‘All sin is equal.’ Is that true?'

When we believe that all sins are equal, it often causes us to not take the problem of sin seriously.
Have you heard this said? Maybe you’ve said it yourself—it’s a common refrain among people, Christians and non-Christians alike.
But is it true?

WHY DO PEOPLE SAY THIS?

People may use the statement for one of the following motivations:
They don’t want to be like the Pharisee in Luke 18.
They want to find common ground with non-Christians.
They don’t want to be labeled “legalistic” or “judgmental” by others.
These motivations are understandable, but the question still remains whether all sins are equal before God.

DEADLY SIN, DEADLIER SIN

Sin is the great equalizer. Whether a beggar on the streets or a king in a palace, every single person is—apart from Christ—a sinner both by nature and by choice (Rom. 3:23). Sometimes the sin is obvious and we know what it is, and other times, the wool is totally over our eyes and we have no idea.
All sin is deadly, but there are many passages in the Bible where different types of sin are spoken of as being particularly grievous:

Numbers 15. This chapter differentiates between sins that are unintentional and sins “of the high hand,” meaning sins that are intentional and rebellious. (Think: middle finger to the sky.)

Deuteronomy 18:12, 27:15. In the Mosaic Law, certain sins are listed as being abominations, meaning these sins are an offense to God (e.g. sexual sin, improper worship, idolatry).

Proverbs 6:16–19. Seven things are listed as sins that God hates (and they’re not the seven deadly sins as most people know them).

Matthew 12:31, Mark 3:29. Blasphemy against the Spirit is said to be an unforgivable sin. (For a good treatment of this subject, listen to Acts 29 pastor Sam Storms’ sermon “So close, yet so very far away.”)

Luke 20:47. Jesus says that the Pharisees will receive a “greater condemnation” for their sins of religious pride (yikes!).

John 19:11. Jesus tells Pilate that Judas has committed the “greater sin.”

1 John 5:16–17. John differentiates between sin that leads to death and sin that does not lead to death.

In one particularly striking New Testament passage, Paul speaks of sexual sin as being different from all other sin because, “Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18). Bible commentators are fuzzy on what the phrase “against his own body” means exactly, but it doesn’t take a Bible degree to see that Paul is urgently, passionately warning his hearers to avoid sexual sin at all costs.

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

All sin is deadly, but there are some types of sin that are so serious that they warrant an extra-impassioned warning, a sterner rebuke, a more drastic plan to avoid temptation. Additionally, some sins are worse than others in terms of their immediate effects. If someone steals a candy bar, sinful as that may be, it does not have the same effect as when someone molests a child.

I am convinced that use of the claim “all sin is equal in the eyes of God” is inaccurate and unhelpful. It is inaccurate because it does not line up with what the whole of the Bible teaches. It is unhelpful because it downplays just how serious the problem of sin really is. Sin, by its very nature, is never satisfied. It grows from bad to worse and leads to death (James 1:15). As the great English preacher John Owen put it: “Every rise of lust, if it has its way reaches the height of villainy; it is like the grave that is never satisfied. The deceitfulness of sin is seen in that it is modest in its first proposals but when it prevails it hardens mens’ hearts, and brings them to ruin.”

When we believe that all sins are equal, it often causes us to not take the problem of sin seriously. This attitude then leads us to not take seriously the biblical command to put our sin to death by the power of the Spirit.

THE CROSS, THE CROSS, THE CROSS

The good news is that regardless of what sin we have committed, forgiveness is found at the cross of Jesus Christ. And when someone sins against us, we can find cleansing and redemption in Jesus. On the cross, Jesus took the beating that we all deserve for our sins. It might not be truthful to tell someone that all sins are equal in God’s sight, but it is very truthful to tell them that all sins can be forgiven because of Jesus’ death on the cross. We can confidently proclaim forgiveness for any type of sin because Jesus rose again on the third day to prove that he was God and that he was able and willing to forgive sinners. What an amazing Savior!

Are you in Christ? Then God has forgiven you for all of your sins—past, present, and future. Jesus Christ shouted from the cross as his final words in triumphant victory, “It is finished!” At that moment, sin was atoned for and sinners were forgiven.

Originally posted @ ‘All sin is equal.’ Is that true? | Mars Hill Church:

Radical

A number of people in our congregation have read David Platt's book 'Radical'. It challenges us to live radical lives devoted to Jesus in all that we do. On of the problems is that at points we start comparing ourselves to others, with one of two results. Either we get despondent and constantly feel like we are not doing enough. On the other hand we can become prideful and puffed up if we feel we are better than others.

David Platt has this short video that is helpful in understanding how to relate to others in this call to follow Jesus, and to love him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.

