Can I Out-sin God’s Grace? (Manasseh)

Forgotten Heroes of the Faith part 7

 

Text: II Chronicles 33:1-20 (NASB)

 

Intro:

·        Can we sin so much that God will not forgive us?

·        The unfashionable-ness of repentance in today’s world

 

I.  Manasseh’s story

  1. Manasseh’s sin (vv. 1-9)
  2. God’s response: punishment (vv. 10-11) [nose ring]
  3. Manasseh’s repentance (vv. 12-13)
  4. A changed man (vv. 14-18)

 

II.  Implications from Manasseh’s life

  1. God takes sin very seriously; it will be punished.

1.  Contrary to the attitudes of our times

    1. God is loving, so He won’t really punish sin—wrong!
    2. God is understanding, and He winks at sin—wrong!

2.  Sometimes it seems like the wicked get away with evil, but there will be a day of reckoning.

3.  II Pet. 3:9  (God is patient, not wishing for any to perish—the Jews had been warned, Manasseh included. God could’ve destroyed him immediately)

à Jonathan Edwards—“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (God is withholding His wrath—He is merciful)

  1. You and I may not be as bad as Manasseh, but we are still sinful.

1.  God doesn’t grade on a curve—all have sinned (Rom. 3:23)

à We may seem better than Manasseh, but we are still sinners and stand condemned (we are either guilty or not guilty; it matters not if we are less guilty than others)

2.  Parable of the river—Max Lucado (based on Rom. 1-3)[1]

    1. One brother was a hedonist (Rom 1:18-32)
    2. Another brother was a fault-finding judgmentalist (Rom. 2:1-11)
    3. A third brother was a works-based legalist (Rom. 2:17-3:20)
    4. The fourth brother knew he needed a savior (Rom. 3:21-25)
  1. God accepts sincere repentance. You can’t be too far from God to turn to Him.

1.  You can’t out-sin God’s grace

    1. Some people think they have sinned too much for God to forgive them, but it’s not true
    2. Manasseh is an example of one who was about as bad as possible, and God forgave him
    3. Paul presents himself as another such example—I Tim 1:15 (Jesus came to save sinners, and Paul calls himself the foremost)
    4. Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)
    5. John Newton—author of Amazing Grace

2.  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” (I John 1:9)

a.       Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee & the publican (Luke 18:9-14)

b.      Jesus paid our sin for us!

 

  1. God is a God of 2nd chances (grace).

1.      II Chron. 7:14 God promises healing and restoration if His people will humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from sin. He is eager and waiting

à Reading through the OT gives a sense that God will punish sin, but even more, He is always quick to hold out the offer for a second chance for those who will turn to Him (ex. from book of Jeremiah—even up to the very end, God offered a way out of the Exile)

2.      That’s what’s so amazing about grace—we don’t deserve it, but God gives us the second chance anyway

a.       Many writers speak of the scandal of grace. It means that grace cost nothing to the recipients, but it cost everything for the giver (Yancey, p. 59).

b.  Grace distinguishes Christianity from all other religions.

i.         John MacArthur—Regarding salvation, “there are only two religions the world has ever known”[2]—Christianity, where God did the work, and religion of human achievement, were man does the work.

ii.       John Stott—“No other system, ideology, or religion proclaims a free forgiveness and a new life to those who have done nothing to deserve it but deserve judgment instead.”[3]

c.       “Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more, and grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us less,” (Yancey).[4]

d.      3rd verse of “It Is Well with My Soul”: “My sin—O, the bliss of this glorious though, My sin—not in part but the whole, Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”[5]

e.       It is because of this truth that we can sing with another hymn writer, “Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that will pardon and cleanse within, Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin!”[6]

 

Conclusions

  1. You can never be too far away from God.
  2. It’s better not to go far from Him, though.
  3. By the same token, be humble in your righteousness (beware self-righteous pride).

 

 


[1] Lucado, Max. In the Grip of Grace. pp. 1-13.

[2] MacArthur, John. The New Testament Commentary of Romans. p. 199.

[3] Stott, John. Romans: God’s Good News for the World. p. 112.

[4] Yancey, Philip. What’s So Amazing About Grace? p. 62.

[5] Spafford, Horatio G. “It Is Well with My Soul.”

[6] Johnston, Julia H. “Grace Greater than our Sin.”

 

 

 

 

© 2003 by Jeffrey Westbrook

 

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