Isaiah 59:1-21
Sin, Confession, and Redemption
1 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are stained with blood,
your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken falsely,
and your tongue mutters wicked things.
4 No one calls for justice;
no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies;
they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
5 They hatch the eggs of vipers
and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are evil deeds,
and acts of violence are in their hands.
7 Their feet rush into sin;
they are swift to shed innocent blood.
They pursue evil schemes;
acts of violence mark their ways.
8 The way of peace they do not know;
there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;
no one who walks along them will know peace.
9 So justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blind we grope along the wall,
feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
among the strong, we are like the dead.
11 We all growl like bears;
we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
for deliverance, but it is far away.
12 For our offenses are many in your sight,
and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
and we acknowledge our iniquities:
13 rebellion and treachery against the Lord,
turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,
uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice is driven back,
and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
The Lord looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
and his own righteousness sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done,
so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes;
he will repay the islands their due.
19 From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord,
and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood
that the breath of the Lord drives along.
20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
declares the Lord.
21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.
Genesis 1:27
God Created Mankind in His Image
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Romans 7:7-25
The Law and Sin
7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Mark 2:17
Jesus Came for Sinners
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
1 John 1:9
Confess When We Sin
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
The Prophet Isaiah wrote that our sins separate us from God...Also our sins will hide His face from us...And by not seeing us, He does not hear us...When we sin, Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever sins becomes a prey for evil to happen...The Lord is displeased when we sin, and things can get out of hand in our lives...For our offenses and sins over time can become many...And our sins testify against us...Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities, by confession : and sins are rebellion and treachery are against the Lord...
Paul personally talks about the law, and how by knowing the laws of God, we can recognize sin...Paul gives us his experiences with sin...He says he would not have have known what sin was -had it not been for the law....He would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”...But sin, seizes the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in Him every kind of coveting...For apart from the law, sin was dead...There was a time, Paul was alive and apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and he died...Paul found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death...For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived him, and through the commandment put him to death...So then, we recognize that God's law are holy, and the commandments are holy, righteous and good...
So we know that the nature of God and His laws are sacred, holy, and good...While sin and the nature of sin is wicked and evil...And our human nature seems to have this thread of sin running through us...So, even though these written words are personally about Paul and his experiences, the struggles with sin are universal...Sin is all around mankind...But also the laws of God are everywhere, so we can recognize sin...And when we break one of God's laws, we sin...And sin is just not this one time act, in our lives...Sin seems to happen over and over...And sometimes little sins become bigger sins...And any sin keeps us apart from God...So we see that sin is not just the occasional act...Sin is a problem that can happen to us daily...And Paul discusses the problems and the struggles we have with the nature of sinning in being human...
When we sin we turn our backs on God...Sin is all around, it is universal...Because we are created in His Image, when we sin, we are rebelling and offending Him...When we sin and break His laws, He is hurt by our sinful acts...God, being our Creator, becomes the injured party when we sin...So we need His forgiveness after sinning...God is Absolutely Moral and these broken moral acts of ours injure Him...Sinning is not a part or function of love, and His LOVE...So we need to ask Him for forgiveness when we sin...We need to confess our sins to Him, and He will forgive us of our sins...And we have Him to thank for sending His Son, who came for sinners to purify us from unrighteousness...Thanks be to God, who delivers me from my sins, through Jesus Christ our Lord!...