Welcome back to our James study. I'm Adam Casalino. I will be finishing up James, chapter four. 

Last week, Dustin took the look at the first part of this chapter. You'll remember the author rebuked the Church over the sin of worldliness. 

But he ended by writing this, in verse six, "But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'"

Grace is everything. By God's grace, we are saved. Grace is God's unearned favor, given to you freely through the finished work of Christ. Grace not only saved you, but it is by grace that you grow in your faith, producing fruit that brings glory to God.

You can't work for grace; you can only receive it by faith.

But notice James' warning. What stops us from receiving God's grace? An attitude that says, "I don't need God's forgiveness." Or, "I know better than God." Or again, "I can do this myself."

In other words, pride. James makes it very clear that God opposes, or is against, the proud.

The title for tonight's message is, Is God Against You? It is a challenge to look inward, to provoke you to pursue humility. But what does humility look like? James shows us in three ways: humility toward God, toward the brothers, and humility in your own life.

Let's face the facts; humility is an undervalued quality. The world looks down on the humble. They call them wimps and doormats. If you spend any time on social media (how dare you!) you'll find nothing but people eager for attention--doing whatever it takes to building a "following." The last thing they care about is being humble. 

But even in the Church, we seem to look down on humble people. We praise famous pastors or artists. We've created a culture that focuses on the loudest people in the room. But the humble? Who wants to be humble?

Some of you might not know that I attended Bible college, right out of high school. My goal was to become a full-time preacher/teacher. But, by the time I finished college, it was the last thing I wanted to do.

How could Bible college--the very place that was supposed to prepare me for ministry--end up turning me off from the whole thing? Well, it was because I had gotten sick and tired of seeing so many people fight and claw to build a name for themselves.

I didn't want to be part of a culture that worshiped men on a stage, instead of Christ. I was turned off from preaching, because I saw so much pride in preachers. Not least of all, in me.

But, God had a plan. And over the years that followed, he continued to teach me and refine my character. So today, I gladly teach, but can do so without seeking a name or notoriety.

Pride is an ugly sin. It can sprout up in unexpected places. You might be acting pridefully, but think you are doing the right thing. It's that insidious. But James helps us out. In tonight's text he goes into detail describing what true humility looks like.

And he begins where he should, humility before God.

Part 1: We show humility before God by repenting of our sins (vs. 7-10)

Verses seven through ten teach us this, you can write this down, we show humility before God by repenting of our sins.

Humility before God means repentance. I know what you might be thinking, “Adam, James doesn’t use the word repentance.” I know, but he describes what repentance looks like. Sincere repentance, meaning from the heart.

James tells us in verse seven, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

So, this is the first step in repentance, we submit God. Submission means we give ourselves, our lives, our plans, to God. We are saying to him, "I am wrong, you are right. I will obey you, in everything." Talk about humility.

Notice what James is implying here. You’re either submitted to God or submitted to the devil. Those are the only options. There’s no such thing as submitting to yourself.

Jesus said you can only serve one master, not two. Notice, you're going to be serving somebody! Somebody's going to be in charge of your life. Either God or the accuser. And I don't have to tell you which one's a better master.

There’s a good promise here. When we submit to God and resist the devil’s influence, the devil flees from us. You don’t have to rebuke the devil yourself. The devil’s not afraid of you. But do you know who is afraid of? You’re dad, God Almighty.

You might say, "Well, Adam. I've submitted to God, but it still feels like the devil's on my back." We still face trials as followers of Christ. We have a target on our back. Notice he wrote the devil will flee. He might be hounding you for now but, in time, he will be forced to flee.

The next verse, James gives us the next step in repentance. "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you."

This is the very heart of repentance. We turn from our sin, and turn to God. 

Notice what James is saying here: God is not far away. We don’t have to offer a sacrifice, hoping the smoke eventually reaches the Throne of God. When we pray, it’s not as if God is up there in heaven, hearing our echoing prayers. "Huh? What was that? Was someone praying down there?"

Superman analogy…

Jesus is near to us. We fellowship, close friendship, with our heavenly Father through Christ. There's nothing better than being close to God.

Jesus said it himself in Revelation:

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20) 

Paul in Athens… God is not far away. He promises to draw near to each one of us. Not just the pastors and “holy” among us.

