Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Do you ever talk about sin with your friends or your family?

If you do, how do you talk about sin? Do you minimize it (“That sin isn’t so bad.”)?

Do you deny it (“How can it be sin if it seems so good to me?”)?

Or do you press into it (“Why does that sin seem so good to you?” and “What does God say about that sin?”)?

It seems common in our day for sin to be denied and even embraced.

Adultery is an affair.

Sexual immorality is cohabitation or sleeping around or just what young people do.

Drunkenness is alcoholism.

Greed is ambition.

We prioritize self-care and productivity without realizing we’ve crossed the line into selfishness and pride.

There is a sense in which our culture is no different than any other since Genesis 3. Adam and Eve blamed their sin on others and tried to cover it up right from the beginning.

But each culture has its own peculiar expressions of sin.

Sin is a universal problem, and the Bible speaks directly to the matter.

In fact, the Bible speaks so honestly and so insightfully about sin that we can often be surprised by how well the Bible seems to know us.

We have arrived now near the end of the Apostles’ Creed.

Today we’re focusing on “the forgiveness of sins,” so we are going to talk a lot about sin, and we’re also going to talk about the forgiveness that is offered to sinners like us in and through Christ.

In just a moment, we will start from a psalm which affirms this forgiveness is a reality for those who look to God for it… But let me first give a little background to the psalm itself.

Psalm 130 is a Psalm of ascent.

There are 15 Psalms categorized in this way, Psalms 120-134.

These Psalms would traditionally be sung by Israelites who were traveling to Zion or Jerusalem to worship on a major religious day in the year.

It is no surprise, then, that the Psalms of ascent are full of confession and hope.

The New Testament Church is not the same as the Old Testament nation-state of Israel, but these Psalms of ascent do reflect the same sort of hopeful approach toward God that New Testament Christians can make today.

Just like Israel of old, we too are sinners; and just like Israel of old, we know that our hope for “steadfast love” and “plentiful redemption” is only in the LORD (v7).

In order for us to feel a better sense of this today, I’m going to include the phrase “the people of God” each time the word “Israel” shows up in verses 7 and 8. Again, this Psalm of ascent was originally for Israel, but Israel (as the Old Testament people of God) was always meant to be a foreshadowing of Christ and His New Testament people.

If you have questions about this, then let’s get together and talk about it, but I’m going to leave the introduction at that.

Let’s stand together as I read Psalm 130:1-8.

Scripture Reading

Psalm 130:1–8 (ESV)

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! 2 O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

7 O [people of God], hope in the LORD!

For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.

8 And he will redeem [His people] from all [their] iniquities.

Main Idea:

We believe the forgiveness of sins comes from God to all those who repent and believe in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Sermon

1.

What is Sin?

We believe in the forgiveness of sins.

And it is necessary that we begin by defining what sin is.

Both the Westminster Shorter and Keach’s Baptist catechism (based on the 1689 London Confession) define sin in the same way: “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.”[1]

This definition comes from the Bible itself which says a whole lot about sin.

The Bible uses various words as synonyms for sin.

One of those words is “trespass” (Rom.

5:20), which means to overstep a boundary.

It is as though God has established the fence-lines around what is morally good, and sin is when we step outside of the fenced area.

Another synonym (a lot like “trespass”) is “transgression” (Heb.

2:2), which emphasizes the legal and the positive aspects of sin.

Now, when I say positive here, I’m not saying sin is good.

Rather I’m referring to the positive or active way in which we all sin, positively or actively doing what God forbids or prohibits.

When we think of God’s law, what comes to our minds is probably the Ten Commandments.

Most of us can at least name a few of them… and if you can, then you might notice that the Ten Commandments are largely negative laws: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex.

20:3); “You shall not make for yourself a carved image” (Ex.

20:4); “You shall not murder” (Ex.

20:13); “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex.

20:14).

A transgression, then, is positively or actively doing one or more of these things God has forbidden.

If we give our ultimate love or gratitude or trust to someone or something other than God… if we create some sort of image in order to depict God… if we unjustly take the life of another person, or if we are unfaithful in our marriage… then we transgress God’s law… we sin.

But just as we can sin actively, so too, we can sin passively or by neglect.

We often sin by not doing what God commands, and the Bible calls this “disobedience” (Heb.

2:2; cf.

James 4:17).

When we know what is right, and we do not do it, then we disobey God’s law.

When we know God’s ethical standard, and we fail to meet it, then we are disobedient.

When we read or hear God’s command, and we do not submit to and obey it, then we sin.

Friends, defining sin this way probably makes us all feel pretty guilty, and that’s because we are guilty.

Sin is not just a mistake or an accident; sin is a conscious decision to go past the line God has drawn or to stop short of it.

Anyone who has children knows what transgressions and disobedience look like.

You tell your child to stop yelling, to stop running, or to stop using that tone of voice, but he doesn’t stop… he transgresses your laws.

You tell your child to make her bed, to clean his room, or to brush her teeth, but she doesn’t do it… she disobeys your laws.

In our case, though, in the case of humanity and God’s law, sin is not just a violation of laws that are good and right, sin is cosmic treason.

Our transgressions step over those boundaries which were made by the Creator of the universe!

Our disobedience shows a disregard for God’s teaching, His commands, and His rules.

And, friends, this is no small transgression or disobedience.

There certainly are varying degrees of consequences for our sins in this life, but any and every sin deserves nothing short of God’s justice… and it is coming for us.

The Scripture says, “Let no one deceive you with empty words… the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Eph.

5:6).

And again, “We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice [sin].

Do you suppose… that you will escape the judgment of God? …because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

He will render each one according to his works…” (Rom.

2:2-6).

This is the place Psalm 130 begins!

It is “out of the depths” the psalmist “cries” to God (v1).

And the cry he makes is a “plea for mercy” (v2) because he knows that “If… [the] LORD should mark iniquities,” no one “could stand” (v3).

Friends, this is where we must begin as well!

We need to try to understand, as much as we are able, the depth of our situation.

Before we run to some shallow excuse (“Everyone sins!”) or some vague idea of forgiveness (“God forgives!”),

we need to let the weight of our sin bear down on us a bit… otherwise we won’t be able to understand or appreciate the solution offered in the Bible to sinners like us.

If God “marks” our “iniquities,” if God counts our sins against us, then we are undone.

When the Old Testament prophet Isaiah saw a glimpse of God’s holiness in the temple, he cried out a curse upon himself.

He said, “Woe is me!

For I am lost” (Is.

6:5).

When Moses came near to a display of God’s presence (in a burning bush), Moses “hid his face” and “was afraid to look” (Ex.

3:6).

When God’s presence came near to the disciples who walked with Jesus, “they fell on their faces and were terrified” (Matt.

17:6)… and all because they were sinners.

Friends, one day very soon, we shall all stand in the presence of the holy God, and we shall all be fully exposed.

Our sin – every wicked thought, every transgressive word, and every disobedient deed – will be revealed for what it was and is, and God’s holiness will demand justice.

What we need is not some 12-step-plan to do better; what we need is forgiveness… and, praise God, He gives it!

2. Forgiveness from God

We believe the forgiveness of sins comes from God.

The psalmist says, “If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?