I don’t like bugs too much. I never have, even when I was a young boy. All my friends liked bugs, but I didn’t. I’m not overly squeamish with them, but I just don’t like them. And so when I have to kill the occasional spider in my house, it isn’t traumatic, but it certainly isn’t fun either. We’ve also had a plague of flies in our house as well, and plague is not an exaggeration. Apparently a rat had died within our walls and so maggots had taken over the corpse, which eventually led to the infestation of flies. So to see maggots drop onto our kitchen table as we were eating was certainly not too thrilling.
All this to say, I don’t like bugs. And when I see them, if they invade my private space, they must be eliminated. They will be eliminated either by my shoe, or by Raid, or by an exterminator. But generally speaking, bugs don’t do too much damage. Yes, mosquitoes can carry the malaria virus. Yes, bugs can sting and bite. But generally, they look for a rock to climb under or a log to run into. But they’re relatively harmless. But there are bugs that can kill, bacteria and viruses. You can’t see them with the naked eye. We don’t worry much about them because they aren’t visible to us. But most bacteria and viruses are far more dangerous than any visible bug. And so, when we see a spider that is busy living the life God has given it, we run for cover as though Godzilla was attacking. But regarding bacteria and viruses, we live without any worry.
And in this way, bugs, both the visible and invisible bugs, are like sin. We often zero in on the ‘visible bugs’ of sin deeming them to be the most deadly to our spiritual lives. And even though these visible sins can wreak havoc on the soul, just like a bee sting can kill a person, our singular focus of combating sin and living the life of faith is often on these visible sins. These sins are sins such as adultery, murder, clear idolatry, etc. There are even secondary visible sins such as anger, greed, coarse joking that are also quite visible. We deal with these sins because they are so outwardly evil. But there are so many invisible sins, sins that are so subtle that we at first seem to be harmless, but like the invisible bacteria, can compromise the whole spiritual life of a person.
The Hebrews writer says: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Heb 3:12-13) Hebrews 12:1 adds: “Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us” (NIV). In essence, sin is frequently deceptively invisible.
If we focus solely on guarding our hearts from adultery and murder and idolatry, we risk underestimating the deceptiveness of sin. Sin entangles and hardens not by being outwardly disgusting, but by being cunningly seductive. Sin feels far too nice, too sweet, too pleasant, and too pleasurable to be outwardly disgusting. So when our spouses fail to love us, to show us appreciation, to care for us as they should, it feels really good to condemn, to respond with the silent treatment, to yell, to hold over their heads past faults. When a car suddenly cuts you off the road, it feels gratifying to drive right up next to the car and curse and mutter, “Learn how to drive,” only to find the next time we do exactly the same to another we are quick to ask and even demand grace! When a waitress is gruff and uncouth to you at a restaurant, we are quick to run to Yelp to write a blistering review about the terrible service we received. When you are eyeing an expensive gadget or luxury that is beyond your budget, you purchase it because you long to see the looks on everyone’s faces as you show off your new toy/accessory/car/clothing.
And there is one sin that seems to continually, but invisibly, crop up in our hearts, the sin of self-righteousness. The greatest problem with self-righteousness is its invisible quality. It is the food-stuck-in-the-teeth problem. Everyone else can see it, but the self-righteous person is blind to it. Every example I listed is one that believes the self is right and the other is wrong. When this person is wronged, he responds with such vitriol and unforgiveness. But when he is the committer of wrongs, he is quick to defend himself, to blameshift, to respond with reciprocal criticisms. Proverbs calls such people ‘fools’:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Prov 1:7)
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” (Prov 12:15)
“A fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.” (Prov 15:5)
“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.” (Prov 18:2)
“Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.” (Prov 23:9)
“Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.” (Prov 26:4)
“Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.” (Prov 28:26)
“If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.” (Prov 29:9)
“Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” (Prov 29:20)
Fools focus on the visible sins, but fail to recognize the invisible ones in their own lives. While it is true that the ugly visible sins are deadly, but rarely does a person murder another without the invisible sins first having ravaged the soul. The angry driver is also the angry husband who is also the mean-spirited father who can be the cold-blooded killer. The man who has an affair has had eyes that stared lustily at the woman crossing the street, while condemning the famous pastor who was caught with a prostitute. Jesus talks about these invisible sins this way:
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:21-27)
So is there any hope for such a person? I hope so because there is not a person alive who is free from the invisible attacks of these deadly viral sins. The answer is found only in the Gospel alone. Paul writes in Romans 5:20-21: “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Paul also wrote:
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:7-11)
Here are the components to freedom according to these texts:
