What can bring about sorrow over sin that believers need to be motivated to do better in areas of love, worship, and service? Here are six points from the message "Godly Sorrow Over Sin" preached this past Wednesday. Get a copy and listen to the whole message.
1. Remember what we were and where God has brought us. If we are blessed with salvation, we need to consider how all of it is by God's grace and based totally on the righteousness of Christ with no consideration of our character and conduct as to the ground of receiving this salvation.
2. Consider what we still are and how God keeps us in his favor and fellowship, preserves us and entitles us to all of salvation. Even at our best, we still fall short of God's standard. Consider our thoughts, our lack of love EVEN NOW, and yet God still loves us continually. God still blesses us with all spiritual blessings in Christ, based on His righteousness alone!
3. Consider what it took for Christ to accomplish our salvation and to establish a righteousness that would secure us and entitle us to all of salvation. Consider that He did all of this (obeyed, suffered, died) for enemies, those who were the least deserving of all creatures. And then consider how far He condescended to do this.
4. Consider the liberty and freedom we have now that we did not have before. We ought to be so grateful that we can now serve God acceptably without any legalism. We need to know that when we disobey God it displeases Him, and when we obey God it pleases Him. In false religion all we could produce was fruit unto death. How diligent were we in such fruit unto death? How diligent are we now to bring forth fruit unto God?
5. Consider how our love and obedience is such an encouragement to our brethren. For example, in our worship services, consider the one who has prepared the message. Consider the brethren who come to worship and see that there are so few who are diligent in worship and service. Our fellowship in worship is one of the ways that we serve one another and express our love to God and to our brethren.
6. Consider that all the means God has given us and commanded us to attend to are for our good, our joy, our peace, our growth. These are things appointed of God OUT OF HIS WISDOM AND GOODNESS for our good and our growth in grace and in knowledge. We should count it an honor and a privilege to attend to these things, not a burden or something we do if we have the time. These things should be our life, not our sideline.