It seemed like an open and shut case. The evidence was incriminating. The defendant had conceded every point. The verdict would be obvious. This wasn’t the actual trial, but it was a unique opportunity to settle the matter informally, long before the formal court date. However, like so many people, the defendant had confessed to various examples of lawbreaking but just couldn’t find the humility to plead guilty.
Why is it that perfectly rational people write off immoral
decisions as “mistakes”, or conveniently forget past sins, or find ways to
rationalize them away by saying they did the wrong thing for the right reasons,
or that they just didn’t know that what they were doing was wrong in the first
place? Why do so many put off “settling
out of court” until it is too late?
I gave a sidewalk “good person test” to a friendly guy named
Alexander, and he responded much like many people who are able to concede their
imperfections but not admit their guilt.
Despite their admission that they have lied, stolen, used God’s name in
vain, looked with lust and used hurting words – making them a liar, thief,
blasphemer, adulterer and murderer at heart – they just can’t bear to refer to themselves
as “guilty”.
Isn’t there some loophole?
Isn’t God supposed to be forgiving?
Can’t it all just be forgotten and left behind without having to deal
with that ugly “guilty” word, and that other horrible word, “repentance”?
I wanted to tell Alex the good news of salvation in Christ,
but he needed to be ready to receive it.
He needed to understand his sin, his guilt, and his need for the
Savior. He needed to receive the bad
news of his sin in order to receive the good news of forgiveness.
But this was uncharted territory. What if one puts themself out there, admits their
guilt, but is left hanging with no hope?
Better to maintain a strong defense, to plead innocence no matter that
the evidence might prove otherwise.
But there is hope, and it can be found on the road of confession
and repentance. 1 Peter 5 tells us that
“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” God uses the law as a mirror to show our true
reflection according to His holy standard, and in order to show us our need for
grace, which is very humbling.
I had used God’s word, and specifically God’s moral laws to
try to help Alex see his true reflection, but he really didn’t want to act on
what he saw. James 1 tells us “Anyone
who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks
at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and
immediately forgets what he looks like.”
I felt like Alex was turning away from the mirror of God’s word
in order to forget it, but I don’t lose hope because hope can still be found on
the road of repentance.
Maybe that repentance could even begin with believers like
myself. I told Alex how I would do if I
was judged by God’s holy standard, and that I, too, would be found to be a
liar, thief, blasphemer, adulterer and murderer at heart. I wanted to show him what I have experienced
– that God does give favor to those who humbly confess their guilt and look to Jesus
for forgiveness.
It takes humility and faith to leap into the unknown, to
repent and believe. It’s not easy and
is, in fact, impossible for the unbeliever to do by their own efforts. It takes God’s intervention, which comes
about with the help of believers praying and preaching the word and
demonstrating humility and gratitude as an example for unbelievers to follow.
Alex, if you read this, I enjoyed our conversation and
appreciate your honesty, even though I had to share some hard truths of the
Gospel, and my prayer is that you can humbly repent and look to Jesus for
forgiveness. You have my contact info, I
would love to hear from you!
PS –Alex graciously allowed me to record our conversation,
which can be seen in its entirety HERE
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