In the 1950’s and earlier in this country, if a teenage girl became pregnant, she would typically go somewhere else and live with her aunt until she had her baby. Then when she came back home, a lot of times the family would raise the baby as the young girl’s sister. I’m not saying that was right. I’m merely pointing out that unwed mothers used to be ashamed of being pregnant. Nowadays you might get your own TV show. It’s shameful how shameless we are.
In the same way years ago, some church going men would buy alcohol and put it in a brown paper sack because they didn’t want anyone to know that they were drinking. I used to attend a Sunday school class and when they had a get together outside of class, they typically served alcohol (no, my wife and I didn’t drink at these functions and we still don’t drink). Again, I’m not condoning the consumption of alcohol. I’m just pointing out that church going people used to be ashamed of it. They knew it was wrong.
Homosexuals used to be “in the closet.” In other words, they didn’t want anyone to know that they were gay. Nowadays everyone is loud and proud. Especially after Obama came out in support of same sex marriages last year and more recently after the Supreme Court ruling. Now it seems like gays are tripping over each other to get out of the closet. I am not homophobic. I love everyone, straight or gay. The point is, people used to be ashamed of their deviant lifestyle, but not anymore.
We could continue on down the list with adulterers, thieves and liars; but you get my point. People used to be ashamed of these things, but now people almost wear their sins like a badge of honor. I don’t watch any tawdry reality TV shows, but I’m sure on some of the shows, they are proud of their sins and they parade them out there for the whole world to see. Recently Martha Stewart admitted to sexting and having a one night stand. We don’t need to know this and she should be ashamed instead of bragging about it. When you turn on the news, it seems like humans are getting more and more wicked all the time.
But human beings have always been wicked since the fall of Adam and Eve. Romans 3:10-16 states: As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways.
No mere human being has ever been righteous. Only Jesus Christ was righteous and He was fully God and fully man. No human being has ever been good; not one of us. Our very best that we’ve ever done in our whole life is as a filthy rag to our Holy and righteous God (Isaiah 64:6). We are also swift to shed blood. You say, but I’ve never killed anyone. Have you ever been angry with someone without cause? Have you ever hated someone?
1 John 3:15 says Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer: and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. So again, have you ever hated someone? Of course you have. We are all guilty of hating someone else at one time or another. Again, God sees that as the same thing as murder, because God knows your heart and it is deceitful above all else; it is desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Lusting after someone is the same thing as committing adultery. Because God is Holy, He knows your heart. Sin starts in your thoughts and in your heart way before you ever act on your sin.
Then of course there is the issue of abortion. Abortion is murder. Not only is hate the same thing as murder, but obviously murder is murder. If you’ve ever had an abortion, you killed your innocent baby. If you have ever paid for an abortion or driven someone to an abortion clinic or forced or talked a woman into having an abortion, you too are guilty of murder. In fact the Bible says that God considers sacrificing children to be an abomination to Him (Deuteronomy 12:31). The shedding of innocent blood is also an abomination to almighty God (Proverbs 6:16-19). And remember, we all have to stand before Him one day (Acts 17:31).
People are shameless because they have no fear of God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Romans 3:18 states: There is no fear of God before their eyes. That’s why people aren’t ashamed of their sins; they don’t fear almighty God. Even after Adam and Eve sinned, they had enough sense to be ashamed! They hid themselves in the Garden of Eden! But we are in the last days, so maybe your heart is hardened. Maybe your conscience is seared over. Maybe you’ve gone so far away from God, that you no longer feel guilty over your sins.
But do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
If you are guilty of any of the sins mentioned earlier, then I have some even worse news for you. Again, we are all sinners and we deserve God’s punishment for those sins. He is Holy, righteous and just so the punishment for sin is eternal damnation (Isaiah 5:14). On Judgment Day, unrepentant sinners will be sentenced to Hell for all of eternity. This is very serious. This is really bad news if you are not a follower of Jesus Christ. There’s nothing you can do to save yourself. You cannot earn salvation.
But if your conscience is bothering you, don’t despair. There is Good News. In fact it’s great news. Jesus walked this earth 2,000 years ago. He did what you and I could never do. He lived a perfect, sinless life. Not only did Jesus never sin, He always perfectly did the will of God the Father. He willingly let the Roman soldier’s mock Him, beat him and nail Him to the cross. He hung there for six long hours. God’s wrath, His anger that we rightly deserve, was poured out on Jesus as He suffered on the cross. Jesus died, was buried and on the third day He rose from the grave.
God offers eternal life to those who turn away from their sins and put their trust in Jesus. When Jesus first started his earthly ministry, one of the first recorded things He said was “Repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). There is no other way of salvation. Only Jesus saves. Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead and you shall be saved (Romans 10:9-10).
Repent and put your faith in Jesus. Surrender your life completely to Him and God will forgive you for your sins, no matter how horrific they are. God can forgive you for all of your sins, even if you’ve aborted a child in the past. But you must turn away from your sins. You can’t claim Jesus as your Lord and Savior and live for the devil. Stop living for yourself, deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow Him. Then shamelessly tell others about your Savior.