I received Christ when I was fifteen years old. It was a dark time in my life. My family had recently moved to a new state. My older siblings had run off, into a world of drugs and rebellion. I had no friends, couldn't connect with anyone at my school.

But when I receive Jesus, he became the friend I really needed. All that loneliness, the feeling of being an outcast, was gone. It didn't matter that I wasn't popular or had hundreds of friends. Because God Almighty was a friend that was closer than a brother.

He drew near to me.

So now, James begins to get into the nitty-gritty of repentance. He ends verse eight with this peculiar command, "Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

What's this all about? James just said God will draw near to us. What does he mean by this?

A lot of what James writes in our passage sounds like a works-based relationship. If we do this, then God will do that. Submit, draw near, cleanse, and so on. That is not what he is saying. 

James is focusing on our response to God's free offer of grace. God forgives us, draws near to us, because of the finished work of Jesus on the Cross. We don't do anything to "earn" this grace. James is simply describing what we need to do in response to God's gift. We have it, now we need to do something with it.

So, do we have to wash ourselves before God can forgive us? No. This is what we do because we have God's forgiveness.

And this language he's using is meant to connect with his Jewish audience. They were familiar with sayings like this in Isaiah:

“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil.” (Isaiah 1:16) 

This "washing" language goes all the way back to the Law of Moses. The priests had to wash themselves before serving in the tabernacle. When the people prepared for a holiday, they were to wash their bodies and clothes.

The purpose of all this washing was to teach Israel how important it was to present themselves before God the right way. As clean, pure, obedient children. Not just clean bodies, but hearts full of faith.

Now, James isn't talking about literal washing, of course. He's using this familiar language to strike a cord with his audience--and us. If we repent of our sins, the next step is to "wash" ourselves of the things that once separated us from God. (This is something we do with God's help, not to earn God's help.)

God said this to Israel all the time. He told them to "put away" their sin, which we know took the form of idols.

When Jacob returned to Bethel to worship God, he told his family to put away their idols. Many years later, when Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land, he told them to put away their idols.

Even later, when Samuel was ruling--guess what he told the people to do? When they in trouble and needed God's help, he told them to... put away their idols.

See the pattern? If we are going to humble ourselves before God, asking him to forgive us, we can’t keep holding onto the very things that separated us from God. It doesn't work that way. Elijah rebuked the people wavering between God and Baal. Jesus said you can't serve two masters. If we are truly repentant, we will take steps to change our lives.

We first "cleanse our hands." This means, get rid of those physical things that are causing you to sin.

God forgives, unconditionally, because Jesus took the punishment for your sins on the Cross. Now, that you're forgiven, you do this.

Get rid of whatever it is that is creating an opportunity to sin. It might take the form of a relationship or a possession. Maybe a hobby. If TV is tempting you to sin... better to be rid of it than to keep stumbling.

James is being tough, but honest. If we say we follow Christ, then anything that leads us to sin needs to be eliminated.

Now, husbands, that doesn't mean to get rid of your wives! Your wife isn't leading you to sin. But something else might be leading you to sin against your wife. Get rid of it. Same goes for the wives in the room. You can't blame your husband for your sin. But is there something or someone leading you to sin against him? You need to get rid of it.

A note on relationships...

I did this when I first came to Christ. At the time, I was listening to a lot of unwholesome music. Secular music isn't in and of itself wrong. But this particular music had a bad influence on me.

So, when I receive Jesus, I knew what I had to do. I took all those CDs--back when we used CDs--and I smashed them up. I threw them away, because I didn't want something as stupid as music to cause me to sin.

But, truth be told, this is the easy part. It doesn't take much effort to recognize something external that is leading you to sin. James goes on to give us the sting of the scorpion, our hearts.

He writes, "purify your hearts, you double-minded." Now that we've dealt with the outer stuff that tempts us to sin, we need to look inward. What's in our hearts that is leading us to sin?

We've read about double-mindedness before. James used that to describe doubt, in chapter one. Here, he's using this term--double-minded--to describe a sinful state of mind. 

A double-minded person is someone who wants to obey God, but they are holding onto a thought or idea that is encouraging them to sin.

One of the reasons you still struggle with a sin issue (and we all do) is because there is a lingering attitude in your heart that is justifying the sin.

