Why Live in Shame? (Luke 22:31-34)
Gary McManus, 05/31/2015Part of the New Life series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
May 31, 2015
Nature vs. nurture?
Bible says it is sin vs. redemption.
Saved from sin on two levels:
--past
--future
Still, believers deal with regret and shame.
There are a number of Bible verses that say
the Lord will keep us from shame.
(See Psalm 25:2, 31:1, 31:17, 71:1, 119:31.
See also Psalm 35:4, Romans 9:33, 10:11, 1 Peter 2:6.)
Regret and shame are two different experiences
and two different words.
Regret is kind of the appreciation that we did the
wrong thing. SHAME seems to believe that there
is something WRONG with us and in us.
Beating ourselves up about something—that is the
area of SHAME.
There are followers of Jesus overwhelmed by shame.
[The scripture today highlights a source of Peter’s shame.
But Jesus came to Peter later. ]
Shame often keeps believers FROM the Lord.
Shame often keeps people from church.
The issue is (in large part) one of identity.
We do sin but we are NOT sin.
There is a difference.
All sins ARE forgiven. Through Jesus Christ we are
made God’s children, inheritors of the Kingdom
It is a pure gift of Jesus Christ.
We claim this in our statements of faith repeated
week after week in worship:
Romans 1:1-6, 8:14-16, 2 Corinthians 5:17,19,
Ephesians 2:4-8, 17-19, Colossians 1:11, 13-14.
We want to REFOCUS. Focus MORE on God
and less on our sin(s).
Many times we need to doubt our power to mess
things up and believe in God’s work in us a lot more.
Let’s not say the Lord CAN’t do something with us.
That is NOT what the Bible says. Remember Peter’s
brave words. And Jesus eventually brought them
to fulfillment!
Amen.
Earlier: | Same day: | Later: |
---|---|---|
« The Coming Power of the Holy Spirit | None | Knowing God is Pleasing to God » |