 

Projects, Programs, People

Jesus is into people.
I mean really into people. So much so that he offers himself as a substitutionary sacrifice to save us in ways that we cannot save ourselves. This is the heart of the gospel of Jesus and it is an incredible and life transforming to be loved by God in this way.

I believe that this how we should be like Jesus: really into people. Jesus has a heart to save the lost and so should we. Jesus cares for the broken and so should we. We are to reflect Jesus in how we think and how we act. The challenge each generation of Christians faces is how to do this. Because the Bible tells us what to do, but allows us freedom in how to do it in our culture, context and time. 

Timeless truth. Timely methods. 

What others far more educated that me see in Western society is that the corporate ideas of events and outsourcing have found root in the church. It is summed up in a line from the Kevin Costner film Field of dreams where he says "If you build it they will come" and so we build ministries, events and programs in the hope that they will come.

Consumers are fickle

What large scale analysis has shown across the world is that whilst people might come in numbers they will not come in heart because what we are doing is using consumer models that perpetuate the consumer mindset instead of creating maturing disciples of Jesus. If someone else offers a program that is better...brighter...louder...funnier...cooler...they are gone and entire ministries disappear overnight because it's not about the programs or the projects. We saw this a number of years ago in Cape Town where a major international church planted in the city and almost overnight the church had 3000 people - almost all from other churches. I know of at least one congregation that lost half its band in one week.

Consumers are fickle.

So how do we change this? Listening to what others are saying and studying the scriptures leads one to the truth that the answer lies is not a program nor a project. Jesus cares about people and so should we. Jesus does not care much for projects or programs and I believe that the answer to this lies in building relationships where the truth of Jesus is passed on from one to the next. Not just bible knowledge but also the knowledge of how to serve, love and care for others. Knowledge about how to pray, discern and follow the call of the Holy Spirit. Programs and projects simply lack the power to do this.

Jesus leaves us two enduring images in Matthew 28 and Acts 1: We're to be disciple-makes and witnesses. And these are things we can all do because it does not require programs that cost money, it needs no flashing lights, Power Point and we don't need a theological degree to make disciples nor to be a witness.

Disciple-makers 

We make disciples by apprenticing people and showing them what we have learned to by God's grace.

I love DIY and I have a garage full of tools that I have learned to wield well to make all sorts of things as our family has need from pop-guns to bookshelves. Much of what I do I learned from my dad. He was always fixing something: cutting wood to size for cupboards in the house,repairing broken brickwork, fixing damaged wiring and building things he needed. I watched, and in time I helped, and then I did it myself. In many ways I have learned far beyond what my dad was able to do simply because I have had access to more tools and technology from a younger age. Importantly, I had someone to show me how.

In the scriptures we see people learning to follow God, not by reading their bible alone but learning from others what it looks like to serve the poor, teach scripture, pray for the sick and call people to follow Jesus. Paul writes to the dysfunctional church in Corinth and says  Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1

A disciple-maker imitates Christ and calls others to do the same

Witnesses

To be a witness is to tell others about what you have seen and John writes it like this:  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.1 John 1:1–4

Do you see the tangible words he uses? Heard, seen, looked at, touched...All the early church did was tell others about what Jesus had done for them and this does not need a title nor an education. You simply tell others how Jesus gave you hope when you had none. How Jesus saved you from your self absorbed life. You tell them how Jesus has made you joyful, hopeful, helpful, grateful and free! 

We're all called to be disciple makers and witnesses

What if each of us who love Jesus walked alongside others with whom we share our lives; friends, family, co-workers and colleagues and what if we discipled them to Jesus, then discipled them in Jesus starting by telling our stories? What if as we live out gospel centred lives we drew others in to walk that journey with us? 

Is your group going to serve at a home for abused women? Take someone with you. Are you going to the hospital to pray for someone who is ill? Take someone with you. Joining with others to gather under Christ to eat and gather round the bible? Take someone with you. Show someone what it looks like to follow Jesus who is Lord of all.

I have a simple faith (some might argue naive) that if we're faithful in following these biblical instructions, Jesus will grow his church. Not a church willed with passive consumers but with passionate disciples who will also disciple others by passing on the good news of what Jesus has done for them.

Discipling new believers

So we've been talking about this vision and one of the key ideas is that we need to understand that we're disciples of Jesus, followers of the one who saved us from death to life. We believe that we're to be gospel centred disciple and a discipler, as Candice pointed out on the retreat, is one who disciples others. There is no magic formula in achieving this but this article from Justin Buzzard has some helpful pointers. I'd challenge every leader to have a couple of people who you are discipling towards Christian maturity:

Discipleship involves a lot, but one of the most important things you can do with a new believer is read the Bible with them–teaching them how to read, understand, respond to, and apply God’s Word.

