I can expect at least quarterly visits from my exterminator, and, if ants show up inside my house, I will have to call them back sooner.  They're going to keep coming back. Therefore, aggressive action is required. Left unchecked, sins will also creep back into our lives. In fact, quarterly bouts of repentance will be far too little in this fight. The pests of sin have to be hunted and killed daily. Aggressive action is required.

For more practical help on killing sin, see my book Licensed to Kill: A Field Manual for Mortifying Sin. 

This article was written for Christianity.com.

Great Forgiveness for Great Sin

by Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” —Ephesians 1:7

Sinner, if you trust in Christ, He will forgive you the blackest sin into which you have ever fallen. If—God grant that it may not be true!—the crime of murder should be on your conscience, if adultery and fornication should have blackened your very soul, if all the sins that men have ever committed, enormous and stupendous in their aggravation, should be rightly charged to your account, yet, remember that “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1Jo 1:7); and “all that believe are justified from all things” (Act 13:39), however black they may be.

I like the way Luther talks upon this subject, though he is sometimes rather too bold. He says, “Jesus Christ is not a sham savior for sham sinners, but He is a real Savior Who offers a real atonement for real sin, for gross crimes, for shameless offenses, for transgressions of every sort and every size.” And a far greater One than Luther has said, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa 1:18). I have set the door of mercy open widely, have I not? There is no one here who will dare to say, “Mr. Spurgeon said that I was too guilty to be forgiven!” I have said nothing of the kind. However great your guilt, though your sins, like the great mountains, tower above the clouds, the floods of divine mercy can roll over the tops of the highest mountains of iniquity and drown them all. God give you grace to believe this and to prove it true this very hour!

The greatness of God’s forgiveness may be judged by the freeness of it. When a poor sinner comes to Christ for pardon, Christ does not ask him to pay anything for it, to do anything, to be anything, or to feel anything, but He freely forgives him. I know what you think: “I shall have to go through a certain penance of heart, at any rate, if not of body. I shall have to weep so much, or pray so much, or do so much, or feel so much.” That is not what the gospel says. That is only your fancy. The gospel [says], “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Act 16:31). Trust Jesus Christ, and the free pardon of sin is at once given without money and without price (Isa 55:1).

Another thing that indicates its greatness is its immediateness. God will forgive you at once, as soon as you trust Christ. There was a daughter, well beloved by her father, who, in an evil hour, left her home and came to London. Here, having no friends, she soon fell a prey to wicked men and became an utter wreck. A city missionary met with her, spoke faithfully to her about her sin, and the Holy Spirit brought her to the Savior’s feet. The missionary asked for her father’s name and address; and at last, she told him. But she said, “It is no use for you to write to him. I have brought such dishonor on my family that I am quite certain he would not reply to any letter.” They wrote to the father and stated the case; and the letter that came back bore on the envelope, in large text hand, the word Immediate. Inside, he wrote, “I have prayed every day that I might find my child and am rejoiced to hear of her. Let her come home at once. I have freely forgiven her, and I long to clasp her to my bosom.” Now, soul, if thou seekest mercy, this is just what the Lord will do with thee. He will send thee mercy marked Immediate, and thou shalt have it at once. I recollect how I found mercy in a moment, as I was told to look to Jesus, and I should be forgiven. I did look; and, swift as a lightning flash, I received the pardon of sin in which I have rejoiced to this very hour. Why should it not be the same with you, the blackest and worst sinner here, the most unfeeling and the least likely to repent? Lord, grant it; and Thou shalt have the praise!

Again, the greatness of God’s forgiveness may be measured by the completeness of it. When a man trusts Christ and is forgiven, his sin is so entirely gone that it is as though it had never been. Your children bring home their copybooks without any blots in them; but if you look carefully, you can see where blots have been erased. But when the Lord Jesus Christ blots out the sins of His people, He leaves no marks of erasure: forgiven sinners are as much accepted before God as if they had never sinned.

Perhaps someone says, “You are putting the matter very strongly.” I know I am, but not more strongly than the Word of God does! The Prophet Micah, speaking to the Lord under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says, “Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Mic 7:19). Not into the shallows, where they might be dredged up again; but into the great deeps, as in the middle of the Atlantic... “What! All my sins gone?” Yes, they are all gone if thou believest in Jesus, for He cast them into His tomb where they are buried forever!...If I am in Christ Jesus, the verdict of “No condemnation” (Rom 8:1) must always be mine, for who can condemn the one for whom Christ has died? No one, for “whom he justified, them he also glorified” (Rom 8:30). If you have trusted your soul upon the atonement made by the blood of Christ, you are [forgiven]; you may go your way in peace, knowing that neither death nor hell shall ever divide you from Christ. You are His, and you shall be His forever and ever...

Now I close by showing you how really God forgives sin. I am sure He does; for I have proved it in my own case, and I have heard of many more like myself. I have known the Lord to take a man full of sin, renew him, and in a moment to make him feel—and feel it truly too—“God loves me!” He has cried, “Abba, Father.” And he has be- gun to pray and has had answers to prayer. God has manifested His infinite grace to him in a thousand ways. By- and-by, that man has been trusted by God with some service for Him, as Paul and others were put in trust with the gospel, and as some of us also are. With some of us, the Lord has been very familiar and very kind and has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.

Now I have done when I have just said that, as these things are true, then nobody ought to despair. Come, sister, smooth those wrinkles out of your forehead. You have been saying, “I shall never be saved”; but you must not talk like that, for Christ’s forgiveness of sin is “according to the riches of his grace.” And, brother, are you in trouble because you have sinned against God? As He is so ready to forgive, you ought to be sorry that you have grieved such a gracious God. As He is so ready to forgive, let us be ready to be forgiven. Let us not leave this [subject], though the midnight hour is about to strike, until we have received this great redemption, this great for- giveness for great sin. Thus have I preached the gospel to you! If you reject it, it is at your peril...I can say no more than this. There is pardon to be obtained by believing. Jesus Christ is fully worthy of your confidence. Trust Him now, and you shall receive full and free forgiveness. The Lord help you to do so, for Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen.

From a sermon delivered on Lord’s Day evening, December 31, 1876, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

What is the Unforgivable Sin?

What is the unforgivable sin? This is a video answer I gave several months ago for Christianity.com.

What is Sin?

Revolt against God

“Scripture identifies the essence of sin as ungodliness…God’s complaint is that we do not really ‘seek’ him at all, making his glory our supreme concern, that we have not set him before us, that there is no room for him in our thoughts, and that we do not love him with all our powers. Sin is the revolt of the self against God, the dethronement of God with a view to the enthronement of oneself. Ultimately, sin is self-deification, the reckless determination to occupy the throne which belongs to God alone.”
--John Stott, The Message of Romans, p. 100

Foolishness

"Sin...in addition to anything else it may be, is always an act of wrong judgement. To commit a sin, a man must, for the moment, believe that things are different from what they really are; he must confound values; he must see the moral universe out of focus; he must accept a lie as truth and see truth as a lie; he must ignore the signs on the highway and drive with his eyes shut; he must act as if he had no soul and was not accountable for his moral choices. Sin is never a thing to be proud of. No act is wise that ignores remote consequences, and sin always does. Sin sees only today, or at most, tomorrow; never the day after tomorrow, next month or next year. Death and judgment are pushed aside as if they did not exist and the sinner becomes for the time, a practical atheist who by his act denies not only the existence of God but the concept of life after death."
--A. W. Tozer, "There is No Wisdom in Sin," in Man: The Dwelling Place of God

Good Spoiled

"The truth is that evil is not a real thing at all, like God. It is simply good spoiled. . . . You know what the biologists mean by a parasite—an animal that lives on another animal. Evil is a parasite. It is there only because good is there for it to spoil and confuse."
--C. S. Lewis, They Stand Together: The Letters of C. S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves, p. 465.

Suicide of the Soul

“Sin is the suicidal action of the human will.”
--W. G. T. Shedd, “Sin is Spiritual Slavery,” in Sermons to the Natural Man