I Knew I Was a Sinner. What Was I Supposed to Do about That?
Author: Chuck King
November 15, 2024
I knew enough to respect the Bible, even if I didn’t actually read the Bible. Oh sure, through Sunday school I knew stories, Psalm 23, and... well, that’s probably it. But I knew that the Bible was God’s Word, and I understood that it was authoritative.
I knew God hears prayer, even the rhyming prayers we said in our family: “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food,” “Now I lay me down to sleep...” I don’t recall ever asking God anything. But I knew that God hears.
So when, as a teenager attending the evening service at another church in town, I heard “If I regard sin in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18, KJV), I was deeply troubled. I heard this bad news, and somehow missed the Good News. (I assume it was in the same sermon.) What was I to do? Of course, I knew I was a sinner. What was I supposed to do about that? How could God ever hear me if sin was at the core of my being?
And to whom could I talk about this? My friends at this church assumed I was a Christian. Fat chance I’d talk to my parents about it (as if they didn’t already know I was a sinner)! We were not Catholic, so going to a priest wasn’t an option. I walked through months with this existential dilemma, kept up appearances, and participated in the youth group at this gospel-preaching church.
Our youth group used discipleship materials that took us through the Bible, one passage each day, with three questions to answer: what does the passage say? what does the passage mean? what does the passage mean to me? In the fall of 1970 we began reading 1 John, and in a few days we came to 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (KJV). That morning I finally understood the gospel, I knew to whom I could confess my sin, and my life in Christ began in earnest. I was born again.
The following years included Bible school, marriage, higher education, work, children, and ministry. The Lord who reached me through His Word has kept me by that same Word. He has been faithful even when I haven’t been. His Word continues to speak to and guide me—often through a glass, dimly. God’s Word is how I get to know Jesus personally and better, until I meet Him face to face.
Chuck King is Music Director at New Covenant Church.
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