A GOOD SINNER!

Romans 3:22-23, New Living Translation 22 We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins… And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done… 23 For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard…

(Illus) "Are you saved, sir?" the pastor asked a gentleman at the close of a gospel-meeting…

"No, I really can't say I am, but I would like to be…"

(Pastor) "Why would you? Do you realize you are a lost sinner?"
" 'Well no', Oh, of course, we are all sinners…"

The pastor said, “But that often means little or nothing… Are you a sinner yourself?"

"Well, I suppose I am, but I'm not what you could call a bad sinner… I am, I think, rather a good one… I always try to do the best I know how..."

"Then, my brother”, said the pastor, ‘I fear there is little use seeking to show you the way of salvation… Good sinners, together with, those living in out right adultery, honest liars, upright thieves, and virtuous scoundrels are far from being ready to submit to the grace of God, which is only for poor, vile, hell-deserving sinners, who have no merits to build on, no goodness to plead, but who are ready to be saved alone by the work of Another, and that One the Lord Jesus Christ…"’

Further conversation brought out the fact that the gentleman was far from being ready to be saved and would, according to his own declaration, rather take "his chances" as he was…

APPLICATION: So many people really feel the same way this man felt…They seem to think they can live any old way they want, doing whatever they want, and without repentance, find the door of salvation…

It is not so…

Once the Holy Spirit of God, concerning our sinful lifestyle, has prompted us, it is then we must make the decision to correct our eternal fate…The choice is ours for the making…We can choose to stay in our sin as the gentleman in the Illustration did, or we may decide to give our life to Jesus Christ…He is the only door to salvation…

Jesus said John 14, 6, KJV, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by Me…”

This verse tells us that Jesus is the only way to find the salvation that God the Father is offering…Jesus is the door…not a sinful lifestyle…

CROUCHING AT THE DOOR… In Genesis 4:7 God is talking to Cain about his sin…but he did not listen…Lets look at a small part of Cain’s story to see if we can get more insight for us all…

“If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you, BUT you must master it…"

How do you react when someone suggest you have done something wrong…? Do you move to correct the mistake or deny that you need to correct it?

When the Holy Sprit of God speaks to our conscience with conviction, it means we need to make the corrections that are necessary to assist us in keeping inline with the will and direction of God…

After Cain’s sacrifice was rejected, God gave him the chance to right his wrong and try again…(Just like God) God even encouraged him to do this! But Cain refused, and the rest of his life is a startling example of what happens to those who refuse to admit their mistakes…The next time someone suggest you are wrong, take a honest look at yourself and choose God’s way instead of Cain’s…

For Cain to master the sin lurking at the entrance to his desires, he would have to give up his jealous anger (SIN) so that sin would not find a foothold in his life… (The same is true for each of us, we must not give Satan an inch, because if we do, he will be our ruler...)

Sin is still crouching at our doors today…Like Cain, we will be victims of sin if we do not master it…But we cannot master sin in our own strength…Instead, we must turn to God to receive faith for ourselves and faith and strength from other believers…

The Holy Spirit will help us master sin…This will be a lifelong battle that will not be over until we are face to face with Christ…

The bottom line in the message is that we all have sinned and really do fall short of the glory of God…and we must admit our sin to God, and ask forgiveness of those sins… (1st John 1:9)

The only way to a live a life of abundant living and eternal reward is through the forgiveness of sins through shed blood of Jesus Christ…

There is no such thing as a Good Sinner…

The only good sinner is a forgiven one…

Rev. Robert N. Graves, Sr. Fisherman for Christ...