You might say, "Hey, my job is stressful! I need to get drunk to blow off some steam." Or, "My wife gets on my nerves. It's okay if I bad mouth her to the boys." Or how about this, "My husband isn't listening to me like he should. I know its wrong, but this other man is my shoulder to cry on."

See what I mean? It's very dangerous justifying sin in your heart. To purify your heart is to get rid of those lies that make sin sound okay. 

The world is very good at providing lies to justify sin. And if you're not careful, you can easily take the bait. Ever heard of this, "Love is love!" This is how the world justifies sexual immorality and homosexuality. Obviously, they're not talking about love at all.

The lies we learned growing up...

The remedy to these lies is God's word. Purifying our hearts means to replace those lies with the truth. It takes time and careful examination of the word and our hearts. But we don't do this process alone. The Lord is active in exposing what we believe that is wrong.

And, of course, our church was wonderful Biblical counselors who are trained to help you as well. That ministry is geared toward guiding you through the word, so you recognize those lies and grow.

James is not done coming down hard on sin. Do we really intend to humble ourselves before God? Then we need to do this.

James writes in verse nine, "Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom."

Woah. When was the last time you heard a preacher say something like that? The modern American church skips over passages like this. Most preachers are only concerned with puffing up your self-esteem.

But the truth is, we need to mourn over our sin. When we become aware that we've done wrong, we need to take is seriously.

You see, proud people ignore God's call to repentance. But is everyone is going to mourn over their sin. You can either mourn now or mourn later... on the Day of Judgement. Trust me, it's better to do it now.

But how does this look? What does it mean to weep and mourn over your sin? Well, sometimes it means just what James said. We should get upset when God exposes our sin.

This is life and death stuff, folks. Eternity hangs in the balance. If we have an attitude that ignores sin in our lives... are we really even saved?

Even born again Christians stumble. It's part of the process of sanctification. When we recognize a sin pattern in our lives, there is only one true response: we mourn.

Mourning doesn't always take the form of literal weeping. But it always means having a serious, sober attitude over our sin. We should hate our sin. We should hate the fact that we broke God's word.

Someone who is humble before God will, at times, mourn and weep over what they've done wrong. In the Old Testament, they went to great lengths to show their remorse. They would tear their clothes in grief and put on sackcloth, which is like rough burlap, and cover their heads with ashes. In Nineveh, even the king did this and commanded everyone else to do the same.

That is the level of seriousness we need to have.

I remember a good friend of mine from college. Growing up, his father was a sinful, reckless man. He cheated on his wife, even had a child with other women. But, when my friend was a teenager, his father received Christ.

You better believe he mourned. Not only did he repent to God, but sought forgiveness from his wife, who was a believer, and from his children, whom he also sinned against. By the time I met the man, I would have never known he used to cheat and neglect this family.

That is what true mourning produces. He became so sick of his sin, so sorrowful, that it compelled him to seek God's forgiveness and the forgiveness of his family.

James, thankfully, doesn't leave us in mourning. In verse ten he offers us this promise, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you."

Hallelujah! We are not supposed to mourn and weep forever. Yes, when we confess our sins, we need to have real remorse. But, as the apostle tells us, when we humble ourselves God will exalts us.

We're not supposed to stay "down in the dumps" forever. God forgives our sins, wiping the slate clean. Our sins are banished, forever gone. 

God promises in Hebrews just how complete our forgiveness is:

“For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:12) 

God is no longer remembering your sins. You don't have to wallow in self-pity because of your shortcomings. Once God forgives you, its over. The sin is gone.

In fact, the word James uses here, exalt, implies "being raised to honor." God is going to raise us to honor when we humble ourselves.

Do we deserve that? Of course not. But God does it, because Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins on the Cross. Because of Jesus, God cleanses us of our shame and gives us eternal life.

This honor includes everything good God gives us, his love, truth, wisdom, and peace. Everything we need in this life and the one to come.

Yes, God opposes the proud. But when we humble ourselves, he shows us grace and he lifts us up.

Part 2: We show humility toward the brothers by not speaking evil of them (vs. 11, 12)

So, we looked at how we humble ourselves before God. We repent of our sins. Next, James turns his attention to how we show humility toward our brothers and sisters in Christ.

