Do you wrestle with this question: “I accepted Jesus as my Savior, which makes me a Christian, but I still sin. Am I even a Christian? What should I do?”
If you have struggled with this conundrum, you are in the same camp as a lot of Christians. There are even people in the Bible who were in the same camp too- literally. Check out Exodus 32 in your Bible!
Recap: The nation of Israel (God’s people) were just rescued from being slaves in Egypt. God sent ten plagues on Egypt, split this giant lake in half for the people of Israel to walk through on dry land, destroyed the entire Egyptian army, and to top it off, sent Israel food from the sky every day to make sure they had enough to eat! The people of Israel set up their tents, making a big camp at the foot of a giant mountain. At this point, Moses (the nation of Israel’s chosen leader by the Lord) goes up the mountain to talk to God. This is where the story picks up.
Exodus 32:
1 When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron [Moses’ older brother.] “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”
2 So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” 6 The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.
Time out. These are the people of God! Israel! The people the Lord just rescued from slavery! And they are sinning against God. They are building other gods, and saying the statues saved them from Egypt. This is a big problem. But does this sound familiar? God saved us from our sins, we became Christians, but then we still mess up. Keep reading to see what happens.
7 The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
9 Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. 10 Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.”
Pause. You may think, “Wow God, that is pretty harsh! You just saved Israel, and now you are going to destroy them?” But remember, sin separates us from God. The punishment for disobeying God is death. Israel committed a crime against God. And Israel deserves to be punished. – This was true of Israel’s sin. This is still true of our sin too.
11 But Moses tried to pacify the Lord his God. “O Lord!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand? 12 Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people!13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’” 14 So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.
“Ok, what is going on now?” you may think. Moses, the leader of Israel, is standing in the gap. Israel and God are separated by the sin they did, and Moses is standing in between based on God’s promises He made long before.
This is the tricky part. You are probably thinking, “Ok, what does THAT have to do with me? Moses isn’t around anymore.” And that is a great point. Moses isn’t around anymore. But we have another leader who is. We have a different leader who prayed for us and stood in the gap. Jesus Christ.
Jesus stood in the gap for our sin. Though we deserved death for our sin, He prayed for us, saying “Father forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.” And not only did He pray for us, but He died for us. He took the punishment of death we deserved.
So what does this mean for us? Here are some key take aways.
1) THEM: When the nation of Israel made this statue fake god, they were already rescued from their slavery in Egypt. They are sinning after being rescued.
US: This relates to us because when we are Christians, we have been rescued from our slavery to sin. But we still sin after being rescued.
2) THEM: Moses was the leader of Israel, chosen by God. Moses lead the people of Israel out of slavery by God’s power.
US: Jesus is our leader, sent by God. Jesus lead us out of our slavery to sin through His own power, as He is God.
3) THEM: Israel deserves to be punished for their sin. The punishment for their sin is death.
US: We deserve to be punished for our sin. The punishment for sin is death.
4) THEM: Moses prays to God for mercy based on His promises.
US: Jesus extends mercy based on His being God and being the answer to His promises.
But here is where the story breaks down. Moses couldn’t pay the price for their sin. He could only ask God for mercy based on what he knew of God’s character. But our leader is Jesus- God Himself. Jesus not only prays for us, but He takes the punishment on Himself.
Coming full circle, let’s go back to the beginning questions.
Question: “I accepted Jesus as my Savior, which makes me a Christian, but I still sin. Am I even a Christian?”
Answer: Yes, you are still a Christian. Jesus Christ prayed for your forgiveness, and He paid the price for your sin. You sin was not just “forgotten about.” Your sin was punished. Jesus took your punishment.
Question: “What should I do?”
Answer: Repent. Repenting is asking God for forgiveness (based on Jesus Christ,) and turning away from the wrong you are doing.
Jesus Christ is our great Christian leader who prays for us and who paid the punishment of our sin. And in His own words,
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Comments