1. Recognize the full weight, breadth, and depth of your own sin.
Paul has spent the first three chapters of Romans trying to pound this home. Sin is far worse than we will ever realize. J. C. Ryle noted that when we get to heaven, we will see that our sin was so much worse than we ever could have imagined. We will shirk in horror over just how truly wretched we really were. In this way, we will suddenly realize that we have continuously thought of ourselves far too highly. We will have made too much of ourselves.
2. Sin increases.
This saddens me. I hate sin. But I don’t hate it enough. I still like sin, hence I sin. And sadly, as sin increases, my will power is not enough to combat every sin. When cancer is in its final stages, radiation and chemo can kill some of the cancer cells but it can’t eradicate cancer. The increase of the cells outweigh any treatment possible. Likewise, my will power, though it can succeed occasionally, it will never eradicate the power and rule of sin in my life.
3. Grace increases more than sin.
This overwhelms me. To think that there is something that infinitely exceeds the power of sin in my life is too wonderful for me to fathom. And according to Paul, this is called grace.
4. Grace is costly and free.
Grace was given at a price. It is given to us freely, but it cost God’s beloved and precious Son. It cost Him a price that again we will never fully grasp, we can only imagine. I have a feeling we will never truly understand. Who can understand the oppressive guilt and weight of every saved sinner’s sins. When I hurt my wife from my own self-centeredness, and there is a tension between us, I feel knots in the pit of my stomach. I feel miserable that I would hurt someone whom I cherish. I couldn’t imagine Jesus bearing my self-centeredness with all of the guilt and pain and struggle in that moment. And I couldn’t imagine multiplying that by every time I sin, and every time ever saved sinner has sinned throughout history! This is what God’s beloved Son bore for us on the cross. Jesus truly became a curse for us (Gal 3:13).
5. Grace through Christ’s cross frees us from the power of sin.
Because Jesus bore the penalty and consequences of our sin, because He was crucified for us, we are free from the power of sin. The “body of sin [is] brought to nothing.” Paul Tripp notes: “Only love for Christ has the power to incapacitate the sturdy love for self that is the bane of every sinner, and only the grace of Christ has the power to produce that love.” If we don’t experience this freedom, it is not because God has not done enough, it is not because He has failed to hear our prayers, it is because we believe that His cross is not sufficient to free us from sin, and it is because we believe we are not as guilty and sinful as Scripture makes us out to be, and it is because we are still mired in our self-righteousness. As Proverbs notes, we are still living in the state of a fool.
If we are stuck here, we need to go back to point one and deeply search our hearts. Without a real awareness of the fullness of our sinfulness, sin will abound more and we will fail to see God’s grace.
6. We are alive in Christ.
Notice Paul doesn’t merely say we are alive. We are alive IN CHRIST. We bear His righteousness before a holy God. We are His children! Sinclair Ferguson writes:
No short-cut that tries to bypass the patient unfolding of the true character of God, and our relationship to him as his children, can ever succeed in providing long-term spiritual therapy.
But the knowledge that the Father has bestowed his love on us, so that we are called children of God - and in fact are his children (1 John 3:1-2), will, over time, prove to be the solvent in which our fears, mistrust, and suspicion of God - as well as our sense of distance from him - will eventually dissolve.”
An adopted child rescued from terrible circumstances, usually wants to go back to see what they were rescued from. And when they return and see the filth of an orphanage, the sense of abandonment and rejection in such a place, they are even more thankful that someone should show such grace to such a person. And from this response is a joy unspeakable for his rescuer. The more we understand the depth of sin, the more we appreciate and are overawed by grace, the more we will live every moment of life ALIVE. We will enjoy life. We will make the most of every opportunity. We will give thanks and worship to such a great Savior.
If you do not have this joy, don’t focus on the few sins you commit each day. Focus on the terrible sins you commit far too frequently. Look then to the Savior who bore the brunt of those sins. And fall and worship your King and see how great grace is and how wonderful it is to be alive in Christ! Thank God for the power of the cross to squash those killer, invisible bugs of sin.
