“Come now, and let us debate your case,”

Says the Lord,

“Though your sins are as scarlet,

They shall become as white as snow;

Though they are red like crimson,

They shall be like wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient,

You will eat the best of the land;

20 But if you refuse and rebel,

You will be devoured by the sword.”

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken

Isaiah 1:18-20

The only way for believers to succeed and live a good life is to live according to God’s will without sinning. We need righteousness for our families, businesses, and relationships to thrive. In fact, we need the presence of righteousness for any aspect of our lives to succeed whether that be physical, spiritual, present-day, or eternal. A life void of righteousness… That is, a life void of God and doing His will, is destined for failure, insurmountable woes, and anguish. Do you want to succeed and thrive? A family infused with righteousness will never fall to ruin. A business or career grounded in righteousness will never flounder. Righteousness is the key to everything. Do you want to be happy and successful? Seek nothing but righteousness. 

As righteousness is the key to our well-being, sin causes our destruction and downfall. Sin refers to anything you do that is “off the mark” regarding what God wants you to do. You can be off the mark in how you treat God, your family, your job, your relationships… Anything you do that is crooked in God’s eyes is a sin! Think about your relationship to God, your family, your partner, your family members, your neighbors, your country, your material goods… Are all these relationships on the straight and narrow in God’s eyes? If we have sin in any part of our lives, it will bring us down. It blocks all the good things and blessings God wants to give us. 

God chastises us when we sin. He disciplines the one He loves. It’s not a curse. We’re not damned to eternal hell. It’s God’s way of putting us back on track. It’s God’s way of helping us fix what is crooked. God knows that we will never be happy, that we will never succeed or thrive if we have sin percolating in our lives. 

We know that sin causes destruction. We know we’ll never succeed with sin in our lives. But where do we start? For all of us, there is that one sin or bad thing we know we are doing. It’s obvious. Our conscience reminds us of it. We feel it in our bones. “This is wrong” or “I could do better” or most importantly, “God does not look favorably on this.” Repent that one sin first. Repenting this sin introduces us to the next big sin and so on and so on. If we adopt this systematic approach to repenting, we can be free of sin. 

Now, is it better to repent a sin before or after God disciplines us? By all means, it’s better to repent before God chastises us. We have a limited about of time and energy on this earth. Do you want to spend your precious time and energy fighting to survive God’s curses? How many people do you see around you who spend so much of their time and resources fighting off what is clearly God’s chastisement? Yes, if we repent the reason for His discipline, God lifts His punishment, but wouldn’t it be better to repent sins even before the discipline is handed? Too often, when we are hit with hardships and what appears to be God’s discipline, we don’t look to repent our sins but focus on the agent giving us hardship. We need to stop that. 

To be clear, we need to be righteous to enjoy a good life. Righteousness, living according to God’s will, must be a part and parcel of our lives in every aspect. Without righteousness, there’s no hope for a good life. And we must be free of sin. Look for sin in your life and repent before God feels the need to chastise us and set us on the right path. Understanding the importance of righteousness and sin and the roles they play in our lives is key to living a fruitful life. 

Click for Korean sermon. https://soundcloud.com/yhpaik/1981-8-26-full-mixdown

Click for English reading https://youtu.be/lHp-_XRu73g