This weekend I--along with some other women from my church--attended the annual Women Discipling Women conference hosted by the Masters of Biblical Counseling department at The Master's College. It was a really neat time and we were definitely given a ton of good, biblically-based information that will provide a lot of food for thought for the days, months, and even years to come.
As I reread through the notes that I took away from the conference, I want to type them up so other people can read them as well. Although the information was give by women to women, the principles are drawn from Scripture and are, therefore, applicable to anybody and everybody.
The original notes given will be in bold...additional notes I wrote down or additional thoughts I had will be in italics. =)
The first general Session was entitled: "Hear Jesus Speak to...the Sin, Guilt, and Failure We Can't Get Past" by Lydia Brownback
Whether it's the horror of getting caught in the act--like the adulterous woman dragged before Jesus--or the soul-crushing guilt of something we can't take back--like Peter's denial of the Lord--we've all tasted the bitterness of sin. Sin breaks us: the besetting sin we can't seem to get past, the haunting memory of a long-ago sin, or the sin of another that devastated our life. Jesus comes with grace to those broken by sin, and in Him we find that sin is never the end of the story.
1. The bitterness of sin
a. Sin is bitter because it enslaves. Scripture shows us how we get hooked (which is idolatry, ultimately) (Num. 11:4-6; Rom. 1:18-32; 6:16; 2 Pet. 2:19)
-Sin can become an intense craving for something; having a desire for something is not sin in and of itself; wanting and desiring anything more than God is sin. This desire, which is idolatry, is sinful because it causes us to complain and grumble and does not bring about true satisfaction.
-Numbers 11:4-6 -- As it did for the Israelites who complained about manna and the food God had given them in the wilderness, when we are craving something and not getting that something we can begin to grumble and complain.
-Romans 1:18-32 -- Humans became enslaved to their desires and they begin to worship creation rather than the God who created them.
-2 Peter 2:19 -- We can so easily become enslaved to passions and desired and quickly become slaves of that particular thing. We will serve that thing and do anything--even sin--to get it or serve it.
-When we grumble, we are essentially saying that we don't think God worked things out well; we are saying that we think we have a better plan that God should have adhered to and that, in some senses, God was dumb for not adopting our plan of action. Even when we complain about something as harmless as the weather we are essentially telling God that He did not deliver and that our day was messed up because now we cannot go to the beach because it is raining. Our agenda can become much more important to us than God's will and THAT is idolatry.
b. Sin is bitter because it produces guilt (Ps. 32:3-4)
-When we confess sin we are freed from our guilt; when we hid sin we are enslaved to guilt; we sense David's great freedom in confessing his sin with Bathsheba in Psalm 32:1-2 and 5.
-Peter's story (Matthew 26:69-75)
-Verse 75 says that after the denial and Peter saw Jesus, he knew remember what Jesus had predicted and "he went out and wept bitterly." It is likely that Peter lived with a feeling of guilt and despair for denying Jesus those few days after His death.
c. Sin is bitter when it defines us (Luke 7:39)
-The Pharisee condemned the woman who wept and wiped and anointed Jesus' feet for being a "sinner"; she knew she was a sinner and wept over her sin in front of Jesus. She probably could not see a way to remove the stigma of her sin from her life in this world.
-Jesus knew she was a sinner and still showed her love and compassion.
-A lot of times people feel like they cannot get rid of their reputation for a past sin or even a present sin that they are caught it. And sometimes--like those guilty of sex offenses who have to register as an offender--will be given the Scarlet Letter for life; people will always view them as guilty. But we ALL must remember that we have a new reputation with Christ if we have been redeemed by Him and in the life to come we will not be defined by our sin!
2. Why do we get stuck in sin?
a. We get stuck in sin because we are idol worshipers.
-Trusting in something other than God or alongside Him is idolatry; we become like what we worship (Ps. 115:4-8); we are worshiping something at all times...but is that thing God? If not, we are in sin. Our hearts are "idol factories" and more often than not we end up worshiping ourselves.
b. We get stuck in sin because we have a skewed vision.