You can write this down as point two: we show humility toward the brothers by not speaking evil of them.

If God is showing us abundant grace, than it is only right that we show the same grace to those around us. And that is especially true for our fellow Christians.

James writes in verses eleven and twelve, "Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?"

This is a pretty important text, but it can easily be confused or distorted. And, for some, totally overlooked. So, I'm going to take some time to explain what James is talking about.

Let's first define what it means to judge.

Is there a more loaded word in our vocabulary than "judge"? How many times have you heard people say, "You can't judge me!"

We know that the word says, "Judge not, lest you be judge." But Jesus also said, "Judge the righteous judgment." So, what do we do?

To judge means to decide. To form an opinion of something or someone. Think of it as slapping a label on something. This is good or bad. This is true or false.

As discerning students of the word, we need to make plenty of judgments.

To judge righteously means to use the word of God to separate truth from lies. To identify sin as sin, even when the world says otherwise. There will be plenty of times when we need to do this. Sometimes, that means we judge something as good or true. But other times, we need to say, "This is wrong" or "This is a lie."

Everyone with me on that? What I just described is righteous judgment. Calling out lies or sinful behaviors. The goal in this kind of judgment is to help someone to see the error of their ways.

But what is James talking about? Notice, he defines sinful judgment as "speaking evil" against a brother. He's not talking about confronting sin, but slapping a label on a person. Labeling them in some evil way. In other words, slander.

Just a quick note on confronting sin. The Bible warns us that it is shameful to even talk about what sinful people do in secret. I would warn you not to wade into controversies that do not directly affect you. Little good comes from that. If you are quick to talk about or stick your nose in other people's sin (especially people you don't know), you might end up getting entangled in that very sin yourself.

Evil judgment, as James describes it, can take the form of conflict within the local church. It always boggles my mind at how quickly Christians can turn on each other.

I've been going to church all my life. And regardless of what church I went to, what denomination I was a part of, the same pattern occurs. People get upset about something a pastor or fellow member says or does. And they suddenly adopt a self-righteous attitude. For some reason, there is no room for grace or forgiveness.

They seem to think that, because they are upset or offended, they can throw out everything Christ said about loving the brethren.

The sad truth is, we blatantly disobey God when we stir conflict like this. If you have a problem between yourself and another believer or if you have some concern over what your pastor said, you know what you are to do. You are to humbly discuss it with that person, working in love to reach reconciliation.

No good comes from slandering a brother, talking dirty about them, even if you think you are right.

This is true even beyond the local church. Now, there are many people out there in the world who call themselves Christians. We know not all of them are. There are even pastors and speakers who claim to be teaching the truth. But some of them are spreading lies.

What are we supposed to do about that? James says we are not to speak evil about the brethren. That includes pastors or teachers you don't agree with.

Some of you may have in the past gone on social media or in some other way slandered or talked evil about a well-known pastor, denomination, or group of Christians. That was wrong.

It doesn't matter if they did something you didn't like or agree with. James makes it very clear. When you judge them (label them as bad or condemn them) you taking the place of God.

The world is watching. And they don't understand why a Christian, who claims to love everybody, is saying such horrible things about another Christian.

They'll conclude, "Christians are a bunch of hypocrites! They can't even get along with each other!" Peter even warns us that the way of truth is blasphemed when we sin before the world.

Now, I know some of you will probably disagree with me on this. "Shouldn't we call out false teachers?" you might ask. "These people are spreading lies, deceiving many. We must call them for what they are!"

Remember the distinctions we just made. Righteous judgment requires us to identify truth from lies. To recognize sin as sin. But it does not include slander, condemnation, or evil attacks against a person.

Now, when you are tempted to say something against a Christian, ask yourself this, "Am I in a position to actually help that person?" You see, Jesus and the apostles at times called out people who were wrong. But they often did that to their faces, in the hopes that they'd repent.

The apostles never slandered anyone. Even Paul, when he confronted Peter over something he did wrong, didn't insult or attack the man. He simply called out the hypocrisy. In his letters to Timothy, Paul mentions several men and the wrongs they committed. These were people he knew personally and had tried to win over. But when they refused, Paul wrote directly to Timothy, warning him that these men opposed their ministry.

