Our journey of faith begins with believing that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died a brutal death on the cross to forgive our sins. This is where many people may feel resistance toward the gospel. Even believers who are now living a life of faith are no exception. We may ask, “What exactly have I done so wrong that Jesus, who is God, had to die on the cross for me? Is my sin so great that it could only be resolved in that way?”

I was the same. When I first came to church, it was not easy for me to recognise and admit that I was a sinner. Even now, after being saved, there are still times when I deny my own sinful nature. After all, I have not committed any particularly serious crimes in my life. Nor have I caused great harm to others. By my own ethical standards, I was able to judge good and evil, and I was living a life in which I tried to avoid wrongdoing and pursue what was good.

Then, suddenly, I began to doubt myself. “Even if my circumstances were completely changed, would I still be able to uphold these ethical standards?” When I think about the environment in which I grew up, there was nothing in it that would naturally cultivate a particularly evil character. To begin with, I was born in South Korea, a country with generally good public safety and a good education system. My family environment was not bad either. Thanks to my parents, who are upright and diligent people, I lived peacefully without any particular hardship or conflict. In other words, I lived in an environment that was more than sufficient for any normal person to develop a sound moral outlook.

But what if I had been born and raised in an extreme environment, such as Somalia? What if I found myself in a situation where, unless I committed crimes such as piracy, I would face financial hardship and be unable to protect the lives of my beloved family? Would I still be able to uphold the ethical standards I have now? Honestly, I am not confident. In the end, I feel that the goodness I have built up is merely a privilege created by a favourable environment. It is fragile, something that can collapse and change at any moment depending on circumstances. It is nothing more than a pathetic sense of ethics.

Depending on my circumstances, I could become a criminal at any time. I could become an evil person. Within me, there is a bomb called sinful nature, which could explode at any moment if the right conditions were in place. The Bible states this clearly: all people are sinners. That is God’s assessment of me. The goodness I have built through a favourable environment and human effort can never allow me to claim righteousness before God. That is why I need the gospel. Apart from the death of Jesus, the Son of God, my sinful nature can never be resolved.

Through today’s worship service, I desire once again to kneel before God as a sinner. I want to realise again just how wicked a sinner I am, and I want to repent. And I pray that I may once again enjoy the grace of the gospel, the great work that God has done to deal with that sin.