Vindication at the Altar

Michiana Covenant Presbyterian Church

The way of discipleship - the way of Jesus - is the way of integrity - the pursuit of holiness.--There is a tendency today to say -Hey, don't worry about it, man, we're all sinners- We all make mistakes----Have you ever noticed that the Bible never talks like that-- Hebrews 12 - which we read a couple weeks ago - says -lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees- -see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God...- -strive for the holiness without which no one will see God.---God never says -don't worry about your sin- - he says -repent- of your sin---There is an equal tendency today to pretend that everything is fine - when it's not. We don't want to admit that we have problems. Well, maybe problems, sure - but not sin- But it is only when we admit that we have a sin problem that we can repent of that sin and become innocent. --Our culture says that our problem is that we feel guilty and we need to get over it. God says that our problem is that we are guilty and we need to repent of it- And if we repent of it - if we actually turn away from our sin - then we can begin to walk in integrity.--In other words, everything we saw last time in Psalm 25 sets us up for Psalm 26. At the end of Psalm 25 - after repenting of his sin - -pardon my sin, for it is great- -v11- - David says -may integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you- -v21-.--In other words, you cannot sing Psalm 26 - you cannot ask God to vindicate you - unless you have first sung Psalm 25 - and turned away from your sin...