The Importance of Being Sensitive to Sin
By Chap Bettis

What characterizes a passionate, growing, maturing Christian? The answer to that question is important because how you answer reveals goals you have for yourselves. Is it long amounts of Bible study or prayer? What about viewing God as owner of your money and being a generous giver, over and above a tithe? What about fasting. All these things are good disciplines in our Christian walk But all of them can be in vain. And all of them can be true of Pharisaic Christians.

I would suggest to you that there is another, more basic, quality of a growing Christian, a characteristic that you know to be true from experience. A growing Christian, a passionate Christian, a maturing Christian is sensitive to sin.

This message has implications for our own growth and for the spiritual growth of the children we raise. Second generation Christians face different issues than those converted as adults. It is easy for them to be insensitive to sin. In these verses Jesus lays out for us two types of people and God’s response to them.

Luke 18:9-14

9 And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:

10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

11 "The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: "God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

12 "I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.'

13 "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me, the sinner!'

14 "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

A Pharisee: Insensitive to His Sin

The Pharisee’s life is characterized by insensitivity to his sin. Whether talking about this man or one of us, here is a truism. A Pharisee will not be aware of his sin. Let’s look at where that insensitivity to sin came from.

First, he had a wrong view of himself. Look first at how a Pharisee views himself. And notice that this really can apply to any of us. Verses 17:22 and 18:1 make it clear that Jesus is addressing a crowd of disciples, Pharisees and common people. What is his wrong view? V.9 – He is confident of his own righteousness. He has a very high view of himself. After all, v.11 and 12 show that he was a pretty good person. He didn’t hurt others and he performed religious duties above and beyond the call of God. Nowhere does the word of God command twice a week fasting or giving of tithes of your herbs. Yet the Pharisee was so careful in his living that he went beyond the commands of some Scriptures .

Both ancient and modern Pharisees have a wrong view of themselves. They think of themselves as pretty righteous people. Their hearts are filled with pride at how good of people they are.

Second, he had a wrong view of others. His view of himself and his sin influences his view of others. How did he view others? V. 9 and v. 11. He held them in contempt. Look at that so called prayer. “Thank you God that I am not like this man.” No doubt, the tax collector could hear him. If your heart is filled with pride at how righteous of a person you are, then to lift yourself up you must put other people down. That is exactly what this man does. A Pharisee, while practicing the law to the nth degree, looks around with contempt on those who do not.

A similar theme is covered in James 4:11-12. When we speak against our brother we are judging him. And when we judge our brother we are setting ourselves up to be on the same plane as Jesus, the judge. A Pharisee has no problem judging others with contempt.

Third, he had a wrong view of God. Notice his prayer, if you can call it that. It is not a prayer to God. It is prayer about himself, to himself. There is no request of God. There is no interaction with God. Even though he goes right up to the middle of the temple. Even though he’s looking around at others to see who is watching. Remember that was a characteristic of the Pharisees – they prayed in public for all to see. What is true of his wrong view of God? He approaches God on the basis of his righteousness. He had a wrong view of sin. Sin for Pharisee was purely outward. What were the characteristics of his righteousness? 1.I have done no harm. 2.I have done extra religious duties. There is no examination of the heart. A Pharisee was not in touch with his sin.

Yet his Scriptures, the OT, have these verses. Proverbs 30:12 – There is one who is pure in his own eyes and yet is not washed of his filthiness. Hab 2:4 As for the proud one – his soul is not right within him. Micah 6:8 – I have shown thee on man what is good and what does the Lord require of thee but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. These and many other verses of the OT address the heart.

Phariseeism can creep into the church. Why? Because pride is in every human heart. Pride was the original sin. We can slowly start to think pretty well of ourselves. Someone who blunders every once in a while, sure. Someone who burps when he shouldn’t or uses the wrong fork at dinner, sure. But sins? Rebels? No. Not like other people in my church. Not like the people in the world. And so we may say we are sinners but if asked to share the latest temptation we have faced, we scramble for an answer. We are not sensitive to our sin.

Phariseeism can come out with how we deal with others as brothers and sisters or even how we deal with our children. I enjoy the story told by Tedd Tripp about how we as parents can lash out at our children’s sinfulness. “How can they be so selfish?” we wonder. Yet he relates the story of fixing two cups of ice cream for he and his wife. As he is taking the cups up the stairs he carefully studies them to see which one has the most ice cream. That cup he will take for himself. The other he will offer to his wife. Then he catches himself. Is this not selfishness? How can he do this to the woman who has washed his socks and underwear for 25 years? Humorous? Yes. True of us too? Yes.

Are we the perfect ones who disciple the immature in how to live. Or are we one sinner helping another sinner, daily forgiven by our gracious Savior.

The Tax Collector: Sensitive to Sin

Let’s look now at the Tax Collector. Obviously, Jesus meant for him to be our example. The tax collector was sensitive to his sin. Where did that sensitivity come from?

First he had a right view of himself. “God be merciful to me, a sinner.” The tax collector was at the temple to do business with God. Here is a man mourning his own sin. He would not even come into the temple, perhaps standing under the porch or in the court of women. His eyes are downcast out of shame. And he prays a short, not very eloquent prayer. Here is a humbled man. Here is a broken man. Here is a contrite man. Here is a man who is so sensitive to his own sin that he cannot look up to God. For this man, it is him and God. And he is the sinner.