There are two men in their 20s who came to faith in Christ in recent weeks through the ministry of our church. I’m discipling these guys right now. I baptized them a few weeks ago. One of the core ways I’m discipling them is through weekly Bible reading meetings. This is how I do it:

-Every Wednesday night these guys come to my house to join in our Neighborhood Group with a bunch of other people from our church and neighborhood.

-I have the guys come 30 minutes early so that the three of us can read the Bible together.

-Each week we read one paragraph of Scripture together and talk about it. Right now we’re reading Philippians because it’s the book I’m preaching through, it’s the book all of our Neighborhood Groups are studying, and because I think Philippians is a pivotal book to master for new believers.

-Each week I ask the guys two questions about the text: 1) What did this text mean in its original 1st century context? 2) What does this text mean for our lives today? As we work through these two questions I connect our thoughts to Jesus and the bigger storyline of Scripture.

-From 30 minutes of Bible reading and these two questions we end up covering a ton of theological and practical ground. Last week’s study of Philippians 1:3-11 led to conversation about the Trinity, the second coming of Christ, how to pray, and God’s sovereignty and human responsibility.

Most believers have never been intentionally discipled and most believers have no clue how to go about discipling a new believer. The problem is that people don’t have a good understanding of what discipleship is. Here’s a definition for you:

Discipleship is truth transferred through relationship.

It’s that simple. What I’m doing with these two men on Wednesday nights is transferring truth through relationship. I love these two men, and they know it. In relationship with them I’m teaching them the truth, and at the center of that process is teaching them how to read, rejoice in, and apply God’s Word.

What are you waiting for? Find two people you can start doing this with

Disciples

A brilliant video - a must watch!

Conversations for discipleship 7

This is the last post in the series of conversations to have with a young follower of Jesus. They are conversations that will bolster their faith, draw them to Jesus and then will equip them to go out into the world.


This conversation is about mission

As image bearers of God we are sent on a mission just like God. God is a sent and sending God. The Father sent the Son on a rescue mission for us, and the Father and Son send the Holy Spirit to help us and to glorify the Father and the Son.

The woman at the well in John 4:1-26 can't help but tell her friends, family, and neighbors about Jesus after meeting and talking to Him. In the same way, we get to share the good news about Jesus with everyone in hope that they too will give Him their sin and experience new life in Him.

"Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, `He told me all that I ever did."" (John 5:39) One of the very first things that will happen after someone becomes a Christian will be evangelism. Just like the woman at the well after someone encounters Jesus they will want to go back to his or her friends, telling them the good news about Jesus.

Therefore we should do whatever we can to help someone understand how to share the Gospel. If the person is a Christian, they know the Gospel already. However, many of us are afraid that we will not "do it right." The Samaritan woman was not theologically sophisticated, her message was simple—"He told me all that I ever did"—and people believed because of her testimony.

Successful evangelism is taking the initiative to share the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results up to God.

task:
Share some examples of how you have shared your faith with friends and family.
Explain: Successful evangelism is taking the initiative to share the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results up to God.

Questions to ask:

• Do you have friends or family that don’t know Jesus yet?
• What do you think it will look like to talk to them about what He has done in your life? 
• What are some of your fears about sharing your faith?

Conversations for discipleship 6

Conversation 6 is about walking in the light

We need the Gospel all the time because we sin. Learning what to do with sin as a new Christian is really important. The Holy Spirit transforms us as we learn to think like Jesus, act like Jesus and love like Jesus.

One of the first conversations a new Christian needs to have is about how God forgives past sin before we were Christians and future sin we commit after we become Christians. We're going to keep sinning even as we mature and we need to know how we can be strong in the face of temptation and how we can keep repentant when we fail.

task:
Read 1 John 1:5‐10 and prepare to explain what it looks like to “walk in the light as He is in the light” and how “if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

True fellowship with God and with one another comes from “walking in light”—being honest about where we are at in our walk with God, knowing that we are forgiven and that we can be cleansed from our sin.
Meet up to read through 1 John 1:5‐10 and to discuss this concept.

Questions to ask:
(Be sure to give examples and answers from your life. How confessing sin to others helped bring freedom and cleansing. Walking in the light yourself is the best way to teach this concept.)

• How are you doing with believing that God forgives you? 
• What do you do after you are convicted of sin?
• What does it look like for you to walk in the light in community?

Conversations for discipleship 5

Conversation 5 is about community.

Many people think that community is an optional extra to the faith and for most of us it was for a long time. Without Christian community there is no maturity of faith. It is in community that we learn from others, use our spiritual gifts and where we are sent out into the world to be Jesus' witnesses.