You'll never seen anyone in the New Testament publicly slandering a fellow believer. In the book of Acts, when the controversy over Gentile believers erupted, Luke never mentions the names of the men who were spreading lies.

When the apostles warned about false teachers in the epistles, letters written publicly to the churches, they never named names.

Listen, it's very tempting to go online and blast someone you don't like. Especially if you are convinced they are teaching lies or sinning. But unless you are in a position to help them, you need to stay silent.

Again, we are talking about humility. What's more humble, going to a friend and lovingly urging them to repent or criticizing someone online you don't know, because you disagree with them?

If we truly intend to be humble followers of Christ, we need to examine our motives in this area. Remember, James told us to purify our hearts. A double-minded person says they love the brothers and then goes on to attack some of them.

My friends in our small group know there is a well-known American pastor that I don't agree with. Whenever his name pops up in discussions, we joke about that. Truth be told, I strongly disagree with some of the things he teaches. And if I were to mention his name, some of you would probably take his side!

But I'm not going to mention his name. Because, even though I disagree with some of what he teaches, he is still a brother in Christ. I don't have to agree with him. I don't have to support his ministry. But I will not judge him. Christ is his--and my--judge.

James has no bones about telling it like it is. You are not the lawgiver. Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, is. We are obligated to obey God's word, not to be the one who judges others by it.

Notice what the apostle writes in verse twelve, there is only one who can save or destroy. One day, Christ will return in great power and glory. And every unbeliever, including false teachers, will face his wrath. On that day, all your criticisms online will not be needed.

Now, here's the kicker. If I haven't offended all of you yet, I probably will now. James invokes the commandment we are breaking when we judge the brothers. He writes, "who are you to judge your neighbor?"

What Bible verse is he referring to here? "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Ah! It's not really love when we speak evil about someone, is it? We are not loving someone when we condemn them, labeling them a false teacher or liar or whatever.

But here's the rub. Who are our neighbors? Not just believers, right? In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus made it very clear that we are to consider everyone our neighbors. So, what James is writing here doesn't just apply to Christians, does it?

I'll let you simmer on that for a while. All angry emails can be sent to pastortony@vbvf... Just kidding.

A truly humble person does not stand in judgment against someone else. Especially not the brethren. Our attitude should be one of love for each other. But to slander, to speak evil, is the opposite of grace.

Part 3. We show humility in our own lives by trusting God's will (vs. 13-17)

Some of y'all might be mad at me at this point, but we must continue. After covering humility toward God and humility toward the brothers, James goes on to describe humility in our own lives.

Point one was we are humble before God when we repent of our sins. Point two was we show humility toward the brothers by not speaking evil of them. And this is our third point, write this down if are taking notes, we show humility in our own lives by trusting God's will.

In verse thirteen of chapter four James writes, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit.'"

James is speaking in the voice of his audience. Jesus used this style of teaching too. It is a way of illustrating an attitude someone might have. 

James is not condemning anyone for making plans, but focusing on the prideful mindset behind this kind of statement.

Notice what he writes next in verse fourteen, "Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."

Our Iron Men know this verse very well, since it was our theme verse at last year's retreat. 

James, as he loves to do, is confronting our pride. He's very good at knocking us down a few pegs. As we've seen, James is no fan of the rich or anyone who is confident in themselves.

Wealth isn't the problem. It's the idea that your security comes from your wealth or station in life. 

You see, your earthly advantages can fool you. They can might convince your that you can do whatever you want, because of what you have.

You might think, "I have the money and business connections, so I'll travel to El Paso, work there for a while, land a few deals, and come back with a truckload of cash."

Not so fast! James reminds us that, regardless of what you have to your advantage, you are just a vapor. Doesn't matter if you're rich, super-smart, athletic, have all the connections in the world. One day, you and I will end up six feet underground.

James is not condemning using your skills or resources. He is condemning putting your trust in those things. It's what Paul calls "putting confidence in the flesh."

The flesh is defined in the Bible as not just your body, but your entire earthly nature and attributes, including wealth and accomplishments.

In this world, people seem to think that, if they plan properly, they will never fail. We all heard people say things like "You can achieve your dreams!"

But for every actor who wins an Oscar, there are thousands of actors who never achieved their dreams. Almost everything necessary for your plans to come true depends on circumstances beyond your control.

