We’re going over the Westminster Confession on Wednesday nights and we talked about Chapter 6 last night. It’s titled “Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and the Punishment thereof” and can be found in its entirety here.

Part five of this chapter says “This corruption of nature, during this life, does remain in those that are regenerated; and although it be, through Christ, pardoned, and mortified; yet both itself, and all the motions thereof, are truly and properly sin.” Which when boiled down means that Christians sin. Now I know that’s not exactly revolutionary to most of you, but it is to some.
I once heard a preacher say that he never sinned after having become a believer. No one believed him, probably not even himself. Many Christians think that “if only x would become a Christian then he would be a better person” or they talk about the sins of homosexuals or people who drink while glibly ignoring their own.
It does me good to remember that “we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil”. Now that doesn’t mean a couple of things. It doesn’t mean that we’re all Charlie Mansons. We’re not as bad as we could be. It also doesn’t mean that we aren’t able to do anything “good” or make this world in some way a “better” place. It does mean that even in doing those things our motives are at best suspect. It reminds me that I can’t, even as a Christian, do anything good apart from God and that I need a redeemer. Of course that depends on your measuring stick. As a Christian (albeit a struggling one) I have to use God’s against my own life.
These things are certainly hard for people who don’t “believe” to swallow. Heck it’s hard for me to swallow because it sticks in my craw. I’d love to believe that when I help my neighbor that my reasons were 100% pure as the driven snow. But they aren’t. If you’re reading this and you’re saying to yourself “I don’t feel bad about myself.” or “Christianity is all about the guilt trip.” I’m not trying to make you feel guilty. I’m not talking about you. Any Christian that tries to play that is forgetting the message. If you think you’re okay then I can’t change that. Heck maybe you are. Christ didn’t come for the well, he came for the sick. I’m sick. Pray that God will help me to remember that and that he will continue to keep me mindful of it. Not so that I can wallow in self pity or regret but so that I may be grateful for the grace I have shown and the life I’ve been given. So that I can repent and restore the relationship I have with the people who are hurt by my sin.