{"id":7071,"date":"2024-03-03T04:26:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-03T04:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=7071"},"modified":"2026-10-02T01:32:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T01:32:26","slug":"lessons-on-sin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/?p=7071","title":{"rendered":"LESSONS ON SIN"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During Lent, we have permission to drop the fa\u00e7ade of perfection – this pretense that we have our stuff together. The season of Lent is all about fostering an awareness of our sin, our need to repent, our need for forgiveness.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

Once we have given our lives to Christ, temptation and sin do not automatically disappear. Sin does not just roll over and die. In fact, we are called into battle with our own sinfulness. Recall that sin is anything which misses the mark of God\u2019s perfection, His holiness, His love. As Christ\u2019s spiritual brothers and sisters, we are called to imitate Christ. To crucify ourselves. To serve God and to serve each other in humility.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

In the 13th chapter of John, just after Jesus has set Himself as an example to His followers by washing the disciples\u2019 feet, we find foreshadowing of two of those same disciples who are about to fall into serious sin.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

Judas\u2019 sin will be betrayal. Peter\u2019s will be denial. Both come to regret their decisions. Both feel shame. Judas to the point of despair.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

God willing, neither you nor I will ever be guilty of such serious sins, but especially during Lent, it is a good idea to look closely at what was at the core of each sin and how they differed. Judas and Peter stand as examples to us, urging us to protect our own selves against even the hint of either betrayal or denial.<\/p>\n\n\n

Lessons about Sin: (If these things are true about such heinous sins as Betrayal and Denial, they are true for our more common sins.)<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n\n
  1. Jesus is not caught off guard by our sins \u2013 He anticipates them.<\/b> He even knows the timeline and details of Peter\u2019s three denials.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n
  2. Jesus is not angered by our sins as much as he is saddened<\/b>. When speaking of Judas\u2019 upcoming betrayal, Jesus is \u201ctroubled\u201d in spirit. It is a word meaning agitated or stirred up. Jesus is more distressed than angry. He\u2019s pained, not enraged. Heavyhearted rather than furious.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n
  3. Jesus stands ready to forgive<\/b>. Even after thrice denying even knowing Jesus on the very night Jesus has been arrested, Peter finds Jesus ready to restore him to proper fellowship, forgiving him of his failing. How gracious!\u00a0 Peter had known instinctively that his own life was in danger because He understood that Jesus\u2019 life was in danger. He knew which way the wind was blowing and he had decided to save his own life. Still, he ends up forgiven.<\/li>\n\n\n
  4. Jesus doesn\u2019t shut the door on forgiveness \u2026 but we might<\/b>. The question must be asked, \u201cCould Judas have received forgiveness if he had asked for it?\u201d I think there\u2019s every reason to believe the answer is yes. After all, this is the same Jesus who prayed from the cross, \u201cFather, forgive them for they know not what they do.\u201d The Pharisees and all those directly involved in Jesus\u2019 crucifixion were guilty of far greater sin than betrayal, right? Furthermore, Jesus specifically taught that there was only one unforgiveable sin: blaspheming the Holy Spirit. As bad as Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was, it in no way qualifies as blaspheming the Spirit.<\/li>\n\n<\/ol>\n\n\n

    No, the only reason Judas went unforgiven was because he himself closed and locked the door from the inside.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    During Lent, we have permission to drop the fa\u00e7ade of perfection – this pretense that we have our stuff together. The season of Lent is all about fostering an awareness of our sin, our need to repent, our need for forgiveness.\u00a0 Once we have given our lives to Christ, temptation and sin do not automatically […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7071"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7072,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7071\/revisions\/7072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevegrossblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}