As we grow and become more mature and more holy we become more aware of our sin, not less. As we see the depth of our depravity, we understand more and more God’s continuing grace to us. That’s why the most godly saint is also the most aware of his sin. Paul said the same thing I am the worst of sinners (1 Tim 1:13-16)

Second, he had a right view of others. What verse points that out? None. He doesn’t have a view of others. He’s not looking around to see who’s watching him. It’s him and God. Pharisees look around. Tax collectors look down. As we grow and become more mature we become more concerned about what God thinks about us and less concerned about what others think about us. We become more concerned about our own walk with God and less concerned about judging others..

Third, he had a right view of God. First, notice his repentance does lead him back to God. He doesn’t let his sinfulness keep him from God. A lie of the evil one is that we have sinned so greatly that we cannot approach God. We wrongly think that the road back to God is too far. That is not true. The tax collector knows correctly that God wants him back.

But notice how he does approach God. “God be merciful to me, the sinner.” He comes humbly. He comes asking for mercy. Merciful here is probably not the best word. This is not the common NT word for mercy. He’s not asking God to be compassionate or have pity. Those are the roots of the usual words for mercy. This word is unusual. Literally it is God be propitiated toward me. This is the same term used for Christ’s work on the cross. Jesus propitiated God’s wrath.

What does propitiation mean? To appease wrath based on a blood sacrifice. From the days of Adam, man has instinctively understood that our sins rightly invoke God’s wrath. Payments of sacrifice are part of that appeasing. Probably this tax collector had brought a sin offering to the temple. And now, still knowing he doesn’t deserve it, he asks God to look on that offering and be propitiated toward him. “May your wrath be removed.” He rightly understood that his sin was so horrible as to demand God’s wrath.

We know today that Jesus’ death just a few weeks after he told this story was the final propitiation. It was the final sacrifice for our sins. As we gain a more truthful view of how holy and righteous and just God is, we will come to appreciate what the work of Jesus on the cross means to us. That work is important not just in our salvation but in our ongoing cleansing.

We’ve seen how Pharisee exalts himself and is not sensitive to his sin. The tax collector is aware of his sin in approaching God. How does God respond? Most of the time we don’t know. We will not know until the Judgment Day. In this case, we do know because Jesus tells us.

God’s Response to Each

God forgave the sins of the tax collector and rejected the Pharisee. (v. 14) God’s response? Seeing the contrite heart and the sacrifice he forgives the many sins of the tax collector. Seeing the proud heart, the Pharisee leaves the service just as he came, out of step with God.

Why? V.14b gives the law of the kingdom. This law is pretty important. It shows up in Mt 23:12, Luke 14:11, James 4:10 and 1 Peter 5:6. It is like the law of gravity. Accept it to your benefit. Ignore it to your detriment. Ready? Here’s the law of the kingdom that you can bank on. If you lift yourself you will be brought low. If you bring yourself low, you will be lifted up. Let’s apply that to the context of this story. If you think of yourself highly in regards to sin, God is going to bring you low, either in this life or at the judgment seat. If you think of yourself lowly in regards to sin, God will lift you up in this life and the one to come. Stated another way, if you are not sensitive to your sin, God will bring you low. If you are sensitive to your sin, repenting, renouncing and mourning over it, you will be lifted up in God’s eyes.

Application

You may be an unbelieving Pharisee. You’ve never come to Christ. Why? Because you think you are a pretty good person. In fact surveys reveal that most people think they are going to heaven. When asked why, they respond, “Because I’m a pretty good person. I never killed anyone. I gave to charity.” Sounds just like the Pharisee. A lot of people would not think of themselves as Pharisees but they are. They are trusting in their on righteousness. Are you one of them? You need to renounce your sin today and come and ask Jesus to be your Savior. God will save you if you will come to him like the tax collector and not like the Pharisee. You will go home right with God today.

Or you may be a believing Pharisee. The sins of the Pharisee are really typical sins of the human heart. Pride. Self-righteousness. Comparing ourselves to others. Contempt for others. A tendency to concentrate on the outside while ignoring the inside. A coldness or hardness to our own sinfulness. If that has been true of you, renounce it and confess it to the Lord Jesus today. He will receive you back. He longs to have you back, but it must be on his terms of humility. Search your hearts for the weeds of pride and self righteousness. Do you want a prayer that God will answer every time? “Lord, show me my sin.” If you cultivate a regular prayer of asking God to show you your sin. He will.

Another application for this passage is in our parenting. Are we raising Pharisees or tax collectors? Raising second generation Christians, we need to make sure that one of our goals is that they will be sensitive to sin. It is easy to concentrate on the externals. But if the heart isn’t right, the externals really don’t matter. And children – some of you may decide to be a Christian on the outside while you are dirty on the inside. Jesus did not have very kind words for that type of person. If you are not feeling very spiritual you can tell your parents. If you are not feeling very godly, you can tell your parents. But don’t ever, ever play the Christian game because this very passage says it is not pleasing to the Lord.

Come to Jesus as your propitiation today, tomorrow and for the rest of your life. Come as a tax collector sensitive to your own sin.

Questions for further reflection:

What are the sins of Phariseeism presented here?

What efforts can we make to pull these weeds?

Have there been times you were insensitive to sin? What were you like?

Why does God need to be propitiated?

How did the tax collector humble himself or lower himself?

How practically can we stay sensitive to our own sin?

How practically can we raise children sensitive to God and sensitive to sin?

© 2001 by Chap Bettis

If you have any questions, comments or observations, please call Chapman Bettis at 401 727-2367 or John Riley at 401-453-5550 or email at johnr@cornerstoneri.com