Think about it this way. Let's say there is a young man in our midst who is about to graduate high school. Oh, he's got some big plans for his life. First, he's going to graduate and get accepted into the very best medical school.

Then, he is going to finish in eight years, becoming a surgeon. He's going to work in the best hospital, gaining a coveted residency. From there, he's going to innovate his field, get written up in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Then, he's going to get married to a beautiful woman, start his own practice, buy a home, and have lots of kids.

Sounds great, right? Is it wrong for someone to make these kinds of plans? No. But can one person make sure all of that is going to happen? Of course, not. Every step of that plan might be ruined, due to circumstances out of this kid's control.

He might flunk his final exams. He might not get into medical school. Or, he might struggle to keep up in college. He might not even have the skills to be a surgeon.

There is way too much out of our control in life, not least of which is the fact we are a mist that is soon to fade.

Does that mean we should give up? Make no plans? Of course not. James provides us with the right attitude in verse fifteen, "Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'"

This is humility, once again. We are not putting trust in ourselves, but God. 

Notice, James teaches us that we should make plans. We should make use of our life on this earth. When you get up each day, plan to get done what you need to get done. 

When we say, "If the Lord wills..." we are placing those plans into God's hands. We are acknowledging that God is in control of our lives.

Many in the world believe life is left to chance. That's not true. Unbelievers might not have hope, but we can be confident about what happens in our life. But why? There is an important principle about life that is clearly established in God's word.

James must have been thinking about this when he wrote these verses. Want to know what it is? I don't know if y'all are ready for this. Okay, here it is.

“The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.” (Proverbs 16:1) 

What does this mean? It means our lives are not left to chance. We have the right and responsibility to make plans. But you don't have the power to decide if those plans actually happen.

The "answer of the tongue" comes from the Lord. That's another way of saying God "has the final say" in what happens in your life.

We might not understand why bad things happen. But the Bible makes it clear that God is in control. God is the one who can make us prosper and succeed. Not our wealth, our skills, our intelligence, or our connections.

Our response is to make plans, humbly trusting in God for the outcome. Not everything we want in life will happen. But, our God is a good and gracious God. A God who loves us, protects us, provides for us, gave us his Son, and put his Spirit into us. 

So, we can be confident that everything that does happen is part of his plan.

James warns us what happens when we reject this wisdom, in verse sixteen. "As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil." 

To make plans, without acknowledging God's will, is just plain arrogant. You are boasting in your own power. You assume you are the master of your destiny.

That's what the world thinks. But the world is wrong. God is the master of our destiny. All we need to do is humbly trust his will.

Conclusion:

Let's go over again what James has taught us, tonight. God is calling us to be humble. We show humility before God by repenting of our sins. We show humility to our brothers by not speaking evil of them. And we show humility in our personal lives by trusting God's will.

There's one last verse we will look at tonight. James wraps up this section by writing, "So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin."

James is saying, "I told you what you need to know. You can't unknow it. So, get going." To neglect God's instructions in these areas is sin.

Sin isn't simply doing something bad. That's not the full scope of it. The Greek word implies a "missing of the mark." 

God has a standard that every one of us is obligated to live up to. To fail to meet that standard is sin. That includes doing something he doesn't want us to do or neglecting to do what he does want us to do.

This isn't to make us panic in fear. But, as I urged you to do at the start of the message, this is meant to make us look inward. God opposes the proud. Now we know what humility looks like. 

So, if you find yourself in the wrong in any of these ways, what should you do? As we saw tonight, we repent and ask God to forgive us.

But why should we be confident that God will forgive us, even after all the wrong we've done?

Because 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ gave his life for you. He suffered on the Cross in your place so you can be forgiven of your sins. He rose to life and is seated right now beside the Father, offering you eternal life.

He is the source of God's grace. He is the one providing us with everything we need.

If you've never asked God to forgive you of your sins, now is the time. As the word says, if you draw near to God, asking him to forgive you, he will draw near to you.

And for the believers in here tonight, never forget: we are standing in God's grace. We will continue to screw up, continue to fall short. But we can grow and thrive because of his undeserving favor. 

So, let us embrace humility, rejoicing in God's grace, and make sure we are showing that same grace to others.

Let's pray.