From the Preacher's Viewpoint. . .

All Are Guilty

All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:8, 23). Every priest in the Old Testament had to make offerings for his sin and then for the people (Heb. 5:1-3).

The guilt of sin sometimes stays with us. It should not if we have repented and made things right with God. The remembrance of some sins seems to stay in our hearts more than others. This should not be so. If we have been forgiven of the Lord, then we should accept His forgiveness. Let it be remembered that being forgiven of sin is one thing and the scar and memory of sin is another. There may be some things in our memories that we cannot get rid of—the scars of some sins will forever be in our minds but we should all remember that God will forgive our every sin and remember them no more (Acts 3:19; Heb. 8:12-13). There is not a single sin that God will hold against us and refuse to forgive us if we will follow His word. Many seem not to believe this but they should.

Good men sometimes make mistakes and are guilty of sin. King David made some serious mistakes and sinned and yet the Bible says he was a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22). But David could never get the remembrance of his sin out of his mind (Psalm 51:3). The apostle Peter sinned greatly when he denied the Saviour and yet he preached the first sermon on the Day of Pentecost. Eli sinned in his failure to bring up his children as he should but he was a good man. Every good man that makes mistakes and sins will make things right with God and thus obtain forgiveness.

All can profit from their sins. We can learn valuable lessons from our sins. We are not suggesting that all should sin in order to learn from their sins. There is enough sin in our lives without committing presumptuous sins in order to learn from them. Presumptuous sin will send our souls to hell unless repented of. The prodigal son learned many lessons from his sinful life (Luke 15:11-25). He learned how easy it was to leave his father's house. He learned that one cannot stay in the good graces of his father and be given to the practice of sin. He learned that money and wild living attracts many "friends." He learned that sin will take one's possessions in a hurry. He learned that "friends" are scarce when the money is gone. He learned that the way of the transgressor is hard. He learned that sinful living makes one a companion with the hogs. He learned that there is little pity and mercy while in the pig pen. He learned that his father's house was not a bad place to be. He learned that he could return to a father that loved him. He learned that his father was watching and waiting for his return. He learned that his father would forgive when he corrected his life and showed deep sorrow for the wrong he committed. He learned what we sow we reap. We can learn from our sins.

We can teach and instruct others about sin by our experiences with sin. All of us travel the road of life and it has a river of tears running through it. We cross this river of tears at times because of sin and wrong doing. Grandparents know about this river of tears and they can teach the grandchildren. Parents know about this river of tears and they can teach their children. Friends and loved ones know about this river of tears and they can teach the good way because they know. Preachers, elders, deacons, Bible teachers, and fellow Christians know about this river and they can do a good job of instructing because they have been there and done that in certain things. We can learn great lessons from our mistakes if we will. All of us can learn to be thankful for God's great and wonderful forgiveness of sin.

Every Christian should thank God in every prayer for His forgiveness. Brother Edward Cotham was one of the very best Christians I have ever known. He lived in Columbia, Kentucky, and furnished one of the rooms at Tennessee Bible College in which people are taught the Bible. He told me many times with tears running down his cheeks, "Brother Hill, I am a great sinner." Those tears were tears of thanks to God for His mercy and grace. Amazing grace—how sweet the sound to lost and dying men and women! We realize we are debtors when we think of God's forgiveness and love (Rom. 1:14-15). Brother Harry Ledbetter, an elder in the church at Denton, Texas, has a saying: "We're a sorry lot." All of us realize this if we are honest and sincere. God's forgiveness of sin and His forbearance with sinful man makes us have a very thankful heart if there is any thankfulness left in us.

We will be kind and forbearing with our fellow man and his sins if we realize how God has dealt with us. Jesus taught in the model prayer—forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us (Matt. 6:12). No amount of meritorious work that we might do can save us (Titus 2:11-12; Eph. 2:8-9). We must submit to and follow Jesus' gospel (Matt. 7:21-23). Aren't you glad that God does not strike us down every time we sin and make a mistake?

Another way our past sins can help us to serve God and be better Christians is by de-termining we are going to fight sin as hard as we can and oppose all wrong as much as is humanly possible. We can all see what sin has done to us more or less and this should cause us to hate the devil and his ways. Peo-ple sometimes get mad at God because of sin and wicked happenings. Wrong again! The devil and sin bring on misery—not God and His goodness. We should be happy when sin and wickedness is plainly and strongly opposed in a public way even though some of the things condemned have been in our lives in days gone by. If we stayed off of all sins and wrongs done by the preachers, elders, deacons, all members and their spouses, then what preaching and teaching could be done? Virtually none. All of us have made mistakes and all sin and wrong must be openly condemned. The whole counsel of God must be preached (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 20:20, 26-27; II Tim. 4:1-3). People who have become Christians and are living the Christian life should not feel guilty when any and all sin is laid bare even though they have been guilty of sin in their life.

Christians can and do sin (I John 1:8-10; 2:1-2). God's children can and do fall from grace at times (Gal. 5:4). When they sin in private they should go to God in private prayer asking Him to forgive them. When a child of God sins in a public way, he should confess his sin in a public way by going before the church (James 5:16; Acts 8:24). A child of God should make his confession as public as his sin.

Must a child of God confess every sin in an exact way? No. I find this command nowhere in the Bible. If one must confess every sin by specifying, then what would happen if he forgot a sin? God knows the sin and so does the sinner. This is what matters. If one wants to confess a specific sin, then he may do so. God seems to want to keep down trouble between men as much as possible. He wants to save homes, churches from dividing, men from going broke, and other such troubles. All sin is against God (Psalm 51:4) and men must seek His forgiveness. Restitution must be made in all things as much as is possible and as far as possible.

Sometimes men do not confess as much as we think they should and as much as we would like, but remember God's ways are not at times the ways of men (Isa. 55:6-9).

What must one do to be saved? He must hear the gospel of Christ (Rom. 10:17). He must believe in Christ and the gospel (Heb. 11:6). He must repent of his sins (Luke 13:3). He must confess the name of Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:9-10; Acts 8:25-39). He must be baptized in water for the remission of sins (John 3:23; Acts 8:36-39; Acts 2:38). One must live the Christian life faithfully after entering the kingdom (Matt. 10:22; Rev. 2:10).
—Malcolm L. Hill