As image bearers of God (Genesis 1:26), we are made to be in community just as God is in community. Note the "us" in Genesis 1:26. Even in the perfect world Adam was created in, the one thing that was not good was for man to be alone. (Genesis 2:18)

Our sin had separated us from God and one another (Isaiah 59:1-2). But in Christ we are given a new identity individually and given a new identity communally. We are adopted into a new family: the Church. (John 1:12, Ephesians 4)

Conversation 5: walking in community
When we become Christians we get a new identity individually, as children of God, and we get a new identity corporately, as we are brought into God's family—the church. The Bible uses the illustration of a body where each part is interdependent on the others, this is what Jesus envisaged when he called us to follow him.

Task:

Read and discuss Acts 2:37-47.
Read and discuss 1 Corinthians 12:12-26. (There are no “lone ranger” Christians. We are all part of the body and when one part is missing the whole body suffers.)
Explain how our Home Groups seek to embody these texts.

Questions to ask:

• What does it look like for you to be in community?
• Can I help you get into a Home Group? (If they aren’t in one already.)

Conversations for discipleship 3

Discipleship conversation three is all about worship.

Humans have been made for worship, it is one of teh wonderful things about being created in the image of God. We all worship and so the question is not whether we will or not, but only whom or what will we worship. Some will worship money, sex, power and some will worship family. There is no end to the idols we will place in Jesus' rightful position. Christians worship Jesus because He is holy and has saved us from Satan, sin, and death. All of life is worship and that means our lives become totally immersed in him and his work in the world - this does not mean we must become a missionary to outer Mongolia - your office and home need missionaries too!

This is why Paul says "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."(1 Corinthians 10:31)

But worshipping God is not just what we do to rightly walk with Him; it is also how we are transformed to be more like Jesus.

"And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Read these verses together to discuss

Read Romans 1:20-28

Read Jeremiah 2:11-13

Read Romans 12:1-2

Some questions to ask:

- How does the idea that we never stop worshipping change the way you view your life?

- What does idolatry look like in your life?

- How do you deal with your sin / idolatry?

Conversations for discipleship 2

I started posting last week about conversations on discipleship. Every person who follows Jesus should be helping others to follow him too. It's everyone's calling and not just a task for those in leadership to build up the body to maturity. So here is the second conversation to have with a young Christian whom you are journeying with to help them mature (you'll learn loads through the process too) These posts are a set of 7 conversations to be had over coffee to draw people towards a deeper following of Jesus.

Conversation 2: the Bible

Christian identity comes from finding our place in God's great story as he interacts with humankind. History really is His story. God's story is revealed to us in the Bible and therefore we want to get to know the Bible as the word of God and as God's revelation of himself.

As we start walking with Jesus, we start reading our Bibles more. God most clearly speaks to us through scripture. Understanding the Bible is a process that will take the rest of our lives, but studying in community is vey helpful. It is in Scripture that we find out who God is and who we are.

First, make sure that the person you are discipling has a good Bible. We highly recommend the English Standard Version. The ESV Study Bible is a great gift to someone starting to read the Bible. There are ESV study bible for sale at the back of the church on Sundays for R400 as well as standard ESV hard covers for R100.

There are a great number of free mobile bibles too:
Android:
   ESV
   Youversion

iPhone:
   ESV
   Youversion

Blackberry:
   Youversion

Windows:
   Youversion

Or you can point your mobile browser to http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/mobile/

Second, pick out one of the Gospels. Begin to read through it together and meet to discuss it. Reading and discussing the Bible should be a fluid part of walking together and become a mainstay throughout your time together. On the New Testament by Pastor Mark Driscoll is very helpful for someone starting to read the Bible and answers many common questions.

Some questions to ask:

• How are you doing believing the Bible is God’s word?
• What has God been saying to you through his word?
• What questions about the Bible can I try and help you with?

Conversations for discipleship

I want to do a series of posts using some material that has been borrowed from Marshillchurch.org on discipleship. There will be seven posts in the series and whilst they are helpful for us all in leadership I would particularly like to commend them to the home group leaders.

What is discipleship?
There are many errors we can make in believing in Jesus. In my experience in a room of twenty Christians when asked who is a disciple, less than ten will answer in the affirmative. That seems strange when the instruction given to Jesus church is to make disciples. If we're not making disciples then what are we making? Whilst the answer is worth another post, I believe that we've made converts and not disciples. Converts believe in Jesus, but they dont' follow him or live like him. Jesus calls us and empowers us through the Spirit to follow him as he gives his life up for others and proclaims the coming kingdom of God.