YOU ARE NOT THE PROBLEM

(By Zach Bunye)

• Have you ever asked yourself these questions:
  Am I a good Christian?
  Is God happy with me?
  Am I doing the right thing?
  Do I have enough faith?
  Am I righteous enough?
• Am I good enough? The answer is no! God’s standard is perfection.
• Pero dahil mahal na mahal tayo ng Diyos, He sent Jesus to live a perfect life for us to fulfill God’s laws and became a sacrifice for our sins!
• If you are a believer of Christ and have been born again, Galatians 2:20 says:
  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
• So we don’t need to stress if pasok tayo sa perfect standard ng Diyos. Because when God looks at us, He sees Jesus in us, not our flesh or works.
• So again, you are not the problem. Your spirit has been perfected by Jesus through His finished work at the cross.

1. Your sins are not the problem.

• Romans 8:1 – If you are in Christ, you cannot be condemned.
• We are no longer under the law; we are under grace. (Romans 6:14)
• Galatians 2:19 – We died to the law that we might live to God.
• Paul was not talking about physical death. He was saying when Jesus died on the cross, he also died. When Jesus rose, he also rose.
• Baptism is important – it is the public affirmation of what happened in the spirit.
  • Being submerged in the water signifies death.
  • Being raised from the water signifies a new life.
• When you are in Christ, you are born again, and the law does not apply to you anymore. You died to the law. You are now a citizen of heaven. You are a new creation with a new nature.
• Pag patay na, hindi na pwedeng kasuhan.
• But it doesn’t mean that grace is a license to sin. (Romans 6:1-4)
• Before we got born again, sin was our natural habitat. But now as a new creation, sin is poisonous for you. May bagong buhay ka na, hindi na bagay sa ‘yo ang magkasala!
• Hebrews 10:26-29 – Willful sin is the sin of not believing or rejecting Jesus Christ.
• We need to stop acting like Christians and start living like one. Example: Cultural Christians.
• If you are a Christian and the Holy Spirit is in you, He guides you. The Spirit teaches but does not condemn. Sometimes it feels like condemnation pero correction lang naman.
• It is important that we repent and turn to God.
• Repenting is simply saying: God my ways are wrong, and your ways are right.
• Repentance is for us. Affirming that God is right, and we are wrong.

2. Your faith is not the problem.

• If you are in Christ, the faith that you have is given to you by God.
• Romans 12 says God has given us the measure of faith.
• Hebrews 12:2 – looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
• In New American Standard Bible, it says the originator and perfector of our faith.
• You have the faith of Jesus! Same quantity and quality.
• It’s not your spirit that needs perfecting of faith but your soulish area – mind, will, emotions.
• Walang binigay na regalo ang Diyos na defective. Perfect ang mga gift ng Diyos. (James 1:17)
• So maaaring kulang pa sa knowledge or instructions ang gumagamit ng faith.

3. Your righteousness is not the problem.

• Righteousness is not a feeling but a matter of truth.
• Matthew 5:20 – This means we will never reach heaven without Jesus.
• The whole purpose of the Sermon on the Mount was to reveal to us that we are helpless in our sin, and we will never be righteous without Jesus.
• Without Jesus, even our good deeds are filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:4)
• But now that we are believers of Jesus, the righteousness that we have was given to us by Jesus. It’s not from our works, feelings, good intentions, or good deeds.
• Foreign righteousness – hindi galing sa ‘yo. May nagbigay sa ‘yo.
• 2 Corinthians 5:21 – We are the righteousness of God in Christ.
• The righteousness that we have is the same righteousness that Jesus has.
• Si Jesus mismo ang righteousness natin.
• 1 Corinthians 1:30 – He is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
• We have an assurance na hindi mawawala o mababawasan ang ating righteousness because Jesus is infinitely righteous. He is our righteousness. Our righteousness remains.

So what is the problem?

• Hosea 4:6 – My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
• The Hebrew word for knowledge is Yada, meaning “to know.”
• It is more than intellectual knowledge. It describes personal, relational knowledge.
• It’s the difference of just knowing about someone versus actually knowing someone.
• Yes, the majority of us know things about Jesus. You know things about Him pero hindi mo talaga Siya kilala personally.
• The good news is it is not difficult to know Him. The Bible is available to all of us now compared to old times.

Summary

• You are not the problem.
• Your sins are not the problem because in Christ, you cannot be condemned.
• Your faith is not the problem because the faith that you have is given to you by God. You have the faith of Jesus! Same quantity and quality.
• Your righteousness is not the problem because the righteousness that you have is the same righteousness that Jesus has. Jesus Himself is your righteousness!

So what is the problem?
People are destroyed from lack of knowledge. This is a personal, relational kind of knowledge.

• We need to start feeding on the Word of God to know more about God.
• We read the Word because He is the Word.
• Feed on the Word! Feast on the Word!
• The Word is food for our souls.
• Praise God we are fed the gospel, a buffet of the Word!
• The more you know about your righteousness in Christ Jesus, the more confident you will be, and Christian life will not be difficult. You will be easing through life.
• 2 Peter 1:2 – Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge (Yada) of God and of Jesus our Lord.