Sea Change - James 2:10

 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. - James 2:10

    The most self-aggrandizing words often come from the most sinful mouths. We have all heard the pretentious claims of someone who routinely transgresses against God’s word. While they are quick to ignore God’s commandments, they are even quicker to disparage others who don’t share their personal ideals about morality. Thoroughly convinced they occupy the moral high ground, they are first in line to pick over the laws they like and discard those they don’t. Newsflash: we don’t get to choose! And the Bible is perfectly clear regarding those who try. “Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.” - Romans 1:28-29.
    These persons can mechanically point out their own pious acts and world view. They declare their love for others that includes everyone. And they steadfastly refuse to judge anyone, except those they vehemently disagree with. However, the true test is whether or not God sees their false piety as a blessed trait or merely the cloyingly sweet frosting of human sinfulness.
    Toleration and encouragement are well and good as long as we don’t tolerate and encourage blatant sinfulness. We certainly cannot condone or support a deadly game of spiritual Russian roulette as a sign of our universal love for anyone! “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So watch yourselves.” - Luke 17:1-3.
    Even the worst of humanity, through God’s common grace, do good from time to time. It doesn’t mean they are good. Even Hitler fed his dog, a good and righteous thing to do, but the one kindly act doesn’t change our view of this genocidal maniac or his sins. God’s justice demands that sin is condemned and punished, especially among those who carry on in sin throughout their lives and to their deaths. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” - 2 Corinthians 5:10. Everything we do will be judged; the good and the bad.
    A ‘sea change’ is required of us. Since we are sinners in the eyes of God we must either repent of those sins or die in them. Besides being sorry for our behavior, repenting also implies that we alter our behavior. It is not enough to simply say, “I’m sorry,” then simply fall back into our lives of debauchery. We must change our thoughts, words, and actions if we are to truly repent!  But it exacerbates and worsens our guilt before God when we point out that small handful of righteous things we do in lieu of our inexhaustive sinfulness. God has spoken and He observes what we think, say, and do. We cannot hide from Him. “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” Psalm 139:7-8.
    Suggesting that the laws of God don’t apply to us is the same as saying the laws of nature don’t apply to us. Death, both physical and spiritual, await us either way. But all is not lost while we still breathe. There is now time for each of us to come to Christ in both word and deed. To suggest that even one sin will be ignored or overlooked is to declare that God is not righteous. We need the forgiveness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ! The atonement of the cross awaits all who will call on His holy name . . . and believe.
    “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” - Romans 10:9-10.