What do you do when you sin as a justified sinner, saved by grace?
We can see the answer in Micah’s response to his and his people’s sin in Micah 7:8-10:
“Do not rejoice over me, my enemy;
When I fall, I will arise;
When I sit in darkness, The LORD will be a light to me.
I will bear the indignation of the LORD, Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my case
And executes justice for me.
He will bring me forth to the light;
I will see His righteousness.
Then she who is my enemy will see,
And shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?”
My eyes will see her;
Now she will be trampled down
Like mud in the streets.”
“I will bear the indignation of the Lord for I have sinned against Him.”
There was sin. There were consequences. They were deserved.
“When I sit in darkness,
The LORD will be a light to me.”
In the darkness God has wrought because of my sin, He is a light to me.
For the repentant sinner who wants to love God and not sin (Ps. 51:17), God can be a light, a help to us. Even in the judgement He brings about.
“Until He pleads my case
And executes justice for me.”
Amen. I have sinned, and the God I have sinned against pleads my case in His own court.
The consequences of my sin will last, I know not how long, but I wait knowing that He will plead my case and execute His perfect justice for me because of what Jesus did on the cross.
In His grace, He will deliver me from the darkness He has wrought because of my sin.
He will not deliver me from all the consequences of sin (2 Sam. 12:13-14), but He will deliver me from His displeasure in His timing (Micah 7:8-9) as we pray for Him to restore the joy of His salvation to us (Ps. 51:10-13).
Christ’s payment on our behalf secures not only salvation, but also secures Christ as our advocate always interceding for us when we sin (1 John 2:1, Hebrews 4:15-16).
God promised in His faithfulness to restore those who confess their sins in repentance (turning from loving sin to loving God). 1 John 1:9.
This is not because of anything we have done, but because of what Christ has done.
“And shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?”
My eyes will see her;
Now she will be trampled down
Like mud in the streets.”
We will suffer God’s loving discipline at times. The wicked may point to that as a reason why God must not love us, but in the end He will restore us.
Our salvation from the penalty and power of sin, and our sanctification (being set apart and made like Christ) are ultimately a result not of what we do, but what He has done on the cross.
The unsaved do not have that hope, which is why sharing God’s good news of salvation to them is an urgent matter.
What do we do when we sin?
We see in Micah’s words the justified sinner’s appropriate response:
Micah admits His guilt and the righteousness of God’s judgement, while also waiting on God to deliver them from the judgement God Himself has brought about.
So should we.
Josh
Sources/Info:
John Piper talking about “Gutsy Guilt” in the chapter “How to Fight for Joy Like a Justified Sinner” in the book “When I Don’t Desire God”. is how I came across this passage in Micah and is what some of this exposition is based on.