-Our skewed vision can often be a result of nostalgia...this is most times a memory stripped of reality and is inaccurate. For example, the Israelites wished they were back in Egypt eating leeks, garlic, cucumbers, etc because they thought it was better than being in the wilderness eating manna. They had forgotten that they had to make bricks with no resources; they had forgotten the cruelty of the Egyptians because their craving for food and "better life" was strong sharp in their minds. They were not content in their present circumstances.
-If God had wanted us to stay in one spot in life He would have left us there; if He moves us from one spot in life to another it is because He has a BETTER plan for us in mind.
c. We get stuck in sin because our repentance isn't genuine:
-The responses of Peter (Matt. 26:75; John 21:4-7) and Judas (Matt. 27:35)
-Peter wept bitterly after his denial...he ran to the tomb to find Jesus when the women told him that Jesus' body was no longer there; Judas felt sorry but was not truly repentant...he went out and hung himself
-the responses of David (Ps. 51) and Saul (1 Sam. 15:1-34)
-David was truly broken and repentant; Saul was sorry for the consequences (not being king anymore), not that he dishonored God; he had the audacity to shift the blame to the people and tried to cover his disobedience up with the appearance of piety to God. Even after he acknowledges his sin he stills asks Samuel to "yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel..." Saul was more sorry that he got caught then that God was displeased.
-true and false repentance in Hosea (6:1-6; 14:1-3)
-In chapter 6 we see that they just wanted to repent so that God would restore blessings upon them ("[so that] He will come to us as the showers as the springs rains that water the earth.")
-Finally in chapter 14 they get it and offer genuine and specific repentance
-God wants our hearts, not just "cleaning up our act"
d. We get stuck in sin because we misunderstand the process of spiritual growth (Romans 7)
- It's not just about not doing bad things for the sake of not doing bad things; we need to remember the deeper process of sanctification
-God isn't grieved by our failures...He knows we are going to fail...He is grieved by our giving up trying in the Spirit's help
-Getting "unstuck" starts with where we set our minds...we must put our focus on Christ and the empowering of the Holy Spirit
3. What does Jesus say?
a. What Jesus said about the sinful woman in Luke (Luke 7:36-50):
"Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." (vs 47)
-The blood of Christ covers our sins; it/Christ has the power to give us a new identity. Jesus gave the woman a new identity because He redeemed her.
-Grace is bigger than ALL of our sins. Sin is NEVER the end of the story with God's grace.
b. What Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11):
"Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more." (vs 11)
-She was new and redeemed. As believers we've been forgiven first and now we can go and obey
But how?
-By believing what we are (Romans 6-7) -> We are FREE!
-By walking by the Spirit (Galatians 5)
c. What Jesus says about our guilt (Zech. 3:1-5; Rev. 7:14)
-Joshua (the High Priest/defendant) was standing in filthy garments (literally translated they were as if they had excrement on them)
-Angel of the LORD (judge) removed the filthy garments from Joshua and gave him pure clothes
-Satan (the accuser) is condemned for his accusations
-The Accuser condemns us and accuses us for our sins. And yes, we are guilty before God because of our sins, but we have been redeemed by Christ's blood. Guilt makes us feel dirty (and we are) and we cannot change our own "clothes." Jesus came and redeemed us and changes our clothes and purifies us if we are in Him.
-Revelation 7:14 -- "They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
d. What Jesus said to Peter (John 21:2-19)
-Peter had to have been nervous about seeing Jesus again after he denied Him three times!
-Christ asked Peter three times if he loved Him; it could seem that each time/question--in essence--was to refute each denial.
-Christ speaks peace and He seeks to restore us just as He restored Peter to Himself. He tells us our sins have not disqualified us from usefulness. Even though Peter denied his Master, Jesus showed him that He still had great plans to use him for the furtherance of the Gospel. God uses us in spite of our sinfulness and failures!
-Those He loves, He breaks and restores. He always breaks those He is going to truly use. First there is brokenness and then there is restoration.
-But why does God let us fail in the first place? Wouldn't it seem that He would be more glorified if He kept us from sinning? By no means!!! Being broken by our sin is necessary! God lets us fail to show us our need for Him. He shows us that we cannot save ourselves or even earn our way to Heaven. God shows us our need for a Savior so that He can show us how much He has done for us.
Isn't that crazy??? I was just so encouraged by that! =)
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