Two Kinds of Sinners
When some people realize that they are sinners they get all defensive and try to make all kinds of excuses about why they had to do or think bad things. They will try to blame their sins on other people. They look at other people’s sins and think, “I’m not THAT bad!” They feel pretty good about themselves. Jesus calls those people self-righteous. They think they are better than other people. They might even read their Bible and go to church. They might do all kinds of good things hoping to impress God and make Him happy. But that is NOT what makes God happy. Those are the people who will go to hell.
Then there are the kind of sinners who feel so bad about their sins that it devastates them. They think they are the worst of sinners because God has shown them what is really inside their hearts. They feel really bad about themselves and believe they are worse than other people. They are very sorry for their sins and they repent every day and ask God to have mercy on them and forgive their sins. These people do not try to impress God or try to make Him happy because they know that no matter how hard they try, they will fail every time. Instead they put their trust in Jesus who did everything right. This is the only thing that makes God happy.
See what Jesus says about the two kinds of sinners:
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Luke 18:9-14 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Pharisee and the tax collector were both sinners. But one was very sorry for his sin and the other was not. He thought he was better than everyone else. Which kind of sinner are you?
If you are the kind of sinner who feels better than other people and who makes all kinds of excuses for your behavior and tries to justify everything you do, you are in big trouble. You are like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day and you will not be saved unless God changes your heart and helps you to see just how bad you really are. You need to ask God every day to change your heart and reveal your sins to you. Then when he does change your heart, when he shows you what a big sinner you are, REJOICE!
Rejoice because you know the Holy Spirit is working in you.
Rejoice because you can confess your sins to God and be forgiven and go to heaven when you die.
Rejoice because Jesus has already lived the perfect life in your place and he died to pay the penalty for your sins.
IT”S OUTRAGEOUS!
IT”S SCANDALOUS!
IT’S…GRACE.
BEWARE: There are some people out there who will tell you that all you need to do to be saved is say a prayer and accept Jesus in your heart. That is not true. It is not about us accepting Jesus. Jesus is the one who reaches out to us and changes our hearts to make us love him. When he does that, he makes us very sorry for our sins, and when we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, then we are justified before God. Justified means that it is just as though we had never sinned. But even better than that—it is just like we did everything right. We are not saved because of something we do. We are saved by grace. If you do not know if you are saved, then pray every single day that God will change your heart and reveal your sins to you. Ask him for his mercy and grace. He makes this promise to you: “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” If you ask for mercy and ask for grace, he will give it to you and